Honesty

Honesty

Honesty is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct, along with the absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc. Honesty also involves being trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere.

Definition of honesty

1a : adherence to the facts : sincerity doubted the honesty of the witness

b : fairness and straightforwardness of conduct calling for honesty in politics

Honesty is when you speak the truth and act truthfully.

What is honesty? Many children think honesty means you "don't tell a lie"-- and that is definitely part of being honest. But honesty means more than not lying. A more complete definition of honesty shows that an honest person doesn't do things that are morally wrong. If something you do is breaking the law or if you have to hide what you are doing because you'll get in trouble, you are probably not being honest. So honesty is about speaking and acting truthfully. Let's look at what each type of honesty is.

What is honesty? – the first part of honesty is about what you say

Honesty is speaking the truth. Saying things that aren't true, or that you think might not be true, or that you are making up to hide the truth are all types of lies. Lying is not honest (also called being dishonest) because you are saying something that isn't true.

Examples of what speaking the honest truth means:

Honesty means you don't say things about people that aren't true. You are not being honest if you make up rumors about someone or if you share rumors someone else made up.

Being honest means you admit to your actions, even if you'll get in trouble. You are not being honest if you deny you did something wrong when you really did it.

Honesty means you explain how a situation really happened. You are not being honest if you say something happened one way when it really happened another way.

What is honesty? Honesty is in how you act

When you do something you know is morally wrong, or when you have to hide your actions because you know they are wrong, you are not being honest. Being honest means you act in a way that you know is the right thing to do. (More about good character, morals and how to know "right" from "wrong".)

This part of the definition of honesty includes not hiding the truth (deceiving), not breaking rules to gain an advantage (cheating), and not taking something that isn't yours (stealing) and any other action that you would hide because it is against what you consider morally right.

What is being honest with yourself?

A big part of honesty is what you say and how you act toward others. But another part of the definition of honesty is whether you treat yourself the same way. Being honest with yourself means you really know why you are acting in a certain way or whether what you tell yourself is true.

This part of the definition of honesty includes:

• You are not being honest with yourself if you are trying to convince yourself you didn't really do something wrong, or it wasn't that bad, even though you really did it. 
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Remember, it's always your choice!