<story><title>Mistakes You Should Never Make</title><url>http://sethbannon.com/mistakes-you-should-never-make</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ChuckMcM</author><text>That had to be a tough article to write, thanks Seth.&lt;p&gt;The thing that really stuck with me is the &amp;#x27;technically true&amp;#x27; aspects. Growing up in various places around the world I encountered a number of people for whom their motto was &amp;#x27;its only illegal if you get caught!&amp;#x27; The advantages of this motto were very apparent as a teen, you could run a stop light at 11:30pm, there was hardly anyone around, and you could be home by curfew. You could use your parents car if it was back where they expected it to be when they next needed it. Sort of the ultimate Ferris Bueller.&lt;p&gt;And then I had as an influence my Grandfather, who was a US Attorney, and who valued his integrity over his own life. I think of him as sort of the other end of this spectrum.&lt;p&gt;I asked him about his unwillingness to do what others have done (at the time it was drive faster than the speed limit on an empty road) and he said, &amp;quot;Charles, the world is full of pain and anguish, when a man lives by a code he can walk among that pain and anguish and help right its wrongs without being burdened by having contributed to it.&amp;quot; (well that is how I remembered it, there was probably a story about hunting in there too) and I didn&amp;#x27;t really understand it until much later.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>malyk</author><text>The defining moment for me was one time when I was riding with my stepfather when I was 12 or so.  We pulled up behind a truck that had a &amp;quot;Call us if this vehicle is driving badly&amp;quot; or the equivalent sticker and I blurted out how fun it would be to call and say the driver was terrible.&lt;p&gt;He immediately said something along the lines of &amp;quot;So you think it would be fun to get that guy fired?&amp;quot; and the impact was basically immediate.  It was a lesson that actions have consequences, something that it seems like so few people seem to actually appreciate.</text></comment>
<story><title>Mistakes You Should Never Make</title><url>http://sethbannon.com/mistakes-you-should-never-make</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ChuckMcM</author><text>That had to be a tough article to write, thanks Seth.&lt;p&gt;The thing that really stuck with me is the &amp;#x27;technically true&amp;#x27; aspects. Growing up in various places around the world I encountered a number of people for whom their motto was &amp;#x27;its only illegal if you get caught!&amp;#x27; The advantages of this motto were very apparent as a teen, you could run a stop light at 11:30pm, there was hardly anyone around, and you could be home by curfew. You could use your parents car if it was back where they expected it to be when they next needed it. Sort of the ultimate Ferris Bueller.&lt;p&gt;And then I had as an influence my Grandfather, who was a US Attorney, and who valued his integrity over his own life. I think of him as sort of the other end of this spectrum.&lt;p&gt;I asked him about his unwillingness to do what others have done (at the time it was drive faster than the speed limit on an empty road) and he said, &amp;quot;Charles, the world is full of pain and anguish, when a man lives by a code he can walk among that pain and anguish and help right its wrongs without being burdened by having contributed to it.&amp;quot; (well that is how I remembered it, there was probably a story about hunting in there too) and I didn&amp;#x27;t really understand it until much later.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>matwood</author><text>Interesting about your grandfather. Mine taught me a similar integrity lesson when I was a kid. Back when there were payphones I would always check them for spare quarters. One time when I was with my grandfather I checked a phone that has broken and dumped ~ $6 in change out. I pulled all the money out super excited about my find. He explained it wasn&amp;#x27;t mine and when we got home he mailed the local phone a check for the exact amount.</text></comment>