A reputation for honesty is still a valuable possession

There was a time in our country when many (perhaps even most) deals were made on a handshake, and a man's word was paramount if he ever hoped to do business with his associates. Today we are buried in legal documents, which supposedly make things specific, but generally serve to confuse everyone but the lawyers, who make lots of money by maintaining that confusion.

Does a man's word mean much today? Certainly it does! Unless a man's reputation means nothing, then his honestly means something; and there are still lots of people who care about a man's reputation. "He has a name as an honest man," is yet a statement with meaning, for notwithstanding those legal documents, unscrupulous men still find ways to cheat others; and thus honest men still prefer to do business with other honest men.