The statement “honesty is the best policy” has indeed taken root in our everyday lives. When asked the meaning of honesty, many people would give different answers. This only shows that the meaning of honesty is relative, and it does not have a watertight definition.
However, the importance of honesty and being honest in our day-to-day dealings and interactions with humans cannot be over-emphasized.
Honesty is a positive and virtuous attribute that includes clarity of conduct and the absence of lying, cheating, and theft. Being trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere are all aspects of being honest. Although being considered a moral obligation, honesty has come to stay in our societies as an acceptable norm and standard of doing things.
An example lies in the fact that various government policies and laws include a touch of honesty in them. The laws governing theft, deceit, and malicious prosecution also prescribe that humans are honest in all their dealings.
When humans are honest in their dealings, it reduces the crime rate and generally makes the world a better place. Rumor also has it that the law of karma applies in favor of people who make honesty their watchword when dealing with others. In business, honesty also has a way of benefitting the party who could have been defrauded and the person being honest.
Honesty Quotes
As such, honesty should not be considered a moral obligation alone but should be normalized in our societies. In light of this, here are a few honesty quotes to give you a reason to embrace the phenomenon of honesty.
Goodness is about character – integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people. – Dennis Prager
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. – Thomas Jefferson
Honesty is the best policy. If I lose mine honor, I lose myself. – William Shakespeare
Honesty is often very hard. The truth is often painful. But the freedom it can bring is worth the trying. – Fred Rogers
Honesty is a very expensive gift. Don’t expect it from cheap people. – Warren Buffett
We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters… that you don’t take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules… and success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square. – Michelle Obama
Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters. ― Albert Einstein
Honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure. – James Altucher
A half truth is a whole lie. – Yiddish Proverb
Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway. – Mother Teresa
Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen. – Brené Brown
Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people. ― Spencer Johnson
Before you can lie to another, you must first lie to yourself. – Naval Ravikant
Every lie is two lies, the lie we tell others and the lie we tell ourselves to justify it. – Robert Brault
When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. – Khaled Hosseini
If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people. ― Virginia Woolf
Honesty pays, but it don’t seem to pay enough to suit a lot of people. – Kin Hubbard
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. – Oscar Wilde
Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving. ― James E Faust
It takes strength and courage to admit the truth. ― Rick Riordan
Honesty has a power that very few people can handle. – Steven Aitchison
To express oneself honestly, not lying to oneself; that, my friend, is very hard to do. – Bruce Lee
Truth never damages a cause that is just. ― Mahatma Gandhi
A lie has speed, but truth has endurance. – Edgar J. Mohn
All other knowledge is hurtful to him who has not the science of honesty and goodness. – Michel de Montaigne
There’s just some magic in truth and honesty and openness. – Frank Ocean
All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse. – John Quincy Adams
Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. ― Paulo Coelho
When you face a choice between being polite and being honest, err on the side of the truth. It’s better to be disliked but respected than to be liked but disrespected. In the long run, the people we trust the most are those who have the courage to be sincere. – Adam Grant
Let’s tell the truth to people. When people ask, ‘How are you?’ have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. – Maya Angelou
Telling the truth and making someone cry is better than telling a lie and making someone smile. – Paulo Coelho
To share your weakness is to make yourself vulnerable; to make yourself vulnerable is to show your strength. – Criss Jami
When we are committed to honesty, we help reduce the level of misunderstanding, doubt, and fear throughout society. – 14th Dalai Lama
If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. – Marcus Aurelius
Honesty first; then courage; then brains – and all are indispensable. – Theodore Roosevelt
As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself. Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility. – Nelson Mandela
Every man who expresses an honest thought is a soldier in the army of intellectual liberty. – Robert G. Ingersoll
The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love, and loyalty. – Zig Ziglar
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. ― Oscar Wilde
To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest. – Mahatma Gandhi
No legacy is so rich as honesty. – William Shakespeare
Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth. – William Faulkner
Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones. – John Lennon
The first step is, to be honest, and then to be noble. – Winston Churchill
No matter what you do, stand up for who you are and be honest. – Bryant McGill
Honesty is grounded in humility and indeed in humiliation, and in admitting exactly where we are powerless. – David Whyte
The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong. – Laura Ingalls Wilder
The good I stand on is my truth and honesty. – William Shakespeare
When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion. – Abraham Lincoln
The responsibility is all yours; no one can stop you from being honest or straightforward. – Marcus Aurelius
Honesty and loyalty are key. If two people can be honest with each other about everything, that’s probably the biggest key to success. – Taylor Lautner
Honesty plus love will get you through most situations. – Naval Ravikant
No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Leading your life honestly and truthfully will create trust and friendship. – 14th Dalai Lama
Relationships feed on credibility, honesty, and consistency. – Scott Borchetta
Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time. — Maya Angelou
We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend. ― Robert Louis Stevenson
I believe fundamental honesty is the keystone of business. – Harvey S. Firestone
Transparency, honesty, kindness, good stewardship, even humor, work in businesses at all times. – John Gerzema
Honesty is the best policy. – Benjamin Franklin
Achievements on the golf course are not what matters, decency and honesty are what matter. – Tiger Woods
No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar. – Abraham Lincoln
If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything. – Mark Twain
