Never compete.

Never compete.

cxiv

Never compete.

All competition undermines credibility. Our rivals seize the opportunity to outshine us, to outwit us. Few wage war with honor. Rivals reveal flaws that politeness would hide. In the absence of rivals, many have lived with good reputations. The heat of conflict gives life, or new life, to dead scandals, digging up long-buried skeletons. Competition begins with contempt and seeks to help wherever it can, not just where it should help. And when the weapons of abuse fail to serve their purpose, often, or most often, the enemy uses them for revenge, or at least to knock the dust of oblivion off what is to our credit. A man of good will is always at peace; a man of good reputation and dignity is a man of good will.

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