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 from our misdeeds? 

In our Honor Code, upright conduct follows honesty.  And one of the marks of an upright life is a clear conscience.

At the beginning of his poem The Man of Life Upright, Thomas Campion describes it this way:

The man of life upright,
Whose chearfull minde is free
From waight of impious deedes,
And yoake of vanitee,

In other words, an upright life is not weighed down by the guilt or shame of bad deeds or selfish actions.  Whatever happens, the upright man at least knows he’s done the right thing.  And that is worth far more than anything you could gain by a life of “impious deeds” and “vanity.”

Have a wonderful day.