quotations about integrity
Every one admits how praiseworthy it is in a prince to keep faith, and to live with integrity and not with craft. Nevertheless our experience has been that those princes who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by craft, and in the end have overcome those who have relied on their word.
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI
The Prince
Always stay true to yourself. Some people will like it, some people won't. Life goes on.
CARMELLO ANTHONY
Twitter post, Oct. 14, 2011
I am sure that in estimating every man's value either in private or public life, a pure integrity is the quality we take first into calculation, and that learning and talents are only the second.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
letter to John Garland Jefferson, June 15, 1792
Integrity is a life that does what it does even when no one is looking. Integrity is the transparent soul, the one who sees himself honestly, and shows himself honestly.
DANA C. NEAL
A Rose Grows in the Mist
If complete and total integrity is possible, in life as we know it, there are few examples.
ALVIN W. HOLST
Integrity, Courage and Soul
Keen adversity is the best crucible in which to try a man's integrity.
WILLIAM SCOTT DOWNEY
Proverbs
Our integrity is never worth so much as when we have parted with our all to keep it.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon: Or Many Things in Few Words
When the entire moral energy of an individual goes into the cultivation of personal integrity, we all know how unlovely the result may become; the character is upright, of course, but too coated over with the result of its own endeavor to be attractive.
JANE ADDAMS
Democracy and Social Ethics
The moral grandeur of independent integrity is the sublimest thing in nature.
BUCKMINSTER
attributed, Day's Collacon
I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Nothing more completely baffles one who is full of trick and duplicity himself, than straight forward and simple integrity in another.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
I shall not be deprived ... of a comfort in the worst event, if I retain a consciousness of having acted to the best of my judgment.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
letter to Colonel Bassett, Jun. 19, 1775
Integrity is as difficult to define as, say, identity or love, and for the same reasons. As we intend the term, integrity is nothing less than authenticity, an internal sense of rightness and wholeness. As such, honesty, for instance, is an indispensable starting point, as is the effort to represent oneself accurately, fairly, and reasonably, at home, at school, in relationships with family and others.
MICHAEL RIERA & JOSEPH DI PRISCO
attributed, Right From Wrong: Instilling A Sense Of Integrity In Your Child
Nothing but good can result from an exchange of information and opinions between those whose circumstances and morals admit no doubt of the integrity of their views.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
letter to Elbridge Gerry, May 13, 1797
The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.
ZIG ZIGLAR
attributed, Refining Your Style: Learning from Respected Communicators
To have integrity is to be sound of spirit.
PHILIP JOHN MILLER
Onwords and Upwords: Thoughts from a Quiet Place
Integrity is the ability to stand by an idea.
AYN RAND
The Fountainhead
The great enemy of integrity is not falsehood as such but ... the attractiveness of foreign truths, truths that belong to others.
DAVID NORTON
Personal Destinies: A Philosophy of Ethical Individualism
If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, 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
The Misanthrope
Every man should wrap himself up in the mantle of his own integrity.
HORACE
attributed, Day's Collacon