Among those characteristics of man which determine what he shall be in life, where he shall stand - in his own eyes, as well as those of the world - there is none greater than a sense of honor. So entangled with reputation, with fame, with greatness has this quality become that it is almost impossible to couch its meaning in a few words. To say that honor is ‘a nice sense of what is right" is true enough, but how much that leaves unsaid! True honor, evading concrete definition, is an abstract something which is essential to integrity and self-esteem in any moral being. Necessarily, then, it accompanies success in any field of endeavor.
We cannot separate honor, in its true sense, from the individual. It is no mass action, nor yet is it a restriction levied upon one man by another. Honor, like conscience, is an individual concept, an inner feeling which can arise only in the heart and soul of the individual. A man must judge for himself what is right, what is wrong. Custom, precedent, environment - these can point out to him many honorable actions. It is for him alone to determine the principle; it is for him alone to build and cherish for himself a sense of honor. In that way, only he can choose the right, the noble way of life.
Often, it is said, "He is an honorable man." What does that mean? Simply that the one referred to is an honest man - honest in all his doings, in all his actions and, what is more, in all his thoughts. The man of honor esteems his moral health too much to lower himself willingly by any act that may seem base. He is true to himself and values honor for its highest meaning - that of an exalted tribute of respect and reverence. He shrinks from wrong-doing with his whole nature; he clings to what he knows to be right with all his strength. There can be no real success in life unless it is accompanied by this high sense of honor. We need not go further than our own profession to realize this truth. Military men, the world over, value honor for its sterling worth, its vital force in any army, its power to make something or nothing of a man.
"Duty," said General Lee, "is the sublimest word in the English language." In saying so he gave voice to one of the fundamental attributes of a soldier. Even he, however, would have had to go further in order to describe more completely the characteristics of that profession so aptly called "the service." For, as duty is his watchword, and glory his pride, so also has it been truly said, ". . . the soldiers wealth is honor." It is as valuable to him as his rifle. To say more, it is the clasp pin of every star that ever graced a general’s shoulder.
When careful thought is given to the matter, who can deny that a man’s honor is harmed ever so slightly by the offense of another, compared to the mortal blows which are received from the smallest meanness or baseness in his own acts?
Hot tempered words which seem to reflect on one’s honor are easily forgotten; stains which one’s own acts cast on his honor may never be erased.
It is for general protection that Honor Codes are evolved. Often they represent a strength of feeling which nothing else could replace. The Honor Systems represent the best thought which the students of various schools have been able to give on the subject. However, no Honor System or Code can be "established" - in the sense that a bridge is constructed, or a building is erected. Nor can it be simply "built" and placed in position, as some automatic machine, to do some work mechanically. It must spring from the brains, and yes, the hearts of those who live by it. It must be lived up to in order to endure. It can be no stronger than its makers, than those who place themselves "on their honor" - an inalienable right possessed only by those who would make of their honor the reverenced and respected force that it should be.
In our own lives, successful examples of the application of honor and the precepts of an Honor Code are offered in the army, in general, and in West Point, in particular. The honor of the Corps is unquestioned. In strength and permanency it ranks with the granite of West Point’s buildings. Passed down from hand to hand, it represents that ideal by which every cadet strives to live. It represents the thought and right actions of all those men who have gone out of West Point’s portals. To sin against it is to sin against one’s self. To violate its principles, to stain its record is to outlaw one’s self from the Corps and the Academy.
Such is honor, and such is its application at West Point. As one of the cardinal principles of a soldier, of an officer, and of a gentleman, it should be the first and foremost characteristic of a cadet. An honorable man, impoverished though he may be in talent, cannot fail to attain success and high standing in the eyes of the world. A dishonorable man, though he is possessed of a multitude of abilities, cannot hope to escape for long the condemnation of his fellow men.