Principled...At what price ?

Have you noticed that the people who talk of the need for
"taking a stand"..." being an example to others " and " standing on principles "
depend on the price it will cost them ? Yes , I truly only recognize it because I've failed myself.
If the price costs us personal success in the eyes of others, it mostly doesn't happen.
But...sometimes it does.

In 1947, David Preston was an ex World War 2 paratrooper who was running long-distance for the
University of Toronto. He was told through his many successes and laurels on a National level that he would be on the Olympic team representing Canada to the world in the 1948 summer Olympics, but something was bothering him.
He knew that there was corruption in the coaching ranks of his team. When the National trials came up, David ran against the best runner, won the race and, walked off the track . He didn't go to the Olympics because of the corruption he knew about and never looked back. The price was high, but the principles held.

David Preston was 76 when he died a couple of years ago. He used to watch me run by him as he went out for walks and he would tell me that I would ruin my knees for running if I continued to use that style. Of course I scoffed at this blunt , surly, older man with heart disease out for his walk. Two years after David died, a specialist told me that my knees were shot and that I shouldn't run anymore . Hats off to you David Preston . You were right about my kness , and more importantly, you were always a principled man who paid the price.