Is Honesty the Best Policy

Since our childhood, we are taught the importance of honesty and why we should be honest. We do try our level best to be honest to our parents, teachers, friends and almost everybody with whom we meet and also succeed in achieving this. However, when we come across, how dishonesty helped some people achieve some great things quickly and in a better way than us, we tend to go the wrong way for quick success. This, in many cases results in creating problems for these people, which sometimes cannot be solved at all. Now, let us discuss - 'Is honesty really the best policy' by considering various situations.

Importance of Honesty

To understand why is honesty the best policy, you need to understand the importance of honesty. Honesty is essential in each and every thing we do in order to create a good impression and ensure the other person that we are capable and trustworthy. Whether you are a student, a teacher, a doctor, a businessman or an employee, honesty takes a person a long way in the journey of life. Even if you find it difficult to perform well at your place of work or in studies, honest and sincere people are given many chances to prove themselves in their fields. In case of dishonest people, second chance is very rare to come by because the society feels that he will keep on repeating his mistakes. Thus, this is a lesson to those people who think that honesty is not the best policy.

The honesty is the best policy quotes of eminent thinkers suggest that, one can gain respect in the society only by being honest. People adore only those who make consistent hard efforts to achieve their targets and overcome all the obstacles which may come in their way. Resorting to any kind of dishonest behavior such as corruption, using malpractices or deceiving others can permanently ruin our public image. If this happens, then such people will not have the courage to face those people who are honest and this will result into being isolated and thrown away from a group. By staying aloof and lonely, the overall progress and personal development of dishonest people gets affected, and thus giving rise to the feelings of frustration, anger and discontent. These feelings are such that they drive a person to committing a crime or a wrong thing again. Thus, once we enter the viscous circle of dishonesty, it becomes very difficult to come out of it and lead a normal life. However, the answer to the question - is honesty the best policy is YES, because instead of living a life under constant fear, we can live it with pride and honor with our head held high, if we follow the path of honesty. Thus, being dishonest for a small gain is really not worth in the long term perspective considering the evils through which we have to go once we drift away from the right path.

There are several examples of people whose lives have been ruined because they were dishonest. As they say - slow and steady wins the race, so be true to yourself and also to others by being honest and stop making attempts to make it big in life in a short period of time. Dishonesty can result into severe punishments such as imprisonment and in the process, people end up losing the most precious days of their lives in fighting legal battles.

Is Honesty the Best Policy Always!

The answer to this is again YES, but there is also the other sign of the coin which we should consider. Sometimes, there are situations wherein you have to be dishonest to save yourself or someone else when we know that the person is innocent. In such cases, speaking lies may not come under 'Dishonesty' as we are not doing anything wrong. Thus, it depends entirely on the situation, and intelligent people realize and know how to deal with a difficult situation by not compromising on their principles and ideals. However, a dishonest way to protect yourself should not be made a habit and you should recall the values taught to you, if you feel like going with the wrong way by proper self control.

Thus, we conclude that honesty is the best policy to enjoy a good and respectable life. Honesty indeed takes a person to the level where he deserves to be.