Are you as honest as the day is long?
24/7, 635?

“Of course I am,” you’ll say.

Excellent. That makes you my sort of person.

1/11
#honesty
#integrity

Honesty is a good in itself. Muscular, fearless honesty.
Honesty which can look itself in the eye and not blink.

If your morality is rooted in life itself, in treasuring and respecting others, then you’ll know morality & honesty are intricately connected.

2/11
#honesty

Honesty has value in a person.
It means you can trust them.
Good people are honest.
That’s something I’m sure you’ll agree with.
It’s true almost by definition.

3/11
#honesty
#integrity

Our mercantile world was forged from puritanical honesty: the honest adherence to a set of transactional rules.
‘My word is my bond.’

The extent to which corporations have lost their commitment to honesty coincides with the failure of capitalism all across the world.

4/11

Honesty's a declaration of respect. The extent to which someone lies to you is inversely proportional to their respect for you.

That’s both a description of attitude and a self-fulfilling prophecy. Why should they respect you if you're willing to swallow their lies whole?

5/11

If you matter to someone, they’ll know you deserve the truth.
But, of course, no one matters to prolific liars.
That’s one of their defining characteristics.

6/11
#honesty
#integrity

Lies undermine and disempower.
Even ‘lying to protect’ patronises. It implies you ‘know better’ than the person you’re lying to. It takes for granted an imbalance of capability and power, and assumes you’re superior in both.

7/11
#honesty
#integrity

Morality tells us we’re equal. Honesty recognises that equality.
Honesty says, “You and I are equally entitled to the truth. I won’t deprive you of that.”

8/11
#honesty
#integrity
#ethics

Honesty empowers.
It places the full facts at your disposal and allows you to base your decisions and actions on these facts.
Facts make us strong. Truth = knowledge. Knowledge = power.
Your honesty empowers me.
Lying is an attempt to make me weak.

9/11
#honesty

To be genuine with people, to be honest, is a signifier of morality.
Who would consider a reflexive liar a person of integrity? Who would consider them moral?
A person’s honesty is what we all admire, not their capacity for snake-in-the-grass deceit.

10/11
#honesty
#integrity

Being honest with others encourages honesty in return. It encourages us to exercise our judgement, our intelligence, our moral purpose to the full.

I want to be honest. It’s an objective of mine.
I’m going to try my best to be honest.
I hope you will too.

11/11