Honesty is the best policy
Meaning: Being truthful is always the right approach.
Origin: Despite the frequent credit to Benjamin Franklin, the phrase was in use long before him. Sir Edwin Sandys, later a leading figure in the Virginia Company, wrote in his survey of European religion Europae Speculum (1599) of "our gross conceits, who think honesty the best policy." The Anglican archbishop Richard Whately later gave it a sly twist: honesty is the best policy, but a man who acts on that principle is not an honest man.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: L'honnêteté est la meilleure politique (literally: Honesty is the best policy)
- Spanish: La honestidad es la mejor política (literally: Honesty is the best policy)
- Japanese: 正直は最善の策 (Shōjiki wa saizen no saku) (literally: Honesty is the best strategy)
- German: Ehrlich währt am längsten (literally: Honest lasts longest)
More proverbs about Morality
- You reap what you sow — Your actions determine your outcomes.
- An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind — Revenge only creates more suffering.
- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you — Treat people the way you want to be treated.
- Don't bite the hand that feeds you — Don't harm those who help you.
- People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones — Don't criticize others if you have the same faults.
- The road to hell is paved with good intentions — Good plans are worthless without follow-through.
From our idioms
- Schwein haben — Getting unexpectedly lucky — rooted in medieval tournaments where the last-place finisher…
- Da liegt der Hund begraben — That's the crux of the matter.
- Die Daumen drücken — To wish someone good luck (like crossing fingers).