“Paper is patient” is a saying in Germany.  Paper is patient?  What does that mean?

When you write or print something on paper, the paper has to show what you print on it, whether it is stupid or wise, whether it is true or a lie.

Paper cannot prevent it that someone writes the most blatant lies on it.  Paper cannot in indignation curl up at its corners or burst into flames.  Paper has to be patient.

The danger is, when something is printed and published, it seems official and is believed to be – mostly – correct and true.

In our times, whole nations teeter at the brink of bankruptcy because their political and economic leaders are corrupt, cheat their fellow countrymen and publish their lies in broadcasts of TV and radio, on the internet and also on paper.  Lies and deceit breed ruin.

When we find out about such public lies and about the selfishness and greediness of such corrupt leaders, we feel disgust and contempt.

But what about us?

What about you?

Are YOU sincere and honest in your thoughts, words and actions?

Or are there “grey zones” in your life where you lie and cheat, a little bit here, a little bit there?  Or where you deliberately “look the other way”?

These grey zones are like poisonous wafts of mist that drift through our societies, polluting and degrading whatever they touch.

Remember that you are an important part of society.  It matters to ALL if you are sincere and honest or not.

When you live a life of integrity, your family, your community and your country benefit from this fresh wind that blows away the poisonous fog of corruption in thoughts, words and actions.

And when such a sincere and honest person as you writes something on paper, paper can be patient – and justified in being patient.