Quotes About Integrity

MR. CALHOUN.   Never, never. MR. WEBSTER.   What he means he is very apt to say. MR. CALHOUN.   Always, always. MR. WEBSTER.   And I honor him for it.

that quality in me. And I know it wasn't only logic that made me think: I'm never going to write about a crucial election, a pivotal moment in my subject's life, and say that no one's ever going to know if it was really stolen or not until I've done everything I can think of to find out if it was stolen or not.

The air of compromise is rarely appreciated fully by men of principle. C. Vann Woodward

Telling the truth is not a magic formula for having a smooth life. But living a life of integrity is actually easier than living one built around deceit and distortion.

These aspects of masculinity include strength, discipline, courage, passion, persistence, and integrity.

But goodness alone is never enough. A hard, cold wisdom is required for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil.

He's an honest politician--he stays bought.

The slickest way in the world to lie is to tell the right amount of truth at the right time-and then shut up.

My old man says when it's time to be counted, the important thing is to be man enough to stand up.

In terms of morals there is no such thing as 'state.' Just men. Individuals. Each responsible for his own acts.

It's a man's business to be what he is, and to be it in style.

The way to find justice is to deal fairly with other people and not worry about how they deal with you.

A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it—it keeps him upright.

Unless you intend to kill him immediately thereafter, never kick a man in the balls. Not even symbolically. Or perhaps especially not symbolically.

Once a man gets a reputation as a liar, he might as well be struck dumb, for people do not listen to the wind.

But when they began handing out doctorates for comparative folk dancing and advanced fly-fishing, I became too stink in' proud to use the title. I won't touch watered whiskey and I take no pride in watered-down degrees.

Now let me get something straight: you are not in my debt. You can't be. Impossible - because I never do anything I don't want to do. Nor does anyone, but in my case I am always aware of it. So please don't invent a debt that does not exist, or before you know it you will be trying to feel gratitude - and that is the treacherous first step downward to complete moral degradation.

An honest politician is one that stays bought.

contrary to some opinions, it is better to be a dead hero than a live louse. Dying is messy and inconvenient but even a louse dies someday no matter what he will do to stay alive and he is forever having to explain his choice.

Do not confuse duty with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect. But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible.

If tempted by something that feels "altruistic," examine your motives and root out that self-deception. Then, if you still want to do it, wallow in it!

If it has to be done, a man—a real man—shoots his own dog himself; he doesn't hire a proxy who may bungle it.

There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else.

The fact that he had broken his oath more times than there were years intervening did not trouble him; his was not a small mind bothered by logic and consistency.