Quotes About Honesty

What's buggin' ye, Amy?" "Can I swear you to secrecy?" "I swear on my mother's grave, my father's ass, and every freckle on my brother's butt that I won't say a word.

Your job as a writer is to say as truthfully as you can what you see and how you feel. Writing is a high-wire act. It's best not to look at the other circus performers but to attend to the wire.

A best friend is there for you when you're down. A best friend acknowledges your feelings, forgives your mistakes, and lets you be whomever you really are. A best friend listens to your truth without judging you, and tells you the truth even if you don't want to hear it. A best friend empowers you to be the person you want to be. You never have to pretend to be someone else when you're with your best friend.

To feel successful, you must be able to be honest about the things that are really important to you.

You know the phrase 'Don't shoot the messenger'?" Edmondson says. "In fact, it's not enough to not shoot them. You have to hug the messenger and let them know how much you need that feedback. That way you can be sure that they feel safe enough to tell you the truth next time.

The real courage is seeing the truth and speaking the truth to each other.

Aim for Candor; Avoid Brutal Honesty: Giving honest feedback is tricky, because it can easily result in people feeling hurt or demoralized. One useful distinction, made most clearly at Pixar, is to aim for candor and avoid brutal honesty. By aiming for candor—feedback that is smaller, more targeted, less personal, less judgmental, and equally impactful—it's easier to maintain a sense of safety and belonging in the group.

A lot of coaches can yell or be nice, but what Pop does is different," says assistant coach Chip Engelland. "He delivers two things over and over: He'll tell you the truth, with no bullshit, and then he'll love you to death.

Spotlight Your Fallibility Early On—Especially If You're a Leader:

none carries more power than the moment when a leader signals vulnerability. As Dave Cooper says, I screwed that up are the most important words any leader can say.

Deliver the Negative Stuff in Person: This was an informal rule that I encountered at several cultures. It goes like this: If you have negative news or feedback to give someone—even as small as a rejected item on an expense report—you are obligated to deliver that news face-to-face.

He delivers two things over and over: He'll tell you the truth, with no bullshit, and then he'll love you to death.

Cooper uses the phrase "backbone of humility" to describe the tone of a good AAR. It's a useful phrase because it captures the paradoxical nature of the task: a relentless willingness to see the truth and take ownership.

I know what I like in other actors: truth. That's the best. It makes you say, 'OK, I'll go with you on this.'

The genuine truth, and I do think about this a lot, is that I'm one of the least competitive people you'll ever meet. Except with myself.

I'm not keen on history being tampered with... to any extent.

I hear much of people's calling out to punish the guilty, but very few are concerned to clear the innocent.

He that hath truth on his side is a fool as well as a coward if he is afraid to own it because fo other mens's opinions.

I am giving an account of what was, not of what ought or ought not to be.

don't think it occurred to me in 1961 that the White House might be lying about what the president had been told.

remember someone saying that we were

see note to p. 249), which I can still recommend

Sometimes situations call for us to act strong and brave even when we don't feel that way, but the payoff is better if we don't pretend when we feel weak or scared so that we allow people to show the kindness that's in them

I think honesty and love help to create the safety that children need to just be children. If we want them to "fix" us, to cure us, to make us better, then we are not being honest with ourselves; we know that children can't heal us or heal our relationships with others. That is beyond their capabilities, and it is certainly not their responsibility.