With integrity you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide. With integrity you will do the right thing, so you will have no guilt. With fear and guilt removed you are free to be and do your best.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
We need not be afraid to touch, to feel, to show emotion. The easiest thing in the world is to be what you are, what you feel. The hardest thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don’t let them put you in that position.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
I am not an economist. I am an honest man!
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American Journalist, Political Commentator
Honesty is praised and starves.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
Commend me to sterling honesty though clad in rags.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
People who are brutally honest get more satisfaction out of the brutality than out of the honesty.
—Richard J. Needham (1912–91) Canadian Humorist, Newspaper Columnist
The most worthy crown is a good reputation.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Literary confessors are contemptible, like beggars who exhibit their sores for money, but not so contemptible as the public that buys their books.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
Don’t accept that others know you better than yourself. Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results.
—James Allen (1864–1912) British Philosophical Writer
Deal honestly and objectively with yourself; intellectual honesty and personal courage are the hallmarks of great character.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
Society can exist only on the basis that there is some amount of polished lying and that no one says exactly what he thinks.
—Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese Author, Philologist
Honesty shines like a light through your eyes.
—Unknown
A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
There’s one way to find out if a man is honest – ask him. If he says, “Yes,” you know he is a crook.
—Groucho Marx (1890–1977) American Actor, Comedian, Singer
Without adversity a person hardly knows whether they are honest or not.
—Henry Fielding (1707–54) English Novelist, Dramatist
Honesty is the rarest wealth anyone can possess, and yet all the honesty in the world ain’t lawful tender for a loaf of bread.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Honesty is better than any policy.
—Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) Prussian German Philosopher, Logician
In the choice between changing one’s mind and proving there’s no need to do so, most people get busy on the proof.
—John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) Canadian-Born American Economist
There is no refuge from confession but suicide; and suicide is confession.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
Be prepared and be honest.
—John Wooden (1910–2010) American Basketball Coach, Educator
Truth is mighty and will prevail. There is nothing the matter with this, except that it ain’t so.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
When the thief has no opportunity to steal he considers himself an honest man.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Certainly he is not of the generation that regards honesty as the best policy. However, he does regard it as a policy.
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) American Journalist, Political Commentator
Hold firmly to your word.
—Moses Maimonides (1135–1204) Jewish Philosopher, Rabbinic Scholar
No such thing as a man willing to be honest—that would be like a blind man willing to see.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American Novelist
The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world, is to be in reality what we would appear to be; and if we observe, we shall find, that all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
No one is wise or safe, but they that are honest.
—Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) English Courtier, Navigator, Poet
Confessed faults are half-mended.
—Scottish Proverb
No one can earn a million dollars honestly.
—William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) American Orator, Politician, Secretary of State
Honesty is never seen sitting astride the fence.
—Lemuel K. Washburn (1846–1927) American Freethought Writer
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