"The literary agent Morton Janklow told me the following story. Back in the days when Forest Hills hosted the United States Amateur tennis championship instead of the United States Open, the great amateur Ted Schroeder was contesting a difficult match against the sensational Pancho Gonzalez — a match Schroeder would ultimately lose. At a critical point, Gonzalez served what appeared to be an ace: that is, his opponent was unable to return the serve. The line judge, whose job it is to make these calls, said that the serve was out, meaning that the point would go to Schroeder. The crowd could not believe the call. Neither could Gonzalez. Even Schroeder himself protested, signaling that the ball was clearly in bounds. But the line judge refused to change his call, and the umpire refused to overrule him. Play resumed. When Gonzalez made his next serve, Schroeder let the ball go by, making no effort to return it, and Gonzalez won the point he should have had on the previous serve. In the end, Gonzalez also won set and match — by two points. But Schroeder preserved his integrity. Indeed, he followed all three rules for integral living: he decided what was right, did it at cost to himself, and was quite open about what he was doing.

"The sports journalist John Feinstein tells a similar story about a professional golfer who penalized himself a single stroke at a tournament because he thought he might have broken a rule (by moving a ball marker) and could not remember whether he had or not. Nobody else saw the alleged violation; the golfer himself made the decision. Because of that penalty, he missed the cut by a single stroke. (In a professional golf tournament, after two rounds, the players with the lowest scores continue and everybody else is out.) But even in losing, he could tell himself that he did the right thing."