quotations about honesty
Honesty is never seen sitting astride the fence.
LEMUEL K. WASHBURN
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attributed, Quote Unquote
If you wanted to do something absolutely honest, something true, it always turned out to be a thing that had to be done alone.
RICHARD YATES
Revolutionary Road
Honest hearts produce honest actions.
BRIGHAM YOUNG
Discourses of Brigham Young
A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal.
OSCAR WILDE
The Critic as Artist
To be honest as this world goes is to be one man picked out of ten thousand.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Hamlet
The man who pauses in his honesty wants little of a villain.
H. MARTYN
attributed, Many Thoughts of Many Minds
A few honest men are better than numbers.
OLIVER CROMWELL
letter to Sir W. Spring, Sept. 1643
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
attributed, The Modern Handbook of Humor
If a man lived properly, not according to what any priests said, but according to what seemed decent and honest inside, then it would, at the end, more or less, turn out all right.
TERRY PRATCHETT
Small Gods
I'm going to tell it like it is. I hope you can take it like it is.
MALCOLM X
speech at founding rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, Jun. 28, 1964
Sneakiness and underhanded dealing are doubtless to be reckoned among the arts of self-advancement. Honesty is, in many cases, unquestionably the very worst policy. But though honesty be so, honesty is the right thing after all. But honest men sometimes think to possess together two inconsistent things. They think to possess the high sense of scrupulous integrity, and at the same time the favour, patronage, and profit which can be had only by parting with that.
ANDREW KENNEDY HUTCHISON BOYD
The Commonplace Philosopher in Town and Country
I'm just honest, I like that I don't have to worry about what I say. I really don't have the time or energy to pretend and I don't want to live that way.
ANGELINA JOLIE
interview, Jun. 13, 2001
Where is the man who has the strength to be true, and to show himself as he is?
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
Conversations of Goethe
Some people are honest in the strict sense of the word; but they habitually push bargains so hard that their honesty is suspected. They tread so near the line dividing integrity from fraud, that the public entertain grave doubts respecting the legitimacy of their dealings. But it is a duty imperative on every man to avoid the perilous extreme bordering on theft, and to appear honest as well as be honest. Aim at living not only above dishonesty, but above suspicion, as well. "Provide things honest." Is that all? No; "provide things honest in the sight of all men." Not only be upright, but convince others of your uprightness. Let your life be honourable, entirely exempt from meanness and trickery.
JOHN CYNDDYLAN JONES
Studies in the Acts of the Apostles
An honest man is the man who keeps his own counsel, and will not divide the plunder.
HONORÉ DE BALZAC
Father Goriot
I have found that being honest is the best technique I can use. Right up front, tell people what you're trying to accomplish and what you're willing to sacrifice to accomplish it.
LEE IACOCCA
U.S. News & World Report, 1985
An honest man is respected by all parties.
WILLIAM HAZLITT
Characteristics
The purifying influence of public confession springs from the fact, that by it the hope in lies is forever swept away, and the soul recovers the noble attitude of simplicity.
GEORGE ELIOT
Romola
Honesty pays, but it don't seem to pay enough to suit a lot of people.
KIN HUBBARD
Abe Martin: Hoss Sense and Nonsense
There is an honesty which is but decided selfishness in disguise. The man who will not refrain from expressing his sentiments and manifesting his feelings, however unfit the time, however inappropriate the place, however painful this expression may be, lays claim, forsooth, to our approbation as an honest man, and sneers at those of finer sensibilities as hypocrites.
ARTHUR HELPS
Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd