If we realized the horror and weight of lying, we would see that it is more worthy of the stake than other crimes. I find that people normally waste time quite inappropriately punishing children for innocent misdemeanours formenting them for thoughtless actions which lead nowhere and leave no trace. It seems to me that the only faults which we should vigorously attack as soon as they arise and start to develop are lying and, a little below that, stubbornness. Those faults grow up with the children. Once let the tongue acquire the habit of lying and it is astonishing how impossible it is to make it give it up. That is why some otherwise decent men are object slaven to it. One of my tailors is a good enough fellow, but I have never heard him once speak the truth, not even when it would help him, if he did so.
 'Lying' is a fault that should be punished only