honesty

Nothing more completely baffles one who
is full of tricks and duplicity than straight-
forward and simple integrity in another.

Charles Caleb Colton

   

It's not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.

Francis Bacon

      
With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble.  Courage is the foundation of integrity.

Keshavan Nair
  

Integrity is not a conditional word.  It doesn’t blow in the wind or change with the weather.  It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a person who won’t cheat, then you know you never will.

John MacDonald


A life lived with integrity--even if it lacks the trappings of fame and fortune--is a shining star in whose light others may follow in the years to come.

Denis Waitley

  
   
Integrity is praised and then left out in the cold.

Junius

   

Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right; decide on what you think is right and stick to it.

George Eliot

  

Integrity simply means not violating one's own identity.

Erich Fromm

   

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If humanity does not opt for integrity we are through completely.
It is absolutely touch and go.  Each one of us could make the difference.

Buckminster Fuller
  

Integrity is what we do, what we say, and what we say we do.

Don Galer

  

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless,
and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.

Samuel Johnson

   
In all things preserve integrity; and the consciousness of your
own uprightness will alleviate the toil of business, soften the
hardness of ill-success and disappointments, and give you
a humble confidence before God, when the ingratitude of
people, or the iniquity of the times may rob you
of other rewards.

Barbara Paley
  

If you believe in unlimited quality and act in all your business
dealings with total integrity, the rest will take care of itself.

Frank Perdue

  

  

The integrity of people is to be measured by their
conduct, not by their professions.

Junius

  

Integrity is the first step to true greatness.  People love to praise,
but are slow to practice it.  To maintain it in high places costs
self-denial; in all places it is liable to opposition, but its end is
glorious, and the universe will yet do it homage.

Charles Simmons

  

The glue that holds all relationships together--including the relationship
between the leader and the led--is trust, and trust is based on integrity.

Brian Tracy

  

A person is not given integrity.  It results from the
relentless pursuit of honesty at all times.

unattributed

  

Let us be true:  integrity is the highest maxim of art and of life,
the secret of eloquence and virtue, and of all moral authority.

Henri Frederic Amiel

  

  
You cannot drive straight on a twisting lane.

Russian proverb
   

A little integrity is better than any career.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

  

To have integrity one must be consistently honest and trustworthy in
everything one does. . . . When you have integrity, people know you
will do what you know is right. . . . It's knowing what you have to do
without someone telling you to do it.  It is the core of a
person's--and a company's--reputation.

Dick Kovacevich

  

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Living with integrity means:
  • Not settling for less than what you know you deserve in your relationships.
  • Asking for what you want and need from others.
  • Speaking your truth, even though it might create conflict or tension.
  • Behaving in ways that are in harmony with your personal values.
  • Making choices based on what you believe, and not what others believe.

Barbara DeAngelis

  

Integrity is not something that grownups have and adolescents
can aspire to.  Integrity is something that all of us,
at all ages, are constantly striving for.

Harold Kushner

  

Rabbi Safra was saying his morning prayers when a customer came
to buy his donkey, so he did not respond when the buyer made
his offer.  Taking the rabbi's silence as a rejection, the man upped
the price.  When the rabbi remained silent, the buyer substantially
added to his bid.  But Rabbi Safra remained silent in prayer.

After the rabbi finished, he said to the buyer, "I had decided
to sell you my donkey at the first price you spoke of, but I did not
want to interrupt my prayers to talk to you.  So, you may have
the donkey at that price--any other offers I will not accept."

Aha of Shabha

   

Right is right, even if everyone is against it;
and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.

William Penn

   

If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart
were just, frank, and kindly, the other virtues would be
well-nigh useless, since their chief purpose is to make us
bear with patience the injustice of our fellows.

Moliere

   
    
Deep inside, our integrity sings to us whether we are listening or not.
It is a note that only we can hear.  Eventually, when life makes us ready
to listen, it will help us to find our way home.

Rachel Naomi Remen
My Grandfather's Blessings
   

If you have integrity, nothing else matters.
If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters.

Alan Simpson

   

I never did, or countenanced, in public life, a single act inconsistent
with the strictest good faith; having never believed there was one code
of morality for a public, and another for a private man.

Thomas Jefferson

   

  

Does one's integrity ever lie in what one is not able to do?
I think that usually it does, for free will does not mean one
will, but many wills conflicting in one person.

Flannery O'Connor

   

I have seen people behave badly with great morality and
I note every day that integrity has no need of rules.

Albert Camus

  

Have the courage to say no.  Have the courage to face the truth.
Do the right thing because it is right.  These are the magic keys
to living your life with integrity.

W. Clement Stone

  

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Perhaps losing integrity with yourself is the greatest stress of all,
far more hurtful to us than competition, time pressure, or lack of
respect.  Our vitality is rooted in our integrity.  When we do not live
in one piece, our life force becomes divided.  Becoming separated
from our authentic values may weaken us.

Rachel Naomi Remen

   

Integrity requires that I discern what is integral to my selfhood, what fits
and what does not--and that I choose life-giving ways of relating to the
forces that converge within me:  Do I welcome them or fear them, embrace
them or reject them, move with them or against them?  By choosing integrity,
I become more whole, but wholeness does not mean perfection.  It means
becoming more real by acknowledging the whole of who I am.

Parker J. Palmer
The Courage to Teach

   

If you wish to discern either the presence or absence of integrity,
you need to ask only one question.  What is missing?
Has anything been left out?

M. Scott Peck
The Different Drum

As soon as we think with integrity we will realize that we are all
properly stewards and that we cannot with integrity deny our
responsibility for stewardship of every part of the whole. 

   

  
The desire for self-esteem without integrity is like the desire
for wealth without effort--a longing for the unearned.

Nathaniel Branden
Self-Esteem Every Day
 

If one is to move to the top and be entrusted with command decisions,
there must be a plus factor, something that takes mere ability and doubles
or trebles its effectiveness.  To describe this magic characteristic
there's only one word:  integrity.

Basically, the word means wholeness.  In mathematics, an integer is a
number that isn't divided into fractions.  Just so, a person of integrity
isn't divided against him or herself.  They don't think one thing and say
another--so it's virtually impossible for the person to lie.  They don't
believe in one thing and do another--so one is not in conflict with one's
own principles.  It's the absence of inner warfare, I'm convinced, that
gives a person the extra energy and clarity of thought
that make achievement inevitable.

Integrity really means having a certain built-in set of attitudes.

Arthur Gordon
Wonder

  

No matter what the circumstances are, it is best to pursue behavior
that is above reproach, because then you will be respected for your actions.

Rosa Parks

   

      
   

Found online:
 

 
(Found online images come from a variety of unattributed
sources from various social media pages.  They're too nice
not to share!)

   
    

Yes, life can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's actually rather dependable and reliable.  Some principles apply to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning.  I use it a lot when I teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.  What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or generous, compassionate or arrogant?  In this book, I've done my best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life, writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.  Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too!
Universal Principles of Living Life Fully.  Awareness of these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration out of the lives we lead.