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“It does not pay an individual to do anything except what his conscience will approve of every day, and every hour and minute in the day.”
Washington makes conscience a recurring test of conduct, asking whether ordinary choices can withstand one’s own moral approval rather than merely outside scrutiny.
Source note: Character Building, “What Will Pay?”, Project Gutenberg #60484. Washington reports a discussion of honesty in business and uses conscience as a practical test of conduct; the sentence belongs to that address’s argument that dishonest dealing does not pay.
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“Receive an injury rather than do one.”
Personal suffering is treated as morally preferable to becoming the person who deliberately inflicts unjust harm on another.
Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, maxim 5, in Darius Lyman’s 1856 English rendering; maxim order can vary across editions.
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“The liar is no whit better than the thief.”
Roosevelt argues that criticism loses moral legitimacy when it becomes false, making truthfulness a constraint on reform even when the target of criticism may deserve scrutiny.
Source note: The Man with the Muck-Rake, April 14, 1906. Roosevelt is discussing public criticism, journalism and slander; the surrounding speech simultaneously calls for relentless exposure of genuine wrongdoing when the attack is truthful.
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“The integrity of the upright shall guide them.”
Integrity functions as an internal guide when a person has to choose without knowing every consequence in advance.
Source note: Proverbs 11:3 in the King James Version; the opening clause is quoted here.
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“A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.”
Voice: Fictional character · Wise man of the village
Repeated deception damages credibility beyond the original lie: once listeners have learned to expect false alarms, even a later truthful warning can fail to restore belief in time.
Source note: Joseph Jacobs, The Fables of Aesop, “The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf,” Project Gutenberg #28. The wise man of the village gives the moral after the boy’s repeated false cries cause the villagers to ignore his real warning.
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“No matter what the thing is, put your conscience into it; do your best.”
Work gains moral weight when effort and conscience remain present even in tasks that seem small, routine, or unlikely to attract praise.
Source note: Character Building, “What Is To Be Our Future?”, Project Gutenberg #60484. Washington asks whether Tuskegee will remain worthy of public confidence and answers by requiring each student and worker to put conscience and full effort into every kind of work.