Jones sips his drink. It's Scotch, and heats him all the way down. "Just because I believe in ethics doesn't mean that I have to be Mother Teresa. There's a middle ground."
"Ah, the famous middle ground." He gets the feeling that Eve is enjoying this, but then, if he's honest, so is he. "Jones, you're one of those people who's never had to make a decision between ethics and results. You went to college and learned that companies with satisfied employees tend to be more profitable, and you went, 'Oh, good.' Because that let you off the hook; you didn't have to decide what you'd do if it was a choice between one or the other. You won't work for a tobacco or gun manufacturer because those are bad companies; you'll only work for good ones, helping them to improve customer satisfaction and produce better products and - oh hey! - just by coincidence, those things increase company profits and get you promoted. Well, you're in the real world now, and soon enough you'll realize that sometimes you do have to choose between morals and results, that companies do it every day, even the ones you thought were good - and it's the managers who choose results who get the promotions. You'll fret about this for a few days or months or maybe even years until finally, one day, you'll decide you need to make the tough decisions because this is business, and that's what everyone else is doing. But because you feel guilty about having a six-figure salary and current-year car, you'll sponsor a child in Sudan and give ten bucks a year to United Way and you're still being ethical most of the time - that is, when it doesn't get in the way of doing your job - and just because you lied a little or stole a little or took a job at a company that makes money off the backs of fourteen-year-old factory workers in Indonesia doesn't mean you're not a good person. But you'll stop bringing up the subject of ethics. That, Jones, is the middle ground."
- "Company" by Max Barry
