Is honesty always a virtue?

Nicholas King said:Brutal honesty is really just selfishness wrapped up in a thin layer of self-righteousness.

Yeah, well, I hadn't really looked at it from that angle before—good point, actually. There's definitely some truth to that.

Honesty is a true virtue—an incredibly expensive gift that one simply doesn't waste on cheap people!🙂

Those shallow individuals actually mistake an honest person for being naive! To them, lying is considered a skill! On the other hand, I can say with absolute certainty that I could never, ever bring myself to associate with people who would look me straight in the eye and lie without blinking!

Being totally upfront has been a huge help lately, especially over these last few months.

As for the people who don't really value my honesty? Well, I’m still giving them a little more grace for now. It’s funny, though—some folks who didn't appreciate my transparency before have actually changed their tune about me recently. Honestly, seeing that shift gave me such a boost to keep working on myself.

Life is just too short to spend it in situations where you can't just be your authentic self, right?

Nicholas King said:Brutal honesty is really just selfishness wrapped up in a thin layer of self-righteousness.

Honesty isn't "brutal," reality is... if you gotta sugarcoat things, you're just lying to yourself or everyone else... maybe people lie because they straight up can't handle the truth...
honestly, you need actual guts to be real.

Even honesty can be destructive if you overdo it. Doesn't excessive transparency just feed into some massive ego or a self-righteous complex?

True value lies in being honest with yourself instead..

Paul White80 said:Even honesty can be destructive if you overdo it. Doesn't excessive transparency just feed into some massive ego or a self-righteous complex?

True value lies in being honest with yourself instead..

Look, honesty is just delivering the truth. People might hate it, sure, but it isn't inherently destructive... it might blow things up in the moment or cause some drama for a while, but eventually, the truth always comes out!

Kenneth Wood9 said:Look, honesty is just delivering the truth. People might hate it, sure, but it isn't inherently destructive... it might blow things up in the moment or cause some drama for a while, but eventually, the truth always comes out!

I suppose I agree to an extent. But let’s be real: the motives behind this "truth-telling" can be totally unbalanced or even toxic. What if someone is just using the "truth" as a smokescreen to climb some social ladder or assert dominance? Is that really about honesty?

Paul White80 said:I suppose I agree to an extent. But let’s be real: the motives behind this "truth-telling" can be totally unbalanced or even toxic. What if someone is just using the "truth" as a smokescreen to climb some social ladder or assert dominance? Is that really about honesty?

Yeah, could be that too! Look, I'm not claiming I'm always 100% honest... honestly, I even get annoyed at myself sometimes when I tell people exactly what they want to hear just to keep the peace. But I still think you gotta aim for honesty. Lying isn't exactly a minor thing... it's right up there with the heavy stuff.

Kenneth Wood9 said:Yeah, could be that too! Look, I'm not claiming I'm always 100% honest... honestly, I even get annoyed at myself sometimes when I tell people exactly what they want to hear just to keep the peace. But I still think you gotta aim for honesty. Lying isn't exactly a minor thing... it's right up there with the heavy stuff.

I try to be honest, but when I voted in the poll saying it’s sometimes better to lie, it’s because people often can't handle the truth straight up. Then I end up being labeled as difficult, stubborn, or harsh—even though I wasn't actually lying about anything. People just say, "That sounds harsh." Honestly, who cares if someone thinks I sound blunt? 🙂 Besides, what defines the truth? And what makes it painful? No one ever seems to have an opinion on that. 🙂

Jerry Bishop4 said:I try to be honest, but when I voted in the poll saying it’s sometimes better to lie, it’s because people often can't handle the truth straight up. Then I end up being labeled as difficult, stubborn, or harsh—even though I wasn't actually lying about anything. People just say, "That sounds harsh." Honestly, who cares if someone thinks I sound blunt? 🙂 Besides, what defines the truth? And what makes it painful? No one ever seems to have an opinion on that. 🙂

Can I jump in? Truth hurts because we all have this "image" of ourselves we carry around. It's rarely 100% real, right? We hide our insecurities and frustrations under wraps... then someone comes along, drops their version of reality on you, and suddenly you're offended. And what happens? You just avoid them. Meanwhile, the suck-ups feel like heroes... there's that old saying 😛keep your enemies close because they'll tell it to your face... so yeah... you gotta deal with it
but a real friend? They'll serve it to you slowly... bit by bit...
The real truth is being exactly how everyone else sees you—but the question is, who are "everyone else"? Are they experts or just a bunch of crazy people? It's a loop...

I’ve always found the whole "honesty equals truth" premise to be total nonsense.🤔

Someone can be completely sincere while judging or criticizing someone else based on nothing but half-baked facts. They might truly believe their own version of events, but they could still be miles away from reality.

So, trying to grab hold of some absolute truth and shouting it from the rooftops? It just doesn't work. There isn't one single, perfect truth sitting in a specific spot or taking one specific shape. It’s always out there somewhere...

That’s why I think there's no point in all this endless yapping and self-justification. Real honesty comes from within; you live it. An honest person is someone who lives by their own code, someone who has shed the burden of mimicking others and feels zero need to explain themselves or prove anything to anyone because they've already set their own standards.

Paul White80 said:I’ve always found the whole "honesty equals truth" premise to be total nonsense.🤔

Someone can be completely sincere while judging or criticizing someone else based on nothing but half-baked facts. They might truly believe their own version of events, but they could still be miles away from reality.

So, trying to grab hold of some absolute truth and shouting it from the rooftops? It just doesn't work. There isn't one single, perfect truth sitting in a specific spot or taking one specific shape. It’s always out there somewhere...

That’s why I think there's no point in all this endless yapping and self-justification. Real honesty comes from within; you live it. An honest person is someone who lives by their own code, someone who has shed the burden of mimicking others and feels zero need to explain themselves or prove anything to anyone because they've already set their own standards.

Truth isn't about what you believe... it's an undeniable fact. You can't tailor it to fit what you need... truth is one thing... it was, is, and always will be.

Kenneth Wood9 said:Truth isn't about what you believe... it's an undeniable fact. You can't tailor it to fit what you need... truth is one thing... it was, is, and always will be.

Wait, how is it not about belief? Look, you basically construct your own version of "truth" based on your biases, how you were raised, your environment, and a million other things. Eventually, those views get so deeply rooted that you mistake them for absolute reality, and you end up filtering everything through that lens. The only truths that are truly indisputable are natural phenomena—like the sun coming up or trees growing. Everything else is open to interpretation because the human mind and our senses are pretty limited. We barely grasp even a fraction of what's actually going on.

Richard Wells said:Wait, how is it not about belief? Look, you basically construct your own version of "truth" based on your biases, how you were raised, your environment, and a million other things. Eventually, those views get so deeply rooted that you mistake them for absolute reality, and you end up filtering everything through that lens. The only truths that are truly indisputable are natural phenomena—like the sun coming up or trees growing. Everything else is open to interpretation because the human mind and our senses are pretty limited. We barely grasp even a fraction of what's actually going on.

We can't even fully wrap our heads around the laws of nature. One "because" just triggers a thousand more "whys." Absolute truth is always slipping through our fingers, mocking us for being so arrogant to think we could ever truly grasp it.

We don't even need to aim for that. You live for the moment, not for some absolute truth 🙂

I didn't think we actually knew the truth about everything, but some things are just facts. Like, if it's raining, it's raining... that's a fact. But all that other stuff—history, culture, religion, social norms? That’s mostly just consensus. It changes based on whatever vibe is happening at the moment, so it isn't exactly "truth"... I'm not even trying to claim I can grasp some absolute cosmic reality... I just care about being real in everyday life. We're all so fake sometimes just because we're scared or want to fit in. Most people just take the path of least resistance and don't make a scene... but you pay for that eventually. In different ways...

Honestly, we’re probably our own biggest liars. Most of the time, we just lie to ourselves because being real is terrifying, and honestly? It’s way easier to just stay stuck in a comfortable, predictable routine. Being honest with yourself is a massive flex because it takes actual guts to embrace change.

Richard Wells said:Honestly, we’re probably our own biggest liars. Most of the time, we just lie to ourselves because being real is terrifying, and honestly? It’s way easier to just stay stuck in a comfortable, predictable routine. Being honest with yourself is a massive flex because it takes actual guts to embrace change.

Preach. 👍

I mean, honestly? I think being brutally honest is actually a sign of weak character. Like, if someone is just constantly unfiltered and always tells it like it is, you can look at that two ways—it could be a good thing, sure, but it could also just mean they’re being rude or have zero filter. Personally, I feel like it might not even be about character flaws, but maybe just... I don't know, a lack of intelligence? Sometimes you just gotta keep your mouth shut. You really need to have at least a little bit of common sense and pragmatism in life, you know?

Richard Wells said:Honestly, we’re probably our own biggest liars. Most of the time, we just lie to ourselves because being real is terrifying, and honestly? It’s way easier to just stay stuck in a comfortable, predictable routine. Being honest with yourself is a massive flex because it takes actual guts to embrace change.

That feeling of uncertainty or being totally lost? That's what holds us back. It's like a barrier blocking the path ahead.

So much of life just ends up spinning in circles, a repetitive loop that's happened way too many times before...