Veritas et Virtus

Being upright in conduct does not guarantee us earthly rewards.  It won’t necessarily make us rich, or successful, or popular.  In fact, the Bible tells us that oftentimes, the upright man is quite unpopular. Proverbs 29:27 says that “[a]n unjust man...

Benjamin Franklin was, among other things, the publisher of Poor Richard’s Almanac in colonial America. The Almanack contained the annual calendar, weather, poetry, astronomical information, along with math exercises and various sayings and proverbs. Franklin himself said that a chief...

In 2006, Joya Williams was the executive assistant to Coca Cola’s global head of marketing.  Because of her position, she had access to lots of secret information about Coke—new flavors they were coming out with, new packaging ideas, documents with...

This week we are considering the Honor Code’s instruction to be “upright in conduct.”  The idea of uprightness is frequently expressed in the Bible using two different Hebrew words: “Yashar,” which means straight, and “tam,” which means perfect or complete. ...

Have you ever gotten away with something bad and yet had a sense of dread or guilt that lingered?  And don’t you find that the guilty conscience is often far greater a burden than any benefit we hoped to gain...

It is often hardest to be honest when it comes to our own weaknesses and failures—like confessing when we’ve done something bad, or to be honest that something is too difficult, and we need help.  The Jewish folktale of The...

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote that “[a]ccuracy is the twin brother of honesty; inaccuracy, of dishonesty.”  What did he mean? Well, when we think of being accurate, we may think of math class, and getting an accurate answer.  Or we might think...

Ever notice when you ask your parents or your teachers certain questions—usually big or important or difficult ones—they’re a little careful about how they give you the answer?  Or ever wonder why God gives us the ability to know about...