I have heard of the popular saying "Honesty is the best policy". I never gave the phrase much thought until recently and I wholeheartedly agree with it.
But what exactly does honesty mean? It simply means to tell the truth, to not hide anything, to be sincere. An example of being honest is to give back extra change a cashier accidentally gave to you. By the cashier’s mistake, you could have gotten extra money, a reward from dishonesty. It is situations like this where so many turn to dishonestly for the rewards it can possibly bring. But I realize now that honesty’s rewards are better overall than those of dishonesty.
Two very important things obtained from honesty are truth and being liked. Quite simply, if you are honest to people, they will trust you. Trust is very important in relationships with anyone, especially relationships in a family. If nobody trusts each other in a family, it is bound to collapse. Divorce is inevitable in a family where wife and husband do not trust each other.
In such a family, the children will surely have disciplinary problems and suffer poor grades at school. So much trouble can arise in a family because of its member’s dishonesty.
If you are dishonest to someone and he finds out, you immediately lose his trust. It will take much effort to gain that trust completely back. Maybe the person will never trust you again, even if you completely change your ways. Trust is very valuable and it can be so easily lost by a little deceit.
The people you are honest to will like you as well as trust you. Nobody likes to be lied to or have a secret kept away from him. Many famous and successful people today, from generals to movie stars, to politicians, obtained their position through plain honesty. They became successful because of help from their superiors; the help came because they were honest towards them and gained their trust. It is amazing of what you can become if you gain the trust of people in positions of power.
The two main rewards gained from being honest, namely, trust and being admired, are worth more than dishonesty’s rewards.
I do not blame anyone for ever being dishonest though. There are all sorts of rewards that can be gained from dishonesty, like escaping punishment or obtaining money. I am sure not one person alive has never been dishonest at one point. I have been dishonest in some things, and merely by saying that, I am being honest! But I have realized my mistakes and try to be as honest can much as I can. Dishonesty is plain wrong in my opinion. Even if I am dishonest and obtain something or escape punishment, my conscience will always haunt me. That is not worth any reward I could get by lying.
In conclusion, honesty is truly the best policy. It’s rewards end up being better in the long run than those of dishonesty. However, it is much easier to be deceitful than truthful. But people must realize things gained from honesty like trust and admiration are worth far more than a little extra change. Unfortunately, many do not understand that and must think deeply for a while to do so. Honesty is a virtue that I hope everyone can have.
** The End ****