Why being dishonest is a slippery slope?

Imagine you are a lawyer faced with the task of sending out an invoice to your client. As you sit there, it occurs to you that no one would be any the wiser (but you would be somewhat richer) if you surreptitiously added a few extra hours to your client’s bill. You’ve never done this before and it feels bad. But is there any real harm?

Aside from any negative impact for the client, there could well be a problem for the person being dishonest. Assuming you don’t get caught, taking the first step towards dishonesty can cause you to be more and more dishonest when similar opportunities present themselves in the future.