Honesty is the best policy:
“Honesty is the best policy”
– Benjamin Franklin
Similar Quotes
Sometimes it takes hearing the same idea expressed in a different light to make new discoveries and see insights we otherwise never considered. Here’s a section with similar quotes on importance of honesty:
- “Honesty is a very expensive gift. Don’t expect it from cheap people.” – Warren Buffett
- “A lie has speed, but truth has endurance.” Edgar – J. Mohn
- “To live a life of honesty and integrity is a responsibility of every decent person.” – Noam Chomsky
- “The responsibility is all yours; no one can stop you from being honest or straightforward.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “What radical honesty just means is that I want to be free. Part of being free means that I can say what I think and think what I say.” – Naval Ravikant
- “The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.” – Aristotle
- “Telling the truth and making someone cry is better than telling a lie and making someone smile.” – Paulo Coelho
The meaning behind the quote:
We live in a world where people are sensitive, feelings get hurt, even when the intention is well meaning. It’s not that the people are weak but the human nature is quick to defend when we feel our identity or beliefs are under attack.
So what do we do?
We lie.
We tell white lies to avoid confrontation and moments that can make both parties feel awkward, cringe, or uncomfortable.
It’s quite reasonable why we behave this way.
Is honesty the best policy?
Why honesty is the best policy. An Example…
Only when we can be real with others and real with ourselves do we have an opportunity to improve and progress.
Let’s say you’re a restaurant goer and you visit to Penny’s BBQ Smokehouse + Grill. You order the a sandwich but, you know, the food was too salty or undercooked. You’re upset you paid $15.00 for this meal and it wasn’t good, so you make a snap judgement that the food here isn’t great and that you’re not likely to come for a second visit. You’re willing to take this loss on the chin, so you don’t say anything and you leave. The Penny’s owner just lost a customer and maybe two more because you may tell your friends this isn’t the spot.
You don’t want to make a fuss, seem petty, or want to insult the chef who’s job could be jeopardized. But not having this truth-telling feedback loop in the business hurts the business owner, it’s employees and the customers they serve.
Granted, you could tell the owner the food wasn’t that good. The owner could think here’s another customer looking to get a refund or free meal, but really this is their defense as they don’t want to be honest with themselves.
It’s true some may try to take advantage, but most people won’t.
If there’s any doubt they could take the next step to create an anonymous survey the customers could fill out to see if the criticism is justified. Maybe he’ll learn the food is too salty or that 90% of the people actually like it the way it is.
But none of this happens if we can’t be honest. Everybody has to have the emotional maturity to at least listen to what’s being said, but hasn’t developed this skill. In this case natural selection will play it’s course and the business won’t reach it’s potential. The only thing we can do is play our role in the honesty game.
“The responsibility is all yours; no one can stop you from being honest or straightforward.”
– Marcus Aurelius
Other Famous Tony Robbins Quotes:
“What is courage? Courage does not mean you’re not afraid. It means you’re afraid and you do it anyways. You’re scared…”
– Tony Robbins
“When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”
– Tony Robbins
“There’s always two pains in life. There’s the pain of discipline or is the pain of regret. And discipline weighs ounces and…”
– Tony Robbins
“Don’t cry over spilled milk”
– Quote Explanation
“A coward dies a thousand deaths, a courageous man only once. I discipline myself, not perfectly, but for the most part, I…
– Tony Robbins
“Knowledge is not power, knowledge is potential power, knowledge is trumped every day by execution”
– Tony Robbins
“When you realize that your problem is not a lack of resources, it’s not a lack of money or technology or contacts. It’s your psychology because the ultimate resource is resourcefulness and human emotion…”
– Tony Robbins
“Whatever you focus on you’re going to feel.”
– Tony Robbins
“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you”
– Tony Robbins
“Passion is the genesis of genius.”
– Tony Robbins
“Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability…”
– Tony Robbins
“I don’t want your life to be about being a human DOing. I want to be a human BEing where you…”
– Tony Robbins
Success
Quotes
“In life you need either inspiration or desperation.”
Happiness
Quotes
“I can tell you the secret to happiness in one word: progress.”
Time Management quotes
“If you talk about it, it’s a dream. If you envision it, it’s possible. If you schedule it, it’s real.”
Self Discipline
Quotes
“Complexity is the enemy of execution.”
Questions
Quotes
“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”
Change Your Life Quotes
“We can change our lives. We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish.”
Fear
Quotes
“It takes no courage to be a pessimist, to say it’s not going to work”
Feel free to add or start a conversation in the comment thread below with your interpretation of this quote.
Do you agree or disagree with Tony on this quote?
What other quote comes to mind when you read this?
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