A Straight Line…

We recall the geometric maxim that “a straight line is the shortest distance between two

points.” In a day when so many find themselves paying a price for forgetting it, this rule of life would

well be remembered. In the first place, in forgetting it, there follows the factor of inefficiency – for a

person who departs from a straight course loses time and usually carries on a conversation with his

conscience. And a person who is carrying on a conversation with his conscience can’t be very efficient. It

is difficult to do two things at once, for any of us. And if we have our minds on things we shouldn’t have

done, we aren’t thinking so effectively of the things we should be doing. Uneasiness inside always

adversely affects efficiency. Then there is also the question of the ability to turn back. There is a time, to

begin with, in the decision of all of us, when right or wrong is only a matter of one step – a step straight

forward, or a side step. But the farther we go on ay wrong road, the more time we lose, and the more

costly it is to run back. It was Montaigne who remarked that “the births of all things are weak and

tender, and therefore we should have our eyes intent on beginnings.” The beginnings of habits are small

and weak. The beginnings of falsehoods are small and weak. The “little” compromise of honesty, the

“little” forms of cheating, a “little” breaking of law; the unauthorized “borrowing” (so–called) of

something that isn’t ours, the inconspicuous little lie – all such beginnings, all such departures from a

straight line, may seem insignificant at first, but, if continued, they more to the point where turning back

is difficult and costly (but not nearly so costly as not turning back!) Happiness is the aim and object of all

of us, and there simply isn’t any sincere and satisfying happiness or any way to peace of mind, except in

moving straightforwardly forward, with truth and integrity, and with no apology to make to any man, or

to Father of us all, or to us, inside ourselves. In matters of character and conduct, as well as in

mathematics, a straight line is the shortest short cut – the shortest distance between two points.