what honesty means to you essay

Essay on Honesty for Students and Children

500+ words essay on honesty.

Honesty implies being truthful. Honesty means to develop a practice of speaking truth throughout life. A person who practices Honesty in his/her life, possess strong moral character. An Honest person shows good behavior, always follows rules and regulations, maintain discipline, speak the truth, and is punctual. An honest person is trustworthy as he always tends to speak the truth.

Honesty is the Best Policy

A major component for developing moral character is Honesty. Honesty helps in developing good attributes like kindness, discipline, truthfulness, moral integrity and more. Lying, cheating, lack of trust, steal, greed and other immoral attributes have no part in Honesty. Honest people are sincere, trustworthy and loyal, throughout their life. Honesty is valuable and it is the habit of utmost importance. There are famous quotes, said by a great personality like “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom”. It holds good due to its ability to build, shape and motivate integral values in one’s life.

Benefits of Honesty

Honesty is always admirable in the family, civil society, friends and across the globe. A person with honesty is respected by all. For one to build the character of Honesty entirely depends on his/her family values and ethics and his/her surrounding environment. Parents showing honest behavior and character in front of their children create an impact on the children and we say “Honesty lies in their genes”. Honesty can also be developed practically which requires proper guidance, encouragement, patience, and dedication.

An honest person is always known for his/her honesty just like a sun is known for its eternal light and unlimited energy. It is a quality which helps a person to succeed in life and get much respect. It gives identification to the moral character of a person. Dishonest people may easily get trust and respect from other people. However, they lose that forever whenever they get caught.

Being dishonest is a sin in all the religions, however, people practice it for their short time benefits and selfishness. They never become morally strong and their life becomes miserable. An honest person moves freely in society and spread his/her fragrance in all directions. Being honest is never mean to bear the bad habits of others or bear ill-treated activities. Everyone has rights to reveal and take action against what is going wrong with him.

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Importance of Honesty in Life

Honesty plays an important role in everyone’s life and it is a character which is visible with open eyes like an open book. Having considered as an Honest person, by society is one of the best compliment one can dream of in his/her entire life. It is the real character a person earns in life by being sincere and dedicated towards it. Lack of honesty in society is doom. It is due to the lack of proper interpersonal relationship between parents-children and students-teachers. Honesty is a practice which is built slowly and patiently, firstly at home and then school. Hence home and school are the best places for a child to develop Honesty since his/her growing times.

Home and school are the places where a child learns moral ethics. Thus, the education system should ensure to include some essential habits and practices to keep a child close to morality. Children must be instructed right from the beginning and their childhood to practice honesty. Youths of any country are the future of that country so they should give better opportunities to develop moral character so that they can lead their country in a better way.

For all human problems, Honesty is the ultimate solution. Corruption and various problems are everywhere in society. It is because of the decreasing number of honest people. In today’s fast and competitive world, we have forgotten about moral and integral ethics. It is very important and necessary for us to rethink and remodel, that we bring the honesty back in society so that everything goes in a natural manner.

Moral ethics of a person is known through Honesty. In a society, if all the people seriously practice getting honest, then society will become an ideal society and free of all the corruptions and evils. There will be huge changes in the day-to-day life of everyone. It can happen very easily if all the parents and teachers understand their responsibilities towards the nation and teach their children and students about moral ethics.

People should realize the value of honesty in order to manage social and economic balance. Honesty is an essential requirement in modern time. It is one of the best habits which encourages an individual and make capable enough to solve and handle any difficult situation in his/her life. Honesty acts as a catalyst in strengthening our will power to face and fight any odds in life.

FAQs on Essay on Honesty

Q.1. What are the basic principles that were followed by Gandhiji?

Ans: The six principles followed by Gandhiji were Truth, Non-Violence, Simplicity, Faith, Selflessness, and Respect for an Individual.

Q.2. Who gave the proverb, “Honesty is the Best Policy”? Ans: Benjamin Franklin one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, gave the proverb, “Honesty is the Best Policy”.

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Sample Essay- "The Real Meaning of Honesty"

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(Sample Definition Essay)

I think it was my mother who taught me the meaning of honesty. Not because she actually was honest, but because she lied all the time. She felt that the easiest way out of any given situation was generally the best way out. And, for her, that generally meant telling a “little white lie.” As a young child I thought it was kind of cool. And, naturally, when I would come to her with a concern or question wondering what I should do, she generally advised me to lie.

“Mom, I told Theresa that I would go over to her house, but now I would rather go to Sue’s house to play.”

“Tell Theresa you’re sick,” she would advise. And generally I did. But I didn’t seem blessed with her lack of conscience. On many painful occasions Theresa would find out that I really went to Sue’s house without her. These occasions taught me that it is more painful to be caught in a lie than it is to tell the truth in the first place. I wondered how it was possible that my mother had never learned that lesson.

I started thinking of all the lies that I’d heard her tell. I remembered the time she told someone that her favorite restaurant had closed, because she didn’t want to see them there anymore. Or the time she told Dad that she loved the lawn-mower he gave her for her birthday. Or when she claimed that our phone lines had been down when she was trying to explain why she hadn’t been in touch with a friend of hers for weeks. And what bothered me even more were all the times she had incorporated me into her lies. Like the time she told my guidance counselor that I had to miss school for exploratory surgery, when she really needed me to babysit. And it even started to bother me when someone would call for her and she would ask me to tell them that she wasn’t there.

So, I started my own personal fight against her dishonesty. When I answered the phone and it was someone my mother didn’t want to talk to, I said, “Louise, mom is here, but she doesn’t want to talk to you.” The first time I did it, I think she grounded me, but I refused to apologize. I told her that I had decided that it was wrong to lie. And the next time it happened I did the same thing. Finally, she approached me and said, “I agree that lying is not the best thing to do, but we need to find a way to be honest without being rude.” She admitted that her methods weren’t right, and I admitted that mine were a bit too extreme.

Over the past few years, the two of us have worked together to be honest- and yet kind. Honesty should mean more than not lying. It should mean speaking the truth in kindness. Though I started by trying to teach my mom the importance of honesty, I ended up gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning of the term.

What is the term that the speaker is trying to define?
Did someone teach her the meaning of the term, or did she really learn from her own experience?
Is the term defined here presented with more complex reasoning than a dictionary definition

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Interview questions answered: What does honesty mean to you?

We live in the world of pretense . People build their image on social media, trying to look happier and more successful than they really are. It’s all about ego boasting . The game does not end online, however. Modern workplaces also lack honesty. People think too much what they can, and should say , and who is listening or monitoring their email conversation. And you can be sure that in 21st century there’s always someone listening… But can it be any different? And why do the hiring managers ask what does honesty mean to you in a job interview? We will try to find the answers on the following lines.

First of all, there are more dimensions to honesty when it comes to work. The most obvious one is communication . Feedback flows freely in all directions in a successful organization. Employees aren’t afraid to give, or receive criticism –in a constructive way, of course, because that’s the only way how they can improve in their jobs. And you can definitely focus on this dimension of honesty. In a broader sense , however, doing a job honestly simply means really taking care of your duties, not looking for shortcuts or for ways of gaining advantage of your employer. That’s a good one to mention as well.

Last but not least, honesty towards customers is extremely important, especially in sales . This is a grey area though, and tricky to discuss in the interviews, because–and let’s face it– vast majority of marketing and sales success is based on deceptive advertising … Without complicating it any further, let’s proceed to 7 sample answers to this intriguing question. I tried to include on my list a nice variety of answers, and hopefully at least one will resonate with the message you want to convey in the interviews.

7 sample answers to “What does honesty mean to you?” interview question

It means to me being able to give and receive feedback at work . And I always try to give feedback, and encourage others to share their feedback on my work, because I understand that things look differently from perspective . What I try to say here is that we may think that we do everything well at work, looking at things from our limited perspective, whereas in fact we can improve on many areas , and just need someone to point it out for us. In my opinion, it is very important to be honest to our colleagues, not only in this sense but in every other one. Fostering honest relationships with your colleagues is one of the keys of enjoying your time at work.
I’ve been always an honest and hard worker . You know how it goes with manual work, when one belongs to a team. If you do not want to work hard, you can hide somewhere , and let others take care of the majority of work. But that’s not my style really. I enjoy my job , and always try to give my 100% , honestly taking care of all my duties. Sure, some people may call me an idiot because of that, but I do not mind. I know that I’ve earned every dollar in my life with honest work , and nobody can take it away from me.
Honesty? That’s something I’ve been missing in my last job . People played stupid games in the workplace, creating small teams within teams, intriguing against each other . I could not tell anymore who was telling the truth, and the real intentions of my colleagues. And I can tell you that I hated it . I hated such games and the atmosphere they created in the workplace. Without a doubt some other people enjoyed it, because some people thrive in conflicts . That’s not my case, however. I am seeking honest and friendly relationships with my colleagues, and couldn’t find them in my last job. It is actually one of the reasons why I am here with you …
What does honesty mean to me? Speaking honestly, I am still trying to find the answer to this question. I am still pretty young, this is my first job application , and I do not have much experience in other field of life either. I can say, without a doubt, that honesty is important to me, and to the world, and that I hope that others will consider me an honest and authentic person . But what exactly it means in the context of the workplace or this job I am yet to understand. Perhaps I can learn it from more experienced colleagues.
Honesty does not exist in sales . At least that’s the case in 95% of all campaigns, in my experience. You can never tell the people the entire truth. If you want to close a deal, you have to focus on the positives , the best features of the product, and how it will make their life better… Maybe there are less expensive alternatives on the market, and maybe this or that could be improved about the product. But you cannot say such things to the customer. At the end of the day, successful salesman can find the right balance between staying honest–to some extent at least, and at the same time saying the right things to motivate the customer to make the purchase . I believe to have this ability.
To me, honesty simply means giving my 100% to every task , activity, interaction with another human being. Not trying to game the system, or to benefit from the hard work of others. Providing value , in whatever I do, and receiving a fair reward in return. Law of action and reaction cannot be broken . If you bring good things to the lives of other people, good things will come back to you. I’ve been following this principle for many years, and it has been working great so far. I plan to do the same in the job with you.
What does honesty mean to me? Before anything else, it means to stick to my moral codex, to the rules of conduct I learned from my parents. Treating others with respect , trying to help people, staying authentic to myself . It also means not to care much about what others think about you, but rather about what is right to do and say in the given situation. I try to be an honest person, and an honest colleague, but I still see some room for improvement…

Not necessarily a reality, but something they try to achieve, and you should play along

Each bigger company has their “mission statement”, the values they try to promote in the workplace and outside of it. Honesty (and transparency) is on the list more often than not. But you do not need years of corporate experience to know that the values companies promote are often far from the reality. It doesn’t mean that they would not love to have such and such workplace. It just doesn’t work that way, for one reason or another. And it is similar story for your answer.

Perhaps you know that it doesn’t pay off being completely honest to your colleagues. Or even to the customers, especially when we talk about jobs in sales. While interviewing for the job, however, you should first and foremost try to show the right attitude . And that’s definitely being honest–at least to some extent, regardless of the job you try to get. So play along, praise honesty, elaborate on it, and get the job.

Lack of honesty can be the reason why you left your last job

In three out of five cases, you will face the following question in the interviews: “ Why did you leave your last job? “, or “Why do you consider leaving your present job?” If you do not know what to say, or prefer not to share the real reason (seeking better remuneration for example), you can always talk about lack of honesty in the workplace.

Colleagues played their little games , some were perhaps even blocking your work (purposely not delivering reports on time, for example), and you did not feel good in the workplace. You just didn’t belong there , since for you relationships matter, and you want to build relationship of trust with your colleagues. It wasn’t possible in that job, and hence you left, and are now seeking employment in a better company. Giving them such an answer, you can kill two birds with one stone . You answer their question about honesty, and at the same time explain your reasons for leaving your last job, which will help you avoid that dreaded question…

Ready to answer this one? I hope so! Do not forget to check also 7 sample answers to other tricky interview questions:

What does leadership mean to you?
What does integrity mean to you?
What does loyalty mean to you?
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The Importance of Being Honest

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Published: Sep 1, 2023

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An honesty box on Dartmoor, England. Photo by Loop/Getty

The virtue of honesty requires more than just telling the truth

by Christian B Miller + BIO

Listen to this Idea.

Honesty has fallen out of fashion, yet it is essential to self-improvement. How can we cultivate this neglected virtue?

There is little controversy that honesty is a virtue. It is an excellence of character. It also promotes trust, fosters healthy relationships, strengthens organisations and societies, and prevents harm.

Sadly, though, honesty has gone missing in recent decades. It is largely absent from academic research. It seems to be rare in society. And it is not commonly found in discussions of how to become a better person.

What is honesty? How is honesty related to integrity, courage and tact? Is it always best to be honest? What are the ways of failing to be honest? These are important questions, but you will be hard pressed to find discussions of them among scholars. In my field of philosophy, for instance, outside of the work of my own team, there have been only two articles on honesty published in the past 50 years .

So what is honesty? It is a character trait that leads us to think, feel and act in honest ways. Let’s focus on the acting for a moment. Naturally, honesty stands in contrast to lying. But it is much broader in scope than that. It also is opposed to cheating, stealing, promise breaking, misleading, bullshitting, hypocrisy, self-deception, and still other forms of wrongdoing. It works against all of them, and so is extremely broad and impactful in scope.

What do all these behaviours have in common? What is at the core of honesty that enables it to cover so much moral ground? The answer, I think, is that honest behaviour is a matter of not intentionally distorting the facts as the honest person sees them.

Consider a student who lies about his grades to his parents. He is misrepresenting his academic performance on purpose to his parents. Or consider an athlete who knowingly uses a banned substance. She is mispresenting her performance as being due to her own efforts, rather than in part to the contribution of the substance.

Honest behaviour is tied to how a person sees the world, to the facts as subjectively understood. If someone genuinely believes the Earth is flat, then, when he reports that belief to a friend, he is being honest, even though the statement is false. Were he to say that the Earth is round, he would be acting dishonestly, even though the statement is true.

If the only reason why the shopkeeper doesn’t cheat his customers is that he is worried about losing business, then he is doing the right thing for the wrong reason

That’s a bit about honest behaviour. How about motivation? In order to be a virtuous person, it is not enough just to act well. One’s heart behind the action matters too. Honesty is no exception. Telling the truth, even if one is reliable in doing so, won’t be an expression of the virtue of honesty if it is done just to make a good impression on others, or to avoid getting punished, or to secure rewards in the afterlife.

Indeed, in my view, any self-interested motive isn’t going to count as a virtuous motive for honesty. The philosopher Immanuel Kant made a similar observation with his example of the shopkeeper who charges fair prices even when he has a chance to overcharge certain customers. Kant claims that if the only reason why the shopkeeper doesn’t cheat his customers is that he is worried about losing business, if he were to be found out, then this would be a case of doing the right thing for the wrong reason. The same point applies for any other self-interested reason.

What would count as a right reason for honest behaviour, then? A variety of other motives, including:

loving motives (eg, ‘because I care about you’)
justice motives (eg, ‘because it would be unfair if I cheated on the test’)
friendship motives (eg, ‘because he’s my friend’)
dutiful motives (eg, ‘because it was the right thing to do’)
honesty motives (eg, ‘because it would be honest’)

If someone tells the truth for any of these reasons, it is hard to fault the person’s character. But they are rather different reasons. I think we should be pluralists here, and allow any or all of these to count as what could motivate an honest person to act.

There is much more to say about the contours of this virtue. But already I have said more than most have in a long while.

Here is another way that the virtue of honesty has gone missing – it seems to be rarely possessed by people today. You might conclude this from the nightly news or from your own lived experience. But I am especially interested in what can be concluded from empirical research in psychology and behavioural economics. In a variety of different types of experiments – using die rolls, coin flips, self-graded exams, and other measures of honest behaviour – participants regularly exhibit a pattern of behaviour that does not fit with our expectations of an honest person.

For instance, in a commonly used experimental set-up for assessing cheating, participants are given a 20-problem maths test, and are told that they will be paid for every answer they get right. In a study by Lisa Shu and colleagues, this was $0.50. In the control condition, there was no opportunity to cheat, and participants scored a 7.97 out of 20. In the experimental condition, participants got to grade the test themselves and shred their materials. Given the freedom to cheat if they wanted to, participants ‘scored’ a 13.22 out of 20. That’s a big difference.

As in many areas of psychology, some cheating studies have failed to be replicated

To take another example, online participants in a study by Christopher Bryan and colleagues had to flip a coin 10 times , knowing they would be paid $1 for each heads. The average ‘performance’ was 6.31 heads , well above chance. Even when another group of participants was warned, ‘Please don’t cheat and report that one or more of your coin flips landed heads when it really landed tails! Even a small amount of cheating would undermine the study,’ the average was still 6.22 in that group.

How do these findings line up with our expectations about honesty? A person who is honest will not cheat in situations where she is a free and willing participant and the relevant rules are fair and appropriate, even if by cheating she is assured of acquiring some benefit for herself. That’s what you might expect of an honest person, but it’s not what we see happening in these results.

Of course, these are only two examples. To draw any conclusions about character from just a few results such as these would be very unwise. Fortunately there are dozens and dozens of additional findings that I have reviewed elsewhere , including many more studies using shredder and coin-flip paradigms. The important point here is not what any one study shows, but rather what the patterns of behaviour look like in general and whether they align with our expectations for honesty.

This is also relevant to recent worries about the replication crisis and about fraudulent data. As in many areas of psychology, some cheating studies have failed to be replicated. For instance, a well-known shredder study initially found that recalling the Ten Commandments was effective in reducing cheating, but this result did not hold up in an attempted replication with many more participants from 19 separate labs. Furthermore, it was well documented that an influential study, which purported to show that insurance customers were more honest in their mileage reports if they signed at the top of a form rather than the bottom, was fraudulent.

Again, this is why it is so important to not rely on just a few studies when trying to think about how honest people tend to be. It is the broader patterns that hopefully tell a reliable story.

Finally, this story is about what the majority of people tend to be like. It is based on average performances. But averages can cover up exceptional behaviour. So we may have a bell curve, with some people who are highly honest and others who are highly dishonest, while the rest of us are somewhere in the middle. Furthermore, the story should be taken to apply, in the first instance, only to inhabitants of North America and Europe, since they tend to be the participants in the existing studies. The story may apply more broadly, but we don’t have nearly enough research yet to say.

Assuming that many of us are not honest people in a variety of circumstances, and assuming that honesty is an important virtue that we should cultivate in ourselves and others, it is important to take practical steps to do so. And here is a third place where the virtue of honesty has gone missing. For very little has been said about strategies for growing in honesty, and about testing those strategies to see if they are really successful.

In my own classes, we all read aloud the honour code before the students sign it and begin their exam

Here are three preliminary suggestions that might be fruitful, but that also need empirical confirmation. One is seeking out and better understanding exemplars of honesty. These can be historical exemplars such as Abraham Lincoln, or contemporaries such as a family member, friend, co-worker or community leader. Admiring role models for their honesty can lead to a desire to emulate those people, to make our own character better reflect the exemplars’ character. Sustained engagement with the exemplars can typically be more effective than one-time interactions, and relatable and attainable exemplars can have a greater impact than their opposites.

Another suggestion is to have regular moral reminders of honesty in our lives. Such reminders can make our moral norms salient, such that they more actively work against a desire to cheat, lie or steal. Honesty reminders can take a wide variety of forms, including diaries, readings, signs and emails. There can also be institutional reminders, which we encounter at work or school. One such moral reminder in many schools is an honour code, which students have to sign before taking a test. And there is some very preliminary experimental evidence that such a reminder can be effective in preventing cheating. Returning to Shu’s research, she and her colleagues also had groups of participants take the maths test after reading or signing an honour code. When there was an opportunity to cheat, the honour code made a difference: participants who did not read the honour code gave themselves an average score of 13.09 out of 20; those who only read the honour code scored 10.05; while those who both read and signed the honour code scored 7.91 (a realistic score for the test, suggesting that they did not cheat at all). In my own classes, we all read aloud the honour code before the students sign it and begin their exam.

A final suggestion is to work against our desire to cheat, a desire that can be especially powerful when we think we can get away with cheating, and benefit in the process. Such a desire seems to be at work in studies such as those by Shu and Bryan, mentioned earlier, and introspectively we can all recognise moments in our lives when it has influenced us as well. One straightforward way to try to reign it in is to increase the policing of cheating and impose harsher penalties on those found guilty. For instance, with the move in education towards take-home exams during the COVID-19 pandemic, computer surveillance of students taking those exams has become a big business, although not without giving rise to a number of moral and psychological concerns.

Increased policing and punishment for cheating might be effective in curbing dishonest behaviour, although that, too, is an empirical claim that needs further study. But, even if it does, that’s not enough to foster the virtue of honesty. As I said earlier, motivation matters too. Here, the motivation for not cheating would be punishment avoidance, and that is a purely self-interested motivation. While I tried to be very ecumenical about what can count as an honest motivation, this is one that’s not going to make it on the list.

Instead, the desire to cheat could be diminished in a more virtuous manner by fostering other virtues alongside honesty, such as friendship and love. If someone is genuinely my friend, I want what’s best for that person, even if it is at the expense of my own self-interest. Similarly, if I love others and care deeply for them, then I am concerned about their own good. The deeper the friendship and love, the less likely it is that we would be dishonest with others for our own gain.

This article draws on Christian B Miller’s book Honesty: The Philosophy and Psychology of a Neglected Virtue (2021), with permission from Oxford University Press.

Spirituality and religion

A monk showed me that spirituality needs more space in medicine

As a doctor, I’ve seen how brain diseases can become entwined with spiritual pain. Who is responsible for addressing it?

by Michael P H Stanley

People of varying ages queue before a temporary table in a church. Food is being handed out to them

Compassion and empathy

Many of us have the wrong idea about poverty and toughness

The ‘thick skin bias’ obscures the reality of hardship. We should check our assumptions about those who are struggling

by Nathan Cheek

Rather than fearing getting old, here’s how to embrace it

Whether you are 20 or 90, each moment of life presents an opportunity to focus on what really matters to you

by Berit Lewis

Essay on Honesty

Students are often asked to write an essay on Honesty in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Honesty

The value of honesty.

Honesty is a virtue that encourages truthfulness. It means being truthful in all aspects of life, from actions to speech. Honesty helps in building trust, promotes positivity, and improves relationships.

Importance of Honesty

Honesty is important as it builds trust. When we are honest, people believe in us. They know they can rely on us because we won’t lie or cheat.

Honesty in Everyday Life

In our daily life, honesty can be practiced in many ways. For example, by not cheating in exams, by returning extra change received, or by admitting mistakes.

In conclusion, honesty is a precious virtue that should be practiced for a fulfilling life.

Also check:

10 Lines on Honesty
Paragraph on Honesty
Speech on Honesty

250 Words Essay on Honesty

Introduction.

Honesty, often heralded as a virtue, is a fundamental aspect of moral character. It is a quality that denotes truthfulness, integrity, and straightforwardness of conduct, promoting trust in relationships, whether personal, professional, or societal.

The Importance of Honesty

Honesty is pivotal to the development and maintenance of trust. In personal relationships, honesty fosters emotional intimacy and understanding. In the professional sphere, it builds credibility and fosters a culture of transparency and accountability. Society at large benefits from honesty as it forms the bedrock of trust in institutions and systems.

Honesty and Ethical Decision Making

Honesty is integral to ethical decision-making. It underpins actions that are morally right, just, and fair. When individuals are honest, they are more likely to make decisions that uphold their integrity and align with their values, leading to a greater sense of self-worth and personal fulfillment.

The Challenges of Being Honest

Despite its merits, honesty can be challenging to uphold consistently. It requires courage to confront uncomfortable truths and to communicate them respectfully. Moreover, societal pressures may sometimes incentivize dishonesty. However, the temporary ease gained from dishonesty often leads to long-term consequences that harm relationships and self-esteem.

In conclusion, honesty is a virtue that holds immeasurable value. It is a cornerstone of trust, a guidepost for ethical decision-making, and a testament to one’s character. As challenging as it may be to maintain, the rewards of honesty far outweigh the costs, making it a quality worth striving for in all aspects of life.

500 Words Essay on Honesty

Honesty, a virtue ingrained in us since childhood, is a fundamental cornerstone of our character. It is the quality of being truthful, sincere, and straightforward in our actions, thoughts, and speech. As we delve into the complexities of honesty, we realize its profound implications on our relationships, our society, and ourselves.

Honesty is the bedrock of trust and the foundation of all successful relationships. It promotes openness, empowers us, and fosters trust, thereby strengthening our bonds with others. In a society where honesty prevails, cooperation and collective progress flourish. It is the backbone of a just society, ensuring fairness, integrity, and respect for all.

In an academic setting, honesty ensures a level playing field. It upholds the value of individual effort and merit, discouraging dishonest practices like cheating and plagiarism. It is the commitment to truth that promotes intellectual growth and innovation.

Honesty and Self-Development

On an individual level, honesty is closely tied to personal development and self-esteem. Being honest with ourselves helps us recognize our strengths and weaknesses, promoting self-awareness and personal growth. It encourages us to live authentically, fostering a sense of peace and satisfaction.

Honesty also shapes our moral compass, guiding us in making ethical decisions. It helps us stay true to our values even in challenging situations, reinforcing our integrity and character.

The Challenges of Honesty

Despite its virtues, honesty can sometimes be challenging to uphold. The fear of hurting others, facing consequences, or being judged can often deter us from being completely honest. However, it is essential to understand that honesty is not about being brutally frank or insensitive. It is about communicating truthfully yet empathetically, respecting other’s feelings and perspectives.

Moreover, honesty does not mean divulging every thought or detail. It involves discernment, understanding when and what information is appropriate to share. It is about maintaining transparency without violating privacy or trust.

In conclusion, honesty is more than just a moral virtue; it is a reflection of our character, a testament to our integrity, and a measure of our respect for others. It is the essence of a meaningful life and a harmonious society. Upholding honesty may not always be easy, but its rewards are profound and far-reaching. As college students and future leaders, it is incumbent upon us to foster and uphold this virtue, paving the way for a more honest, fair, and equitable world.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Essay on Homelessness
Essay on Health
Essay on Having a Pet

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Honesty In Writing

Nat Russo August 14, 2014 How-To , Voice , Writing 40 Comments

There are many bits of common writerly wisdom that I tweet on a regular basis using the #writetip hashtag. Some of these nuggets are mine and others are parroting the masters. Most are widely held to be axiomatic, but some are confusing or enigmatic. Such is the limitation of 140 characters.

One of the more confusing writetips deals with honesty in writing .

Above all else, be honest in your writing. Readers sense fakes a mile away. #writetip

Whenever this one comes up in the rotation, I get a flood of questions. I get some heated, sarcastic answers as well, but that’s to be expected from time to time. In general, there’s an overwhelming confusion among aspiring authors about just what it means to “be honest” in one’s writing. I understand this confusion. I once shared it.

It is at once the most simple and most elusive quality to attain. But attaining it is a must! For once you have it, you’ll write with a confidence you’ve never known before. Take this quote from Mark Twain:

About Nat Russo

Nat Russo is the Amazon #1 Bestselling Fantasy author of Necromancer Awakening and Necromancer Falling. Nat was born in New York, raised in Arizona, and has lived just about everywhere in-between. He’s gone from pizza maker, to radio DJ, to Catholic seminarian (in a Benedictine monastery, of all places), to police officer, to software engineer. His career has taken him from central Texas to central Germany, where he worked as a defense contractor for Northrop Grumman. He's spent most of his adult life developing software, playing video games, running a Cub Scout den, gaining/losing weight, and listening to every kind of music under the sun. Along the way he managed to earn a degree in Philosophy and a black belt in Tang Soo Do. He currently makes his home in central Texas with his wife, teenager, mischievous beagle, and goofy boxador.

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Comments 40

Thank you for that insight. I’ve just finished my first novel (it’s with my beta readers now) and I’ve been agonising over what I wrote, ever since I sent it away. My agony has been more extremes, than just about honesty. It has been one question – is this crap or not?

What your article reassured me was that whatever the reaction to my efforts, it is ok…because I wrote it honestly, from inside of me.

My first novel has been like an affirmation of what I always wanted to do but were too scared to actually try, and many of your tips have helped me along the way.

Where do you find the time do so much, on top of writing?

Congratulations on your enormous success. I’ll be honest and admit that initially you used to piss me off with all your news about how well your novel was doing, and then it hit me…I would be absolutely the same if mine took off…WELL DONE THAT MAN!

Cheers Nat.

Thank you so much, Grant! I’m glad you enjoyed the article. And sorry I pissed you off before. 🙂 Haha!

It’s absolutely true that if you’ve written your work honestly, your story will eventually find its audience. It may take time, but it will. People are attracted to brutally honest writers like moths to flame.

Loved the blog Nat, especially the point about self reflection, that really spoke to me as I had a similar revelation not too long ago. It’s something I do more and more the older I get and helps you get to the heart of any matter. And if you can get to the heart of your story (and this is where the honesty comes in as well), you’re well on your way to cracking it! Great stuff.

Thanks, Lee! The more time I spend writing, the more I’m convinced that reflection is one of the ingredients of the “secret sauce”.

I agree in particular about you have to reflected on yourself to be a good writer. I struggle with that sometimes but the truth is you have to be vulnerable if you want to write stories that have an impact on people.

Exactly, Heather. You have to open yourself up and be vulnerable, or else you’ll always pull back right at the point where going forward would have created magic.

This is an amazing post, and probably cuts to the heart of what distinguishes mediocre writing from the good.

I’m really struggling with aspects of several of these right now. I’m writing historical fantasy based on a particularly awful conflict and find myself shying away from violence- not even anything very graphic.

I’m also finding it difficult to put my favorite characters through any significant pain , or have them behave in any way that’s unsavory. It seems I’m trying to avoid going to any and all dark places.

I know it’s because I’m afraid of what I’ll find, but there is no point in trying to tell this story if I insist on leaving out any ugliness.

So true, Christina! You have to dig down and find the strength to explore that darkness.

I have a particularly gruesome scene in Necromancer Awakening, where I put my main character through…well…Hell, really. By the end of it, he’s literally asking for death. That was a difficult one to write. I found that the emotional darkness of my past allowed me to imbue the physical reality of the scene with all the pain I was feeling.

The past can be a treasure trove of emotional expression, if we’re brave enough to go digging in the dirt and explore its depths.

I agree wholeheartedly – but a curious thing happened to me. I decided to re-publish my first two (linked) historical novels from c1990, and began to reflect on that time. So many odd coincidences had occurred in connection with research, writing and publication of same, I thought it would make an interesting memoir. Oh boy! What a revelation to yours truly – that was when I was able to see where those novels had really come from. Yes – from me. As much from my experience of life as my research. They became bestsellers back in the day – and I guess its the emotional honesty as much as the story-line that appealed to people. It was scary though – so much so, I didn’t publish the memoir for fear I’d never write another novel! But like you, I’ve been saying the similar things to aspiring writers. That honesty in the writing is what lifts a story above the mundane.

Ann, thank you so much for sharing that!

When I read over old stories I’ve written, the content I find never ceases to amaze me. Even though we research topics that are story related, we tend to do so with a focus that comes from our life experiences. And when we later inject that research into our story, it’s done so in a way that channels whatever we’ve got going on at the time. 🙂

I’ve noticed even in works-in-progress that my subconscious mind is alive and well. As much of a craft as writing is (and I’m a firm believer we can learn and improve), there is still so much mystery. But I suppose that’s part of what keeps us coming back to the keyboard.

At least I can say it sure isn’t the money… 🙂 Haha!

A wonderful post, managing the impossible: breaking down what honesty means to professional liars! 😀

As you say, it all starts with us being true to ourselves. Whenever we start censoring ourselves, we weaken our voice and betray our readers and our story.

Thank you for another great post!

Haha! We are definitely professional liars! 🙂

I struggled with this one for a while, because “honesty in writing” is one of those ephemeral things that we just sort of know when we see it. I worried over trying to define it, but so many aspiring authors were asking about it, that I had to give it a shot!

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Great, great, post. I hear you.

I’ve been yanked to the woodshed and had my ass set straight. Not much else I can say except thanks for taking time to put your thoughts and experience on the page here.

Spot-on, my man.

Thanks, Terry! I’ve been to that woodshed a few times myself. I always came out better for it. 🙂

NAILED IT! This is the single best blog post on writing I’ve ever read. I’ve felt so often that a lot of published books fell shy of the mark because the author was holding back. Thank you for writing this, Nat! Definitely sharing.

Thank you so much for those kind words, Danielle. And thank you for sharing the article!

Absolutely brilliant post! Great tips here, some I definitely need to remember when it comes to writing my next project! 🙂

Thank you, Mishka!

There are doors I don’t feel comfortable (yet) in opening with my writing. My journal even scares me off occasionally. I’m working on it. Good to know I’m not alone. Kat

You’re definitely not alone, Kat! Keep at it!

Hi Nat, we met on twitter. I’m a fellow writer, and I found this article to be very helpful. I agree a reader can tell if the author is not being honest with their writing. It’s something that I will make sure to keep in mind as I am writing my first novel. I’ve also linked this article to my facebook author page, and given you credit for it 🙂 hope it helps other writers out there!

My Twitter is @qamrosh_khan By the way 🙂

Thanks so much, Qamrosh! I’m glad you found the article helpful!

I completely agree with you here. I’ve only recently tried my hand at the ‘writing for money’ thing, but even I like those stories less than my true stories. I have always written just for me, after I was inspired by a performance or just stories that came from within me. Over the last year I’ve read a lot about how other people make money writing and selling erotica. So I tried it as well. To me, these stories just don’t work. They’re not true, the characters are too flat and they don’t make me any money. The only stories that I do sell are those that were true from within, even though they’re not about billionaires or bikers or fairy tales. It is funny to read stories that I have written a long time ago. It makes me wonder what I was writing or doing at the time, because my language is so different. And even though I am aware of it, even I need to remember to make life harder for my characters. They do not need to be in bed by midnight. Instead of something happening the next day around lunch time, it can happen at 3 am in the morning, no matter how inconvenient and tiresome that would be. It is something I need to be aware of and I need to take distance from now and then. Thank you for your article.

Thanks for stopping by, Liz!

You hit the nail on the head. If you’re writing something you’re not passionate about, the readers will know. Everything you write will feel lifeless because there’s no part of you in it.

Just to add a note to Jumping on the Bandwagon… I think it’s important to respect the genre you’re writing in. If you don’t read and enjoy YA/SF/romance/etc. then DON’T try to write it. You will be wasting your time.

Good point, Nicole. I think a writer has a responsibility to do some due diligence when it comes to research. Without at least some knowledge of the genre, you’ll never know which tropes work, which are overused, etc.

Thank you for this post! It was right on point. Honesty in writing is something I strive to accomplish in my own stories! 🙂

It can be a difficult thing to achieve for many, but I think it’s because the subject can be so hard to nail down. I’m glad you enjoyed the article!

It was great advice. Thanks for posting 🙂

Hey Nat…I came upon this post while researching how to be more honest in my songwriting. I’ve attempted to write longer and do very well with short stories, anything more than that though I just loose steam. I’ve been writing songs for about 20 years or so. I write a lot so can put together a pretty good story when I’ve finished one. People like the story aspect to it, the narrative, but I find that most of my songs have a hint of cheese to them. A guy like Tom Waits for instance, his writing rings true. It sounds like it comes from a place full of broken glass and lopped off fingers, real pain. He does it though without leaving you feel like you want to actually kill yourself, there is a certain optimism to it. Its like even though there’s all this crap out there, he’s going to machine right through because he doesn’t give a shit and thats whats cool about it. HST wrote like that too. Dylan writes like that. I’d like to write like that but when I make that attempt to speak that kind of truth it comes out as bad cheese. Like you said its about finding your truth and not trying to emulate some else’s. I journal just about every day and thats where its all truth, but you can’t put that down into a song… isn’t it too personal and really does anyone give a shit about my issues? Isn’t that what FB is for? Tripe indeed. Anyway i’m sure i’ll find my truth and get down to the depths of my being and bring something up that doesn’t stink, but I haven’t gotten there yet. Thanks for the thoughts though, they all apply to writing lyrics as well. Cheers.

Thanks, Joe!

The way I look at is that I represent a statistically significant portion of the population. So, *I* am my target audience. Turning this around on your songwriting, *you* are your target audience. The best advice I ever received was “be vulnerable”. I imagine that’s even more true for songwriters, because music touches the soul in a way that few other art forms do.

Thank you for an important piece in this big puzzle I’m trying to solve! 😉

While I was reading your post, I was clinging for that last point about emotions! I totally get why you saved it for the end. A couple of weeks ago I had an insight that gave me the creeps. I realized that the process of feeling (actively! consciously!), and to explore one’s own world of feelings might belong to the most underestimated aspects in the lives of so many human beings. I also spent years in my head trying to figure out so many things – and yes, it can be a blessing today, and a curse tomorrow. But there’s a lot more to it. Many people spend way too much time thinking, pondering, instead of trying to establish a stronger connection between their perception/actions/behavior and their feelings! It’s as if the mind is trapped in between, always trying to make sense of the world as an intermediary, with us being trapped in it! Besides, feelings are never constant, there’s always ups and downs, but compared with thoughts, which can be thought and communicated, feelings can be felt and expressed!

Greetings from Germany, keep up the good work!

Thanks so much for stopping by, Stevie! I lived in Germany (Viernheim) from 2003 – 2006 working as a contractor for the US Army in Heidelberg. I miss it so much! I’d move back in a heartbeat. Such a beautiful country!

It is so true about the power of reflection being underestimated. I was fortunate to pick up the regular practice while in the seminary. The Benedictine monks were definitely a reflective group of individuals!

I’m glad you enjoyed the article!

Nat, I attended the first session of a memoir writing workshop the other day and when I read a short piece I wrote about an incident in my childhood where I got caught making mischief. It was not particularly traumatic, just a memory of one of the first times I recall feeling guilty. The workshop leader said “Your writing is brilliant. It’s the kind of writing that sells. But it’s not honest. You have to make yourself vulnerable.” A few others in the group nodded, so I asked, “What do you mean by ‘not honest’?” Nobody spoke up except the leader, who said, “You need to put yourself in a dark room and light candles. Meditate.” Which was insulting since I’ve done that for years, and I keep a journal, and I blog. I’m not a dunce when it comes to self-reflection and I felt belittled. Now I’m not sure if I belong in the workshop. Your article is great but I don’t see myself in it, so now what? And how can my writing be “brilliant” or “the kind…that sells” if it’s “not honest”? Help!

The truth is only you can be the final arbiter of whether or not you’re being honest in your work. Workshops can be tricky to navigate sometimes, because you’ll often find the leader feels obligated to find something…anything…critically wrong with the work they’re presented with. The inherent power differential between “leader” and “attendee” often further compounds the issue. I would share your work with other objective third parties and get their take on it. But, I probably wouldn’t do that with other people at the same workshop. The well may have already been poisoned, so to speak.

It sounds to me like you’re a person given to reflection. That’s 90% of the battle right there. It could be that the leader read something that in her subjective estimation came across as if you were holding something back. But, truly, only you can know if that’s the case. So, my advice would be to take all advice with a grain of salt. 😀

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Hi Nat. I had read somewhere that to be a writer you must be honest about yourself to an extent that is excruciating for you to see on the page. I have just sent my first novel off to my editor. The substance abuse was easy to describe. The aspects of myself that were really hard were; I lived with a fear of being overwhelmed and believed if anyone found out, I would become a committed patient in the hospital where I worked; my moral cowardice when I was bullied at school for being a minister’s son; my constant attempts to wind Mum up about things she felt strongly about; my teenage belief that I had a genius philosopher within me ready to spring forth and surprise the world. I don’t know if the novel is good enough to be published. I may simply print a few copies and give them to friends who will be kind about it. Right now I feel drained and can’t imagine putting myself through such an ordeal again. But then again, I suspect I will not be able to stop myself if another idea surfaces. Your blog about honesty certainly resonates with me. Very inspiring. I will be reading other blogs you put out. David Shapcott

I’m so glad this article spoke to you, David. As far as your novel being good enough, barring any technical editing that needs to take place, you can rest assured that someone out there needs to read that story!

We Need to Do More Research on Honesty

Scientists and philosophers know a lot about why we lie. Now let’s figure out how not to do so

By Judi Ketteler

Aaron Amat Getty Images

Last year, I published a book about honesty , exploring what it means to live a more honest life. I examined my own struggles with honesty, and did my best to translate academic research about honesty and apply it to everyday life. Through interviewing many researchers and reading dozens of studies about ethics, deception, moral character, secrecy, and self-delusion, I learned that we know quite a bit about lying and the reasons people lie in a variety of relationships.

But we know far less about the reasons people are honest.

“From my perspective as a philosopher, honesty is stunningly neglected,” says Wake Forest University philosophy professor Christian B. Miller , author of The Character Gap: How Good Are We? “Almost no work about honesty has been done in philosophy in the last 50 years. It’s been largely overlooked.” And yet, he says, when you ask people what they consider to be the most important virtues, a great majority will include honesty . Courage, patience and kindness may also top the list. Humility, too, perhaps. Chastity, probably not so much. But can you imagine anyone ever leaving honesty off the list?

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So why don’t we know more about what motivates people to be honest? To disclose, to say the true thing, to correct false information, to speak up?

One answer is that in thinking about honesty, we’ve mostly been tuned into deception. By “we,” I mean you and me, and I also mean philosophers and scientists. First of all, lying, or saying untrue things with the explicit intent to deceive people, has been on full display in the form of Donald Trump for the past several years (though he is certainly not the only elected official to practice deception with regularity). We’ve also had a front-row seat watching personalities like Lance Armstrong and Elizabeth Holmes weave their tangled webs. As citizens of the world, we’re obsessed with lying and lies right now—what’s real, what’s fake, and what’s deliberate and deceitful manipulation?

For honesty researchers, the deception focus wasn’t on purpose. Not exactly. There has been a surge of research over the past 15 years in psychology, organizational behavior, behavioral economics and related fields on lying and unethical decision-making. Starting around 2005, investigators developed and refined new methods to examine when and why people lie and cheat to earn money. “Examples include the now classic matrix and die-rolling tasks where people lie about their performance to earn extra money for themselves, and sender-receiver deception ‘games’ where people lie to other participants to earn extra money for themselves,” says Taya Cohen , associate professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. By allowing or provoking people to lie in controlled experiments—methodology that Cohen herself has used in much of her research—researchers can observe, measure and track these behaviors. “This means that lying and cheating can be operationalized in a way that isn’t restricted to people's hypothetical decisions or recalled past behaviors,” Cohen says.

From these and other types of studies, we’ve learned a great deal about how and why people lie. We lie when we think we can get away with it. We lie more in groups , especially if we see other people lying, or we’ve been exposed to a bribe . We lie when the lie—even a lie of self-interest—feels justifiable (it’s only a little bit of extra money). We lie less if we’re reminded to be honest or if we have high moral character or score highly on measures of guilt-proneness or honesty-humility .

In organizations, our lies often are related to preserving some sort of identity , and we lie to protect our reputation, the reputation of someone we support or the reputation of a group to which we belong. In relationships, we lie to spare feelings or avoid awkward situations (but we get really irritated when our romantic partner does the same). We lie to ourselves as well, consistently believing we are smarter than we are . Children are also more likely to lie if they’ve been lied to. We even lie if we’re afraid the truth will look like a lie . And of course, we lie on social media , even if the lies look more like “reshaping” the truth.

These are all extraordinarily helpful findings, with relevant takeaway for nearly any group: bosses, teachers, parents, friends, spouses, voters ( especially voters ). If we understand what motivates and fosters deception, we can better curb those things in ourselves.

I argue in my book that living a more honest life starts with confronting our own deception, instead of simply noticing everyone else’s. For me personally, this has meant paying more attention to what I’m saying and constantly examining my motivations. This started as a more reactionary endeavor (to notice when I was lying), but morphed into a far more proactive one (to continually think about truth). Though both are in service of the same thing—being a more honest person—I have noticed that they don’t feel the same.

This is because they aren’t the same, either in practice or in research. If you set out to study what makes people tell lies, you tend to keep coming up with the same questions to investigate. But if you set out to learn what makes people tell the truth or have the courage to speak up, you will inevitably come up with a different set of questions to investigate. And that could do two things: (1) connect the dots between related research that wasn’t previously linked to honesty since the work didn’t focus on deception, and (2) create an entirely new body of philosophical and scientific research on honesty. “There is so much opportunity for more research about honesty,” Miller says. “And it’s not just an academic matter. There is an obvious real-world relevance and need.”

This is exactly what’s behind the Honesty Project , a $4.4 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to study honesty that Miller and a team of researchers (including Cohen) at Wake Forest and Carnegie Mellon were awarded in August. The project has a three-year timeline that involves funding competitions for Ph.D. academics studying the philosophy and science of honesty, and a conference at the end of the project. Miller will serve as project director (he previously directed the Character Project ) and team members have their own research they will conduct as well. Wake Forest psychology professor William Fleeson will study how to cultivate honesty across the political divide. This is particularly interesting to me because I’ve noticed that in our current climate of political polarization, the people on one side tend to think all the people on the other side are just lying. Even as a person who has engaged with honesty a lot and written a book about it, I still feel this way whenever I hear anything Donald Trump is saying. That he lies is a fact. But are all the people who support him liars who don’t care about honesty? That’s an interesting question.

Cohen’s recent research has been focused on honesty in difficult conversations , particularly the idea that we cannot be both kind and honest at the same time. Through her work with Emma Levine at the University of Chicago, she’s found that we often think being honest with people will be much harder and socially disastrous than it is (in fact, people find that being honest strengthens relationships and social connections more than they expect). She has plans to do more research on honesty and disclosure in difficult situations, hoping to discover concrete, actionable tips that people in organizations can use.

Though letters of intent for proposals are not due until November, Cohen is already hearing from investigators in fields as diverse as political science and computer science. One of the aims of the project is to see what researchers are working on that can be brought into the fold, particularly primary investigators early in their career (the project will give preference to those who are within 10 years of receiving their Ph.D.).

The hope is that through this more specific focus on the virtue of honesty—the virtue we hold as one of the most important virtues, or even the most important one—we can learn more about what motivates people to be honest, how honesty impacts relationships, groups and institutions, and how we can better cultivate honesty as individuals and members of groups and families.

Candidly, my hope is even bigger. I believe that through pouring substantial intellectual and financial resources into the study of honesty, we can be better at everything from disease prevention to racial reconciliation to climate change. Naturally, I’m quite eager to see what these investigators turn up and ultimately present at the 2023 conference. I do already know one thing though: Honesty carries with it an amazing power. It’s not just a shield against deception; it’s a way to change the world.

12 Reasons Why Honesty Is Important In Life

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woman with one hand on her heart and the other in the air illustrating honesty

Honesty is important. That’s a given, right?

Not everyone seems to think so. Lies, deception, and the concealment of truth are commonplace.

But when you actually start to examine the case for honesty, you realize that it’s a far better option than the alternative.

So, here are 12 good reasons why the value of honesty is beyond measure.

1. It underpins trust in a relationship.

Whether you’re dealing with a partner, a friend, a family member, or a colleague, when you are honest with that person, they have a reason to trust you.

If they know that you are a person of honesty and integrity, they won’t need to question what you have to say or look for the underlying motives behind your actions.

They know that you are a straight up kind of person who says what they mean and does what they say.

Compare that to the opposite approach of untruths and half truths which erode trust away, either little by little or all at once.

2. It is easier to understand.

When you are clear in what you truly think or believe, there is no grey area for confusion to grow in.

The other person doesn’t have to second guess what you really mean.

And with clarity comes a better understanding of your expectations of them, should you have any.

They know what you would actually like them to do rather than trying to infer this from the mixed messages you may give when you aren’t being totally honest.

3. You are more likely to get what you want.

The previous point about clarity means that you are more likely to get the end result you are hoping for.

Oftentimes, we conceal our true desires or preferences behind the curtain of “sure” and “fine” and “okay” rather than speak our truth.

But when we are completely honest with ourselves and others, we encourage the right actions that lead to what we want.

When we speak up, the other person is more likely to listen. You may not get your way every time because compromises must often be made, but at least you’ll get your way sometimes or a middle ground will be reached that suits you both.

And being honest is not in any way manipulating people into doing what you want. It’s the complete opposite – it is being transparent and open so that others can take your views and feelings into consideration.

4. It makes space for others to be vulnerable.

Speaking of being open, the great thing about being honest is that it encourages others to be honest too.

And in terms of relationships with other people, openness gives rise to vulnerability and vulnerability gives rise to genuine connection.

Honesty is attractive in that sense because it allows the other person to drop the mask that they may feel they need to wear in life. They are free to be who they are in the knowledge that honesty is rewarded in your company.

5. It shows respect.

When we are honest with someone, we are respecting the fact that they deserve to know the truth.

Not only that, we are respecting the fact that they can handle the truth and don’t need to be told lies just because the truth may be difficult to hear.

Consider the alternative which is to deceive or conceal things from others. That is the very opposite of respect. It communicates that you think you know best what the other person ought to hear, when that’s not your place to say.

6. It almost always leads to the best outcomes in the long run.

Having just mentioned a person’s ability to handle the truth, it is worth pointing out that honesty is not always an easy thing to hear.

It can be difficult to listen to your partner who is telling you that they don’t want to be in a relationship with you anymore. Or a friend who says they think you need professional help for a drinking problem.

Sometimes we lie to ourselves so that we don’t have to face the harsh reality of our situation, and someone else being honest with us can reveal important things we need to address.

Whilst this can sting at the time, it can put us on a different path to someplace better than where we’re currently headed, whether that be a healthier relationship or getting sober.

7. It is simple.

Telling the truth is simple. There is no need to remember what you lied about and to whom. You can be confident that you have said what was true (at least, from your perspective) in the moment you said it.

Now, don’t confuse simple with easy. Being honest is not always easy. In fact, it can often be difficult and uncomfortable when you are telling someone something they might not want to hear.

But because there is no ambiguity in your message, there is little confusion when receiving it. And that makes things much simpler in the long run.

8. It is better for your mental health / inner peace.

Lying doesn’t come easily for most people. When you deceive others, it can feel like you are going against your values or who you want to be as a person.

Not only that, but as soon as you lie, you will live with the fear of that lie being discovered. That’s a mentally exhausting thing.

Honesty, though not always easy, doesn’t carry such burdens. Of course, you may feel slightly bad if you have to tell someone an uncomfortable truth, but that won’t last long.

Being honest means you can rest easy knowing that you have been true to yourself and done what you thought was best in a given situation. And authenticity is a great way to live.

9. It is good for your self-esteem.

Continuing on the mental health benefits of honesty, it helps to make you feel good about yourself.

Your self-esteem is essentially how much you like yourself as a person, and when you are honest, it is a lot easier to like yourself.

Not only that, but when you realize that people like you for who you are and for the honesty you bring, rather than a mask you put on in front of others, it’s empowering.

You can be you, be honest, and still be liked. Maybe not by everyone, but by enough people who matter.

10. It is a demonstration of your character.

There are many other personality traits other than honesty, but positive traits tend to occur together as part of a good character.

When you are honest, it will communicate that you are most likely kind, compassionate, hard working, and reliable.

Consider a liar, on the other hand. They might be tainted with the brush of someone who would cheat or steal or manipulate. Not traits you want to be associated with.

11. It is hard to challenge.

When you aren’t entirely honest with others in what you want, it allows them to challenge you and try to persuade you to their way of thinking.

But when you are honest with someone, they will find it difficult to find the weakness in what you are saying.

For example, if someone asks if you’d like to do something with them and you don’t want to, it is better to state that with crystal clarity rather than say, “Maybe another time.”

Because if your answer isn’t clear, the other person will probably try to twist your arm into doing the thing that you don’t want to do

12. It keeps toxic people away.

Some people live in the shadows of misdirection, concealment, coercion, and outright lies.

Those sorts of people find it hard to ply their toxic trade with those who are honest with themselves and honest with others.

Deception and honesty do not exist well together in the same space, so if you are honest, toxic people are more likely to look elsewhere to get what they want.

About The Author

Steve Phillips-Waller is the founder and editor of A Conscious Rethink. He has written extensively on the topics of life, relationships, and mental health for more than 8 years.

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Essay Samples on Honesty

Reasons to be hardworking, forgiving, honest and trustworthy.

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Kant's Ode To Honesty And Importance Of Honesty

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Honesty Is The Best Policy: The Truth Of The Statement

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Analysis of Characters in The Outsiders by Susan Eloise Hinton

“The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, is a book about the Greasers who find themselves caught in murder, Johnny did murder someone but only out of self-defence. Needless to say, Johnny and Ponyboy go on the run because they know they will be sent to prison...

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Best topics on Honesty

1. Reasons to Be Hardworking, Forgiving, Honest and Trustworthy

2. The Importance Of Honesty And Integrity: Beliefs In Morals

3. Honesty Is The Best Policy: Loyalty And Other Themes Of Asian Literature

4. Kant’s Ode To Honesty And Importance Of Honesty

5. Honesty Is The Best Policy: The Truth Of The Statement

6. Analysis of Characters in The Outsiders by Susan Eloise Hinton

7. The Importance of Honesty and Halting of Lies

8. The Superiority of Honesty Above Lying

9. Correlation of HEXACO Honesty-Humility With Disordered Gambling

10. Honesty and Integrity as a Core for Human Relations

11. What Makes Someone A Hero: Analysis Of Heroes In Different Aspects

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Honesty: A Virtue That Cannot Be Overemphasized

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12 Reasons Why Honesty Is Important In Life

1. It underpins trust in a relationship.

2. It is easier to understand.

3. You are more likely to get what you want.

4. It makes space for others to be vulnerable.

5. It shows respect.

6. It almost always leads to the best outcomes in the long run.

7. It is simple.

8. It is better for your mental health / inner peace.

9. It is good for your self-esteem.

10. It is a demonstration of your character.

11. It is hard to challenge.

12. It keeps toxic people away.

About The Author

Essay Samples on Honesty

The Importance Of Honesty And Integrity: Beliefs In Morals

Honesty Is The Best Policy: Loyalty And Other Themes Of Asian Literature

Kant's Ode To Honesty And Importance Of Honesty

Honesty Is The Best Policy: The Truth Of The Statement

Analysis of Characters in The Outsiders by Susan Eloise Hinton

The Importance of Honesty and Halting of Lies

The Superiority of Honesty Above Lying

Correlation of HEXACO Honesty-Humility With Disordered Gambling

Honesty and Integrity as a Core for Human Relations

What Makes Someone A Hero: Analysis Of Heroes In Different Aspects

Honesty: A Virtue That Cannot Be Overemphasized

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