George Washington: One Fact and One Fiction

Fact: George Washington was born on February 22nd, 1732.

Fiction: A few years later, he chopped down his father’s cherry tree. He confessed, when asked, with the simple line, “I cannot tell a lie.”

Accountability, more than age or experience, differentiates adults from children.?The story of Washington and the cherry tree is one of a child growing into an adult who knows “I did this,” and “I’m responsible for what happened, and for what will happen next.”

There's more useful truth in the the cherry tree tale than in the exact date of Washington’s birth. It describes a step on the path to moral maturity.

Step 1 – Understanding right and wrong (most kids can do this while still in diapers)

Step 2 - Appreciating the power of honesty (some 3 year olds get it, some 103 year olds never will)

Step 3 – Accountability (attainable by the time you can chop down cherry trees)

What comes next?

Integrity.

“I have the highest regard for a man who, when he has done something wrong, manfully admits it and constantly sticks to the truth of integrity, no matter how much it may seem to hurt.” Charles M. Schwab (1862 – 1939)

“Let nothing tempt you to cross the sacred line of perfect integrity; neither the smallness of the transgression, intention to repay shortly, the example or bidding of others, the temptations of pleasure or even the pressure of keenest necessity. One lie in word or act opens the door to a thousand…which is to break the spell and turn all into darkness.”?????????????????????Orison Swett Marden (1848 – 1924)

Integrity quotes from Vol XVIII (The World of Business), The Father and Son Library; 1921