“I would prefer even to fail with honor ,than win by cheating “~sophocles

What the quote is trying to say is you rather know ,you tried your best to win then to cheat your way to win .For example if you play a sport ,and you want to win and you cheat your way to the top,  the pressure of you cheating will gain to you but if you didn't cheat and played fair and lose it'll feel way better than knowing you cheated to win