Sep 29
Depend not on fortune, but on conduct.
Publilius Syrus (~100 BC)
Timothy McGee believed good personal conduct could help anyone succeed.
No matter how academic or technically minded a person was, simple manners made all the difference. 'Please' and 'thank you' made the world go around. Smiling at strangers would make them friends; a stranger was simply a friend you had not met yet. Holding doors and elevators was polite.
And if the simple things made such a big difference, made people smile and think favorably of another person, what could big things do? Abby was loved by all due to her friendly nature and genuine desire to help in any way she could. No problem was too small; if it bothered you, it bothered her.
Good conduct bred good conduct. Helping someone out in the present would repay you in the future, perhaps not in a direct 'You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' kind of way, but in a way that meant that person would be more disposed to assist you if you needed it.
No one wanted to associate with someone who was known to have bad conduct. No one wanted to talk to a liar, to share secrets with someone who would pass them on, to help someone who would only scorn them. By having good conduct, not only was he fulfilling his moral duties, but he opened the path to success in the future, success in every avenue of life.
