Judith Martin Honesty Quotations

'Honesty' in social life is often used as a cover for rudeness. But there is quite a difference between being candid in what you're talking about, and people voicing their insulting opinions under the name of honesty.

Honesty has come to mean the privilege of insulting you to your face without expecting redress.

In its natural state, the child tells the literal truth because it is too naive to think of anything else. Blurting out the complete truth is considered adorable in the young, right smack up to the moment that the child says, 'Mommy, is this the fat lady you can't stand?

Smart people duck when they hear the dread announcement 'I'm going to be perfectly honest with you.

Honesty is a virtue, but not the only one. If you're in a courtroom you need the whole truth and nothing but the truth; in the living room, sometimes you need anything but. Often.

Dishonesty is not the only alternative to honesty. There is also the highly underrated virtue of shutting up.