Your life may be the only Bible some people read

Merriam-Webster defines integrity as a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. I've always told the people that have worked for me that integrity is simply doing what is right when no one is looking. It seems like such a simple thing, but I am constantly reminded of how so few people actually think about the consequences of their actions. Now, I'm not referring to your own personal consequences, because that is ALL most people care about. I'm talking about thinking through what it is your decsion is going to mean for the others that it affects, like taking something from someone else. People steal; it's a fact. Some people steal out of need, which of course isn't right, but what about people who steal just to do it? Those people clearly have no integrity; they did not stop to think that, sure, I'm getting a $20 piece of useful equipment, but maybe I'm taking more than that from someone else. What this person failed to realize is that they have stolen valuable time from life that I will never be able to get back. Seems minor to you, but it clearly has a greater impact on me. Was it worth it? Do you even care?

“It's not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.”
-Francis Bacon