chapter4honesty

1、book of virtues-Chapter 4: Honesty becky009 发表于 2005-11-28 22:57:00T he vain Jack dawJupiter determined, it is said, to create a sovereign over the birds;and made proclamation that, on a certain day, they should all present themselves before him, when he would himself choose the most beautiful among

2、 them to be king. The Jackdaw, knowing his own ugliness, searched through the woods and fields, and collected the feathers which had fallen from the wings of his companions, and stuck them in all parts of his body, hoping thereby to make himself the most beautiful of all. When the appointed day arri

3、ved, and the birds had assembled before Jupiter, the Jackdaw also made his appearance in his many-feathered finery. On Jupiter proposing to make him king, on account of the beauty of his plumage, the birds indignantly protested, and each plucking from him his own feathers, the Jackdaw was again noth

4、ing but a Jackdaw.T he Shepher d BoyThere was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheepat the foot of a mountain near a dark forest. It was rather lonely for him all day, so he thought upon a plan by which he could get a little company and some excitement. He rushed down towards the village cal

5、ling out "Wolf, Wolf," and the villagers came out to meet him, and some of them stopped with him for a considerable time.This pleased the boy so much that a few days afterwards he tried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help.But shortly after this a Wolf actually did come

6、 out from the forest, and began to worry the sheep, and the boy of course cried out "Wolf, Wolf," still louder than before.But this time the villagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was again deceiving them, and nobody stirred to' s flock, and whencome to his help.S

7、o the Wolf made a good meal off the boy the boy complained, the wise man of the village said: "A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth".T he empty potThis is a tale of a boy named Ping who lived long ago inChina. Ping loved flowers and was very good at gardening. TheEmpe

8、ror, who was growing old, decided to look for a successor.He distributed seeds to all the childre n of the kin gdom, and told them to retu rn in one year. He would choose the best to succeed him. Ping carefully ten ded his seed, but nothing grew and so he to retu rn to the Emp eror with an empty pot

9、. All the other childre n had grown beautiful flowers. However, the Emperor had distributed cooked seeds, which would not grow, and Ping was the only one hon est eno ugh to be chose n to succeed the Emp eror.H onesty poem1Whe n you get what you9He she fellow to pl ease,want in your struggle for self

10、n ever mind all the rest.2 And the world makes10 For he' w ith you dear upyou king for a day,to the end,3 Just go to a mirror and11 And you ' vepassed thelook at yourself,most dan gerous, difficult test4 And see what that man12 If the man in the glass ishas to say.your frie nd.5 For it isn &

11、#39; ybur father13 You may fool the wholeor mother or wife,world down the pathway of6 Who judgement uponyears.you must p ass;14 And get p ats on the back as7The fellow whoseyou p assverdict counts most in your15 But your final reward willlifebe the heartaches and tears8Is the one starring16 If you &

12、#39; veheated the manback from the glass.in the glass.Cherry treeWhe n George Wash ington was about six years old, he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet of which, like most little boys, he was extremely fond. He went about chopping everything that came his way.One day, as he wandered about the

13、 garden amusing himself by hacking his mother's pea- sticks, he found a beautiful, youngEn glish cherry tree, of which his father was most pro ud. He tried the edge of his hatchet on the trunk of the tree and barked it so that it died.Some time after this, his father discovered what had happened

14、 to his favorite tree. He came into the house in great an ger, and dema nded to know who the mischievous person was who had cut away the bark. Nobody could tell him anything about it.Just then George, with his little hatchet, came into the room."George," said his father, "do you know

15、who has killed my beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden? I would not have taken five guineas for it!"This was a hard question to answer, and for a moment George was staggered by it, but quickly recovering himself he cried: - "I cannot tell a lie, father, you know I cannot tell

16、a lie! I did cut it with my little hatchet."The anger died out of his father's face, and taking the boy tenderly in his arms, he said: - "My son, that you should not be afraid to tell the truth is more to me than a thousand trees! yes, though they were blossomed with silver and had lea

17、ves of the purest gold!"HonestyFor many months a father was excited about taking his 17 year old daughter skiing in Canada. He loved skiing and he did not get to see his daughter often because they had lived in different countries since his divorce 10 years earlier. The daughter did not really

18、want to go, but she knew how much her father wanted to. Also, her mother had also been subtly pressuring her to go by telling her how important it was to spend time with her father, reminding her of all the nice things he had done for her, all the presents and money he had sent her, etc. A few weeks

19、 before they were scheduled to leave for the trip, the daughter started dating someone. It was her first serious boyfriend. The more she thought about being away from her boyfriend for two weeks, the less she wanted to go to Canada with her father, especially since it was the only vacation time she

20、would have before school started again, and because her boyfriend would be leaving to go to a university in another country before she got home.The father knew she had started dating, but he didn't approve because her boyfriend was older and also from another culture and religion. The father was

21、 afraid to ask how his daughter felt about going and the daughter was afraid to tell him. He just kept on talking about how good it would be for them to spend time together and how much he was looking forward to the trip. Her best friend, though, saw how miserable she was feeling and asked her how m

22、uch she wanted to go to the trip. She said she didn ' t want to ski at all, but she added that she could never tell her father that because it would start an argument and it would hurt him too much. The friend suggested she at least tell her mother, since sheknew her mother wanted her to go and

23、her mother also disapproved of her relationship. She said it was simpler if she just went.The mother, though, could tell that the daughter wasn't very excited about the trip. She knew her daughter did not like the cold and did not like to ski. She knew her daughter would rather spend this time w

24、ith her new boyfriend, but she never asked her daughter directly how she felt about going. Instead, she suggested to her ex-husband that he ask her. But of course the father was afraid to ask because he was afraid of what he might hear.So the daughter ended up going on the trip, trying to pretend to

25、 enjoy it, and crying herself to sleep nearly every night. In the end, everyone was unhappy because the mother and father felt guilty and defensive, and the daughter and her boyfriend felt disrespected and resentful.Les BrownF amous Quotes1. Honor your commitments with integrity.2. The truth is crue

26、l, but it can be loved and it makes free thosewho have loved it.Santayana George3. Prefer a loss to a dishonest gain; the one brings pain at themoment, the other for all time. Chilton4. If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.Mark Twain5. Truth is incontrovertible, malice may a

27、ttack it and ignorance may deride it, but, in the end, there it is. Winston Churchill6. Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.ThomasJefferson 7. No legacy is so rich as honesty. William Shakespeare 8. A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. Dwight D. EisenhowersummaryHonesty is supposed to be the basic and indispensable human virtue