12 thoughts on “One-Liner Wednesday — Honesty”

  9. dolphinwrite September 5, 2021 / 2:43 pm

    There is real honesty and fake honesty. What’s the difference? We can be honest in everyday things, even be known for honesty. Like working hard, providing, all good things. Telling something when something is wrong, like their window’s broken or a decision they’re making will fail. Saying the sky is blue is honest. Telling someone they’ve made a wrong decision, like the money they’re investing will fail because the company is on the way out, is honest. Helping the elderly lady with her grocery bags is honest.
    But, there’s something else I’ve noticed over the years. A person can be honest without being honest at all. I think, and I’ve pondered, as in the last article, after a conversation, honesty is where the heart is. In other words, a person can “fake” being honest by always telling the truth, but true honesty is of the heart. In other words, a truly honest person might struggle with being very honest, saving that for when the time is right. In other words, saying something honest isn’t always honest, timing involved. In other words, what is motivating the honesty?
    I remember saying honesty is its own reward. But I don’t think an honest person is motivated other than doing the right thing, because it is right, like raising their children but not spoiling them. Having discussions about right and wrong, responsibility, but allowing then to think for themselves, corrected when they are wrong.
    Yes, a person can be honest out of a sense of superiority. A person can be honest because they enjoy being seen as honest. A person can be honest even out of the desire to be seen as honest and responsible, yet still not be honest. A person can be honest because they see their own dishonesty, then work towards honesty though the motivation isn’t yet completely honest.
    So, someone might ask, and I don’t have all the answers, what is real honesty? I’ll say it this way. I might say it’s just being honest because the person is honest. Or, I might say, it’s honestly responding to the understanding and realizations that come into our minds. An honest person, as I have seen, is spontaneously honest, often without forethought, for that’s who they are. They don’t have to “fake it.” They just are. And when they see their own “dishonest” moments, they see it, knowing there’s nothing they can do but just see it, and the next time when they find themselves able, they’re honest. No ulterior motive.

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  10. Fandango September 5, 2021 / 10:00 pm

    Honesty has degrees and, as you say, means different things to different people — or even to the same person in different circumstances or situations. Thanks for your comment.

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  11. dolphinwrite September 5, 2021 / 11:39 pm

    I see honesty as simple. It’s honest, meaning truthful in intent, motivation, and purpose. When I shared that people have different ways of “being honest”, I must clarify, then listen to others’ interpretations. But I see honesty as simply honest, that the word defines itself, while we add to share. What I alluded to other ways of “being honest,” were dishonest or disingenuous ways of being perceived honest, or thinking ones self as honest, but in the latter, both or all parties are not honest, but they’re “supporting” the dishonesty of others so they’ll support their dishonesty, in a seemingly honest way. It is amazing and troubling to watch.

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