Honesty Honestly Spiritual NL July 11

         Hello, I'm visiting the Spiritual Newsletter again. I was here some time ago, and I'm glad to return.

Viv

Facing Honesty Honestly

         Let's first look at what some say about honesty (http://www.quotegarden.com/honesty.html):

         If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. ~Mark Twain

         Who lies for you will lie against you. ~Bosnian Proverb

         Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure there is one less rascal in the world. ~Thomas Carlyle

         No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar. ~Abraham Lincoln

         When you stretch the truth, watch out for the snapback. ~Bill Copeland

         We tell lies when we are afraid... afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger. ~Tad Williams

         People who are brutally honest get more satisfaction out of the brutality than out of the honesty. ~Richard J. Needham

         A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent. ~William Blake, "Auguries of Innocence," Poems from the Pickering Manuscript

         The interesting quotes above caused me to think about honesty and what it really means, how it's used, why it's important.

         First of all, honesty makes or breaks relationships. I've had "friends" that didn't know how to be honest. They might lie to me, or they might go behind my back and spread stories to hurt me. The stories might have a grain of truth or none, but the lack of honesty destroyed what "friendship" may have at one time existed.

         A character in a book can become interesting to the reader if the writer weaves this dishonesty into his or her personality. Conflicts can build and lead to an exciting climax. However, in real life, the conflict caused by dishonesty destroys.

         A lack of honesty in relationships results in confusion. If one person stretches the truth or manipulates it, whether to "please" another or to protect privacy or to avoid conflict, the other person will be confused because of the lack of an "honest" foundation to the relationship.

         Such actions on the part of a person in a story helps create a plot, but in reality, it causes relationships to dissolve.

         However, sometimes people use honestly to wound, to harm. Everyone has heard another say, after being brutally honest in such a way that a person is hurt, "I'm just being truthful." The motivation behind such "honesty" is to hit a person emotionally, leaving pain.

         I heard the saying all my life, ""Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and erase all doubt." I believe it's better to remain silent and not say anything than to deliberately use the truth to harm someone else.

         Yes, at times we might fail to tell the whole truth, when telling it would only hurt and not help, but as many of the quotes state, if we are honest, we have less to fear than if we're not.

         Does honesty apply only to words spoken? No way. We can be dishonest by stealing: taking credit for something not ours, words written by another, art created by someone else, or by picking a person's pocket. We can be dishonest by doing something and blaming a friend, enemy, or family member.

         We can be dishonest by omission as well as by commission. If we deliberately leave some facts out of what we say, knowing that the listener or reader will draw the wrong conclusion, we're dishonest.

         Being kindly honest, though, makes life much more comfortable for all around us, including ourselves.

         Leaving dishonesty in stories, poems, and novels makes for a better world.

Honesty, or not, from W.Com

         Please read and send honest, kindly honest, reviews for the following:

Invalid Item  [] # by A Guest Visitor

HONESTY: The Best Policy  [E] #1270285 A short story on honesty which involves a man called Richards by samogtemog

The Crab, The Boy And The Apple  [E] #1262701 A childrens story of faith,love and honesty by John T NightOwl

What People Value  [ASR] #1235922 A poem about how people value quite different things. by Harry

Invalid Item  [] # by A Guest Visitor

HONESTY  [E] #1138985 Honestly speaking.... by SHERRI GIBSON

Invalid Item  [] # by A Guest Visitor

I hope I gave you some thoughts to consider, and that you decide that honesty is the best policy IF the motivation and delivery is what it should be.

Thank you for allowing me to share with you. Please support the regular editors of the Spiritual Newsletter.

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