“In the early years of this [the twentieth] century, the most highly respected diplomat of all the great powers was the German ambassador in London. He was clearly destined for great things — to become his country’s foreign minister, at least, if not its federal chancellor. Yet in 1906 he abruptly resigned rather than preside over a dinner given by the diplomatic corps for Edward VII. The king was a notorious womanizer and made it clear what kind of a dinner he wanted. The ambassador is reported to have said, ‘I refuse to see a pimp in the mirror in the morning when I shave.’
“This is the mirror test. Ethics requires that you ask yourself, What kind of person do I want to see in the mirror in the morning?”
Peter F. Drucker, Harvard Business Review (January 1999)
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