Quotes on Honesty
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601. Friendship; Honesty; Offense
"The resentment produced by sincerity, whatever be its immediate cause, is so certain, and generally so keen, that very few have magnanimity sufficient for the practice of a duty, which above most others exposes its votaries to hardships and persecutions; yet friendship without it is of very little value, since the great use of so close an intimacy is, that our virtues may be guarded and encouraged, and our vices repressed in their first appearance by timely detection and salutary remonstrances."
Johnson: Rambler #40 (August 4, 1750)
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602. Criticism; Friendship; Honesty
"It is decreed by Providence, that nothing truly valuable shall be obtained in our present state, but with difficulty and danger. He that hopes for that advantage which is to be gained from unrestrained communication must sometimes hazard, by unpleasing truths, that friendship which he aspires to merit. The chief rule to observed in the exercise of this dangerous office, is to preserve it pure from all mixture of interest or vanity; to forbear admonition or reproof, when our consciences tell us that they are incited, not by the hopes of reforming faults, but the desire of showing our discrenment, or gratifying our pride by the mortification of another."
Johnson: Rambler #40 (August 4, 1750)
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603. Criticism; Friendship; Honesty
"It is not indeed certain, that the most refined caution will find a proper time for bringing a man to the knowledge of his own failing, or the most zealous benevolence reconcile him to that judgment by which they are detected; but he who endeavours only the happiness of him whom he reproves will always have either the satisfaction of obtaining or deserving kindness; if he succeeds, he benefits his friend; and if he fails, he has at least the consciousness that he suffers for only doing well."
Johnson: Rambler #40 (August 4, 1750)
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743. Honesty
"It is natural to hope that a comprehensive is likewise an elevated soul, and that whoever is wise is also honest."
Johnson: Dryden (Lives of the Poets)
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749. Honesty; Truth
"To revenge reasonable incredulity by refusing evidence, is a degree of insolence with which the world is not yet acquainted; and stubborn audacity is the last refuge of guilt."
Johnson: Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland
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