Would that the simple maxim, that honesty is the best policy, might be laid to heart; that a sense of the true aim of life might elevate the tone of politics and trade till public and private honor become identical.
—Margaret Fuller (1810–50) American Feminist, Writer, Revolutionary
Integrity can neither be lost nor concealed nor faked nor quenched nor artificially come by nor outlived nor, I believe, in the long run denied.
—Eudora Welty (1909–2001) American Short Story Writer, Novelist
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Say not that honor is the child of boldness, nor believe thou that the hazard of life alone can pay the price of it: it is not to the action that it is due, but to the manner of performing it.
—Akhenaten (1378BCE–1348BCE) Egyptian Monarch, Religious Leader
I have deserved neither so much honor or so much disgrace.
—Pierre Corneille (1606–84) French Poet, Dramatist
If people insist that honor is dearer than life itself, what they really mean is that existence and well-being are as nothing compared with other people’s opinions. Of course, this may be only an exaggerated way of stating the prosaic truth that reputation, that is, the opinion others have of us, is indispensable if we are to make any progress in the world.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher
When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Honor and shame from no condition rise; act well your part—there all the honor lies.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Always demanding the best of oneself, living with honor, devoting one’s talents and gifts to the benefits of others – these are the measures of success that endure when material things have passed away.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
Let honor be to us as strong an obligation as necessity is to others.
—Pliny the Elder (23–79CE) Roman Statesman, Scholar
The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I love the name of honor, more than I fear death.
—Julius Caesar (c.100–44BCE) Roman Statesman, Military General
Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time.
—George H. W. Bush (1924–2018) American Republican Statesman, 41st President
You cannot believe in honor until you have achieved it. Better keep yourself clean and bright: you are the window through which you must see the world.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Honor is most capricious in her rewards.—She feeds us with air, and often pulls down our house to build our monument.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Titles of honor are like the impressions on coin, which add no value to gold and silver, but only render brass current.
—Laurence Sterne (1713–68) Irish Anglican Novelist, Clergyman
All honor’s wounds are self-inflicted.
—Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) Scottish-American Industrialist
There never was a person who did anything worth doing who did not receive more than he gave.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
That nation is worthless that will not, with pleasure, venture all for its honor.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
Because there is very little honor left in American life, there is a certain built-in tendency to destroy masculinity in American men.
—Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American Novelist Essayist
Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
The giving of riches and honors to a wicked man is like giving strong wine to him that hath a fever.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
Better not be at all than not be noble.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Industry need not wish, and he that lives upon hopes will die fasting. There are no gains without pains. He that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honor; but then the trade must be worked at, and the calling followed, or neither the, estate nor the office will enable us to pay our taxes. If we are industrious, we shall never starve; for, at the workingman’s house hunger looks in, but dares not enter. Nor will the bailiff or the constable enter, for industry pays debts, while idleness and neglect increase them.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Who sows virtue reaps honor.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
Teachers who educate children deserve more honor than parents who merely gave them birth; for bare life is furnished by the one, the other ensures a good life.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
A fisherman may measure his catch by the size, but when is a man big enough to keep?
—Unknown
Honor is simply the morality of superior men.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic