Honesty is the ____ Policy

Daily Meditation #398–3/30/2023

Just as a snake’s reputation has become to be wary of them as they will bite those who draw too close, do you want your reputation to be similar? That those who work with you, love you, or trust you will be bitten for your own best interests?

Honesty.

I’m sure all of us can pluck a quote or platitude out of the ether about it.

“Honesty is the best policy” is perhaps the most well known.

But, who among us have ever been cornered, asked a tough question and felt compelled to fib, bend the truth, or otherwise lie?

All of us. Every one of us at some point.

Especially when it’s in our best interests!

Just look at politicians — they often have in their own back pockets various “friends” in the forms of $100 bills under the names of donors, stock interests, or even outright bribes.

And they will lie through their teeth — even under perjury — for their interests.

While we may not receive $100,000 tips to lie about things, we do often do so to protect ourselves.

“Yes, we met the quota for new sales,” we might tell our boss, bending the truth to include new sales that still aren’t closed.

“Yes, I got a good grade,” we tell our parents, glossing over the F in a different course.

But here’s the thing:

We should be honest not just despite it sometimes being not in our best interests, but we should be honest especially when it’s not in our best interest.

That’s because that’s integrity, a priceless commodity that cannot be bought or traded.

Look at it through this lens:

You’ll be very dead and in the ground (or on someone’s mantle in an urn) way before you know it.

All the money and false prestige you lie to get, you cannot take with you. In fact, those skeletons will break out of your closets after you’ve gone.

But, your legacy of integrity will certainly be remembered.

What’s even more important is this: how you feel while you’re living now matters.

If you’re an honest, caring, and integrity oriented person, then sure, you may not have Machiavellian’d your way to wealth and fame, but you’ll sleep well and you’ll die well knowing that.

If you’re a dishonest crook who’s lied and cheated your way to riches and (in)fame, then not only are there countless thugs out there who hate you and may wish you ill, but one day, maybe when you’re very old and on your deathbed, you’ll be haunted by your ill-gotten gains and be rife with fear for what lies beyond for you (regardless of religion!).

So, be honest, especially when it’s not in your best interest.

You’ll live with it.

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These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”