--- title: Why cheating hurts the cheat — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Why cheating hurts the cheat», a lesson of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Daisy ran fair and came second; the girl who won cut a corner of the cross-country course, so she has the prize, while Daisy has her --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/) / Why cheating hurts the cheat # Why cheating hurts the cheat Lesson 94 of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school: 21 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/). - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/1/) — Daisy ran fair and came second; the girl who won cut a corner of the cross-country course, so she has the prize, while Daisy has her honest run and nothing to hide. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/2/) — At the ancient Olympic Games, cheats paid fines that built bronze statues of Zeus with their names carved on the base, so everyone walking into the stadium remembered them as cheats. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/3/) — Cheating "the system", like a fake address or fake votes, is never victimless: there is always a real person who loses a place, a vote or a fair chance. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/4/) — Many faiths agree: Christians and Jews read "Do not steal. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/5/) — Do not lie. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/6/) — Do not deceive one another" (Leviticus 19:11), and Muslims remember the Prophet Muhammad's words, "Whoever cheats is not one of us." - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/7/) — "Do not fret because of those who are evil" (Psalm 37:1-2); Psalm 73 is a whole prayer about cheats who seem to win. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/8/) — Plato argued that being truly fair is better for your soul than only seeming fair. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/9/) — At ancient Olympia, cheats' fines paid for bronze statues of Zeus, called Zanes, with the cheat's name on the base; "The name of the wicked will rot" (Proverbs 10:7). - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/10/) — School places are shared out by rules; a fake address takes the place of another real child; "Give to everyone what you owe them" (Romans 13:7). - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/11/) — Votes only mean something if each person gets one: one person, one vote. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/12/) — "Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/13/) — Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong" (Exodus 23:1-2). - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/14/) — A fisherman's tale everyone knows will grow is a joke; claiming a fake record in a competition is cheating. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/15/) — Lying about how you got something, like a game skin, is empty pride; "Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow" (Proverbs 13:11). - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/16/) — Paying someone to write your essay steals credit and lies to the teacher: "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15); universities treat it as serious cheating. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/17/) — With a friend who cheats in a small test, talk to them first (Matthew 18:15); it's your judgement whether to tell, but don't lie for them if asked. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/18/) — "All hard work brings a profit" (Proverbs 14:23): making a cheat sheet carefully can teach you everything on it. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/19/) — The Prophet Muhammad found wet grain hidden under dry grain at a market stall and said, "Whoever cheats is not one of us" (Sahih Muslim). - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/20/) — Faiths agree that cheating is stealing and lying at the same time. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/94-why-cheating-hurts-the-cheat/21/) — Slang check: "wicked" (Maine, New England) means very; "y'all" (US South) means you all. - ← previous: [Cheating at games and sport](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/93-cheating-at-games-and-sport/) - next →: [Honesty with money: too much change and the found wallet](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/95-honesty-with-money-too-much-change-and-the-found-wallet/) - ↑ back to [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/)