Truthfulness in Children

Dr. Johnson, giving advice to an intimate friend, said, "Above all, accustom your children constantly to tell the truth, without varying in any circumstance." A lady present impatiently exclaimed, "Nay, this is too much; for a little variation in narrative must happen a thousand times a day, if one is not perpetually watching."

"Well, madam," replied the doctor, "and you ought to be perpetually watching. It is more from carelessness about truth, than from intentional lying, that there is so much falsehood in the world."