“All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone s feelings.”
“Before speaking, consult your inner-truth barometer, and resist the temptation to tell people only what they want to hear.”
“Be happy, noble heart, be blessed for all the good thou hast done and wilt do hereafter, and let my gratitude remain in obscurity like your good deeds.”
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.”
“There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity”
“Her strength was in the integrity of her actions; she never compromised what she believed she ought to do.”
“You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This is why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero s shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, Appear by all means. And when Florus inquired, But why do not you appear? he answered, Because I do not even consider the question. For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions, and to reckon up the value of external things, is not far from forgetting what manner of man he is.”
“Thousands of years ago the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burnt at the stake he d taught his brothers to light, but he left them a gift they had not conceived and he lifted darkness from the face of the Earth.”
“Truth at last cannot be hidden. Dissimulation is of no avail. Dissimulation is to no purpose before so great a judge. Falsehood puts on a mask. Nothing is hidden under the sun.”
“What do you think dignity s all about? The directness of the inquiry did, I admit, take me rather by surprise. It s rather a hard thing to explain in a few words, sir, I said. But I suspect it comes down to not removing one s clothing in public.”
“Anyone who says he knows God s intention is showing a lot of very human ego.”
“The person of superior integrity does not insist upon his integrity. For this reason, he has integrity. The person of inferior integrity never loses sight of his integrity; For this reason, he lacks integrity.”
“Greed (as Ling): You humans always get all holier-than-thou when it comes to this stuff... I really don t get you. Edward: It s called having integrity. You should try it sometime”
“Whatever does not pretend at all has style enough.”
“Only a man of integrity can possess the virtue of honesty, since only the faking of one’s consciousness can permit the faking of existence.”
“We should not allow our personal values to erode, even if others think we are peculiar.”
“And this, too, affords no small occasion for anxieties - if you are bent on assuming a pose and never reveal yourself to anyone frankly, in the fashion of many who live a false life that is all made up for show; for it is torturous to be constantly watching oneself and be fearful of being caught out of our usual role. And we are never free from concern if we think that every time anyone looks at us he is always taking-our measure; for many things happen that strip off our pretence against our will, and, though all this attention to self is successful, yet the life of those who live under a mask cannot be happy and without anxiety. But how much pleasure there is in simplicity that is pure, in itself unadorned, and veils no part of its character!{PlainDealer+} Yet even such a life as this does run some risk of scorn, if everything lies open to everybody; for there are those who disdain whatever has become too familiar. But neither does virtue run any risk of being despised when she is brought close to the eyes, and it is better to be scorned by reason of simplicity than tortured by perpetual pretence.”