To make a deliberate falsification for personal gain is the last, worst depth to which either scholar or artist can descend in work or life., 8 September 1935)

About This Quote

The statement, "To make a deliberate falsification for personal gain is the last, worst depth to which either scholar or artist can descend in work or life," is attributed to the English poet and critic Matthew Arnold. There's no question that people can sometimes do bad things to other people in order to get ahead. However, it's worth remembering that integrity has nothing to do with the end goal of getting ahead. It's about doing what's right because it's right, not because it will help you get ahead.

Source: The Letters Of Dorothy L. Sayers. Vol. 1, 18991936: The Making Of A Detective Novelist

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3. The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalize false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And a false statement of fact,...

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4. To make a deliberate falsification for personal gain is the last, worst depth to which either scholar or artist can descend in work or life., 8 September 1935)

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5. See that the mind is honest, first; the rest may follow or not as God wills. [That] the fundamental treason to the mind ... is the one fundamental treason which the scholar's mind must not allow is the bond uniting all the Oxford people in...

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