The price that is not seen.

"Honesty does not make you great in front of the world, but it keeps you upright inside."

Once upon a time there was a man who was not rich, but he was never poor either.

Not because he had a lot of money, but because he had something that could not be bought.

The truth.

He worked in a small office where papers, keys, contracts and roads intersected.

Many people came to him.

Some asked for help, some for a quick solution, and some just wanted someone to finally stop lying to them.

One day he was asked:

- Why don't you do it like others?

It would be faster. You would earn more.

No one would notice.

The man did not answer for a long time.

He just looked out the window, where the road continued, always in the same direction.

- But I would notice, he finally said quietly.

– And from then on I wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully.

The other one laughed.

– Is that all? Sleep?

The man shook his head.

– No.

So that when I look in the mirror in the morning, I don't have to explain myself to the person looking back at me.

There was silence.

There is always silence after such sentences.

Because the truth is not loud. that something more important than a good deal has happened now.

It just stops in the room and everyone feels it.

Years passed.

Others moved faster.

They acquired more.

They lived louder.

But when they got into trouble, they still came back to the same place.

To that man who didn't get richer than them, but didn't get poorer either.

Because he had something that became increasingly rare in the world over time:

a clear word. a straight look. a calm night.

And one day someone asked him:

– Did you understand?

The man smiled.

– The price of truth always seems high to those who have not paid it yet.

But to those who have… it is the only thing that remains in the end.

That evening he went home quietly.

Nothing special happened.

Just another day passed without having to deny himself.

And sometimes that is the greatest victory.

Silence.