Losing my mind ... not yet

I have no idea how things were when I was young, leave alone a hundred or a thousand years ago.  All I know is that more often than not I run into dishonest talk and practice. Unfortunately for me, my personality is not wired to deal with people who are far from honest in everyday life.

Of course, it is a challenge to practice being open and honest as much as I can.  Yes, "as much as I can" because there are moments, of which I am painfully aware, when I am less than honest.  This does not surprise me--I am but a mere mortal.

When younger, it was easier to yield to the temptation of not taking the high road even for the idealist.  But, the greyer, balder, and paunchier I get, the less I am interested in talk and practice that is not honest, and even less interested in less than honest people.

Interestingly enough, such is the conviction now when I am a committed atheist, whereas when yielding to the dishonest thought, I was an inhabitant of the religious environment in which I was born and raised!

Will I be able to stay sane and honest when surrounded by the multitude that is dishonest?  Will those confident idiots make me one of theirs?

There is at least one comforting verse from the old country, which has plenty to offer:

जडसंगेऽपिन लिप्ताः श्रीसद्भावेऽपि नोत्तरलाः ।
अंभोजकोरका इव विज्ञा विकसन्ति विश्वस्मै ॥

- अन्योक्तिस्तबक

Even when wise men stay with idiots, they will stay sane.
Even when they have wealth, they will not lose their mind.
Just like a lotus bud will maintain its cleanliness even amidst mire.
It will stay steady even when it has so much beauty. It will bloom beautifully when sun shines on it.

- Anyoktistabaka  Source

Comforting those words are, but the older me does not believe it.  

Yet, I want to believe the old couplet because the alternative simply sucks!