(Background removed because it was patently illegible.)
Pride. Honor. Duty.
Anyone remember these words anymore? Oh, pride, yes - always going before a fall. Honor? A fairy tale. Duty? A joke.
Not for me.
The world may think that honor is dead, but it is not. it is no tired joke to me, no reason to die in a third-rate gangster flick. It is a real entity, it is a guideline, it is first and formost a beacon to guide me. Honor is that set of principles which I will not deny, no matter that the course is more difficult for that passage.
And yet, saying that - I ask the world, "Do you see a route that I do not, a less painful way I can do this without compromising my honor?" And they ask me why I cannot make an exception this one time, why I cannot take the easy route, why I can't set aside my principles just this once so I am less hard on myself.
I cannot tell them "Because I cannot" and have them satisfied, but there is nothing else that I can answer. Not in a world where honor is a joke ascribed only to sword-weilding heroes of times long-gone, or outdated mobsters in bad suits.
I don't even wear good suits.
But yes - I live in a universe where honor is fundamental to my every action. Things which I do cannot by my code be dishonorable, or I would not have done them. The few times I do things which fail to fit my code of honor, the residual effects of violating my principles hurt. In a lot of ways.
So.