quotations about honesty
A nod of an honest man is enough.
ENGLISH PROVERB
He who saith there is no such thing as an honest man, you may be sure is himself a knave.
GEORGE BERKELEY
"Maxims Concerning Patriotism", Works
A man who is as honest as the day is long often needs watching at night.
ROBERT ELLIOTT GONZALES
Poems and Paragraphs
Sometimes in this life, under the stress of an exceptional emotion, people do say what they think.
MARCEL PROUST
The Guermantes Way
It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.
NOEL COWARD
Blithe Spirit
Affectation, or coldness, or stupid, coarse-minded misapprehension of one's meaning are the usual rewards of candour.
CHARLOTTE BRONTË
Jane Eyre
I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is the best policy.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Farewell Address to the People of the United States
Make yourself an honest man, and you can be sure there is one less rascal in the world.
THOMAS CARLYLE
attributed, Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Yearly Meeting of Progressive Friends, 1887
Honesty is still the best policy, but nowadays there are less policy-holders than there used to be.
EVAN ESAR
attributed, 20,000 Quips & Quotes
I meant what I said and I said what I meant.
DR. SEUSS
Horton Hatches the Egg
Honesty is not a value shared by all societies. In some Eastern subcultures there is a saying: "Any fool can tell the truth. It requires a man of some sense to lie well." The society espousing this idea, suffers abject poverty above others.
DANIEL M. KEERAN
If There Is No God
Honesty is as rare as a man without self-pity.
STEPHEN VINCENT BENET
attributed, The Harper Book of Quotations
In common life we see two principles at work. Honesty is open-faced, plain-mannered, simple-hearted, pure-souled. Policy is curtain-faced, courtier-mannered, and serpent-hearted. Honesty is sound to the core; Policy is hollow or rotten to the rind. Honesty speaks right out; Policy hesitates, considers, makes polite round-about speeches, and expresses an equivocal indefiniteness. Honesty is as good at home as abroad; Policy is most interesting among strangers. With Honesty, familiarity creates respect; with Policy, it breeds contempt. In the market-place, Policy puts the fairest fruit on the top of the measure; Honesty makes it all alike. Policy conceals the blemishes of the animal or articles to be sold; Honesty presents the plain truth, the article as it is, the good and bad alike exposed. Honesty shows goods as they are; Policy as they should be. Honesty sells for an equivalent; Policy for what it can get. Honesty believes in quick sales and fair profits; Policy in the sales and profits it can get. The word of Honesty is its bond; the word of Policy is what happens to be for its best. Honesty has one price for all its customers; Policy a price for each customer. Honesty is satisfied with a living profit; Policy, like the grave, cries forever for more.
GEORGE SUMNER WEAVER
The Ways of Life
Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.
SIGMUND FREUD
letter to Wilhelm Fliess, Oct. 15, 1897
There is no well-defined boundary between honesty and dishonesty. The frontiers of one blend with the outside limits of the other, and he who attempts to tread this dangerous ground may be sometimes in one domain and sometimes in the other so the only safe road is the broad highway that leads straight through and has been well defined by line and comopass.
O. HENRY
"Bexar Script No. 2692", Rolling Stones
The more honesty a man has, the less he affects the air of a saint.
JOHANN CASPAR LAVATER
Aphorisms on Man
Children and fools speak true.
JOHN LYLY
Endymion
Honesty is an eternal principle in the government of God; a great pillar in his magnificent house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; an attribute of his immortal and glorious being. In a man it is a God-like thing, simple in its beauty, grand in its simplicity.
GEORGE SUMNER WEAVER
The Ways of Life
I would replace the quality of sincerity with honesty, since one can hold a conviction sincerely without examining it, while honesty would require that one subject one's convictions to frequent scrutiny.
CHRISTOPHER PHILLIPS
Socrates Cafe
The plain truth is that honesty is critical to the moral fiber of every individual. Experts agree that people who are honest feel better about themselves. They are able to enjoy stronger friendships, are more successful in school and in other pursuits and, in the long run, have deeper, happier marriages. It is from honesty that so many other desirable traits spring forth.
BETSY BROWN BRAUN
You're Not the Boss of Me