Honesty...what is honesty? Many people understand a definition of honesty to be “don’t lie”. But a complete definition of honesty also means that an honest person doesn’t do things that are morally wrong. Let me explain…
When I Googled the word, “honesty” I got adjectives that describe the attributes of an honest person:
Honesty
1. The quality of being honest.
Synonyms: integrity, uprightness, honor, morality, ethics, principles, high principles, righteousness, and right-mindedness.
These are all the words that I speak to you guys about constantly! As your art teacher, I might not be able to make artists of all of you, but I have one year to influence you in other ways.
Living an honest life and always being honest (even if it means that you have to suffer the consequence of a mistake at times) is crucial to living a good and moral life.
I believe that being honest is far more than just ‘telling the truth’. To be an honest person, you must be a person of high integrity, high principles….living a life absent of lying, cheating and theft. Benjamin Franklin once wrote that “Honesty is the best policy” and Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom”.
Honesty means that you don’t say things about people that are not true (don’t spread rumors). Being honest means that if you do something wrong, you admit your mistake and take the consequence of your bad decision. It also means that you don’t hide the truth (deceiving), not breaking rules to gain the advantage (cheating), and not taking something that does not belong to you (stealing).
It is hard to find an honest person…trust me on this! I daily practice the ‘art of honesty” in my life. It is very freeing to be honest. No one can black-mail you, no one can condemn you, and no one can hold it against you if you are just honest.
So I am challenging all my students to try being honest about everything for just ONE week. See how good it feels so that you may desired to add this attribute to your character for life.
Below are some of my most favorite quotes about honesty. I love you guys...honestly! Ms. B.
“You can lie to everyone else, but you can never lie to yourself”.
“The greatest advantage of speaking the truth is that you don’t have to remember what you said”.
“I don’t want perfect, I want honest”.