10 Ethical Questions

Stealing is a no-no; cheating is bad. When it comes to moral quandaries, the thou shalt-nots are no-brainers.

The truly tough dilemmas are those small, more ambiguous ones that you may stumble upon anytime, anywhere.

One evening last fall I was driving a bit, ahem, faster than the law permits, and soon enough a state trooper was tailing me. Once I was pulled over, I had a quick choice to make: Should I try to talk myself out of the citation (claiming a family emergency, for example), or should I own up to speeding? Since all my excuses would have been lies (and lies, no matter how small, have a way of escalating into a quagmire of deceit), I accepted the ticket.

The ethical decisions we confront daily are toughest when there's a significant downside to making the "correct" choice -- or when it's unclear what that choice is. Here's how to identify the right thing to do; it's up to you to do it. (RealSimple.com, by Jeffrey L. Seglin)