A Man and His Price

It is sometimes cynically said that every man has his price which is to say that there is no honor or honesty, no virtue or verity, no patriotism or principle that will not be violated or compromised, provided a sufficient amount is offered. It is regrettably true that many men have been known to change their views, and even their so-called convictions for various considerations at various times. It is regrettably true that men have been known to sell their influence, to barter their votes, and even to perjure themselves, for profit or preferment. It is regrettably true that men have been known to bargain with the most sacred things in life, even to becoming traitors to themselves, their friends and families, their principles, their country, and their God. But to assume that every many has a price is a cynical assumption. To assume this is to assume that any man will do anything and that the only question involved is “how much.” But fortunately this is unproved and unprovable which is why we are able to do business in this world as well as we are. Fortunately, there are and always have been many men of honor who have resolutely resisted every inducement to dishonor and who have proved themselves to be beyond price in matters of principle. To assume otherwise is an affront to every sincere patriot and to every man who has given his life in a cause he believed in, an affront to every martyr of history and to every pioneer of progress who ever outfaced prejudice or persecution, an affront to every honest and honorable man who turns in a life-long performance of devotion to duty of which, thank God, there are many. And any cynic who assumes that he can buy anything or anyone is doing the world an injustice and owes the world an apology; for fortunately the only price at which some purchases can be made is the price of absolute honest and integrity. Except this were so, life in this world would be little worth living.