Honesty

Honesty is a habit. Honesty is a choice. Honesty becomes a character trait over time.

Honesty denotes truthfulness, candour and straightforwardness. Honesty deals with the absence of lying, cheating, deceit and taint.

Honesty forms the basis for integrity. Honesty is “telling the truth”; integrity is “keep your word”. Honesty is “conforming reality to words”; integrity is “conforming words to reality”.

This difference should not minimise the importance of honesty; without this how could we live with integrity? Honesty requires that we give fair consideration and objectivity to form our beliefs and assertions. To give less than our best efforts to understand here, can make us consistent to error.

Yes, a thief can be honest, a liar can be honest, a deceiver can be honest – “just tell the truth”. To “admit” is to ‘tell the truth’ when you’ve been caught out. To “confess” is when you ‘tell the truth’ voluntarily.

Questions:

1. Can honesty be taught, trained or developed in people?

2. Can we teach a person mid-life what their values should be?

3. Should we trust that people can truly change/ rehabilitate?