From Paulo Coelho, who provokes my thoughts every day.

A friend tells me the story of a father who took his two boys to play mini-golf. At the ticket office he wanted to know the price.

– Five coins for adults, three for those over six years. Under six years entry is free.

– One of them is three, the other seven. I’ll pay for the oldest.

– You are silly – said the ticket seller. You could have saved three coins, saying that the oldest was under six; I would never have known the difference.

– That may be, but the boys would know. And they would remember the bad example for ever.