There is no one who does not regard a liar with contempt.
Almost always, when a lie is told, two sins are committed. The first
is, the child has done something which he knows to be wrong. And the
second is, that he has not courage enough to admit it, and tells a
lie to hide his fault. And therefore, when a child tells a lie, you
may always know that that child is a coward. George Washington was a
brave man. When duty called him, he feared not to meet danger and
death. He would march to the mouth of the cannon in the hour of
battle; he would ride through the field when bullets were flying in
every direction, and strewing the ground with the dead, and not a
nerve would tremble. Now, we see that George Washington was brave
when a boy, as well as when a man. He scorned to tell a lie, and,
like a noble-hearted boy, as he was, he honestly avowed the truth.
Every body admires courage, and every body despises cowardice. The
liar, whether he be a boy or a man, is looked upon with disgust.
Cases will occur in which you will be strongly tempted to say that
which is false. But if you yield to the temptation, how can you help
despising yourself? A little girl once came into the house and told
her mother something which was very improbable. Those who were
sitting in the room with her mother did not believe her, for they did
not know the character of the little girl. But the mother replied at
once, "I have no doubt that it is true, for I never knew my daughter
to tell a lie.
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