The Meaning of Words

When I was a young boy attending the deaf school, I became very interested in the meaning of words. I use to carry a little red dictionary unedr my arm most of the time so I could look up the meaning of words as I came across them. In fact, I still do that a lot. I find them fascinating.

The other day I read where a survey was taken among some of the most important business leaders in the country (they were called CEO's) I found out that meant "Chief Executive Officers." Anyway, they were trying to find what these people had in common. Guess what! It was the fact that they all had large vocabularies, so I think learning the meaning of words is really important.

This is one of my favorite words: INTEGRITY

The dictionary says it means uprightness, decency, honor, principle,
morality, goodness, virtue, incorruptibility, purity, honesty, trustworthiness, etc.

Here is a story that illustrates an example of integrity:

A very rich man called one of his workmen to him and said, "Build me a house to give to a friend of mine. The cost is no problem. Use only the finest materials."

During the months of building, the carpenter was tempted to build a cheaper house, charging the same price. Wherever possible he skimped and used inferior materials and resorted to shoddy workmanship where it would not be obvious.

When the house was completed, the carpenter called the rich man who seemed very pleased, He said, "Now remember I told you that I wanted you to use only the best materials and workmanship in this house because I wanted to make a present of it? He then returned the key to the builder and said, "My friend, it is yours."

Your home will have a happy, smiling face if you build it with qualities
of integrity such as honesty, truthfulness, moral soundness, faithfulness, uprightness in all things.                                                      (Anonymous)

Love,

Tom Osmond
tom@deaf.net