By Ustaz Mark Bang
The six principles many learned individuals should follow are truth, non-violence, simplicity, faith, selflessness, and respect for an individual. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, gave the proverb, “Honesty is the Best Policy.”
One needs to be honest in everything, whether in saying or doing. Whether at workplaces, at family, market, group, class, or where one lives. It’s deemed senseless and useless if one is distrusted by family in doing or saying. Never promise a wife or child to be providing what you never believe will happen. When you know this or that will not be at hand, stop saying it out. When you want your wife or child to believe in you, please learn to say frankly that I will not do it for a reason being or be realistic in whatever decision you’re taking. Once your child is performing well at school or at home, never promise her/him that you will buy her/him a car if you will never afford to buy the car you promised. When you promise to provide that car, then fight so hard to provide no matter what it means, but I never encourage this to any person in bringing up children in such a way, simply because your child’s thoughts would definitely be controlled by high expectations and, as such, would never know how many challenges you are going through, and for your wife’s case, you need to train yourself to be a different human, a human that takes time to take decisions that wouldn’t be regretted rather.
Here in our country, when politicians sit to discuss politics, they discuss not only the things that would serve the interest of their civil population but also other people’s failures or talk against others, and this is likely to create chaos. Better live a life of honesty, perfection, great integrity, love, and caring for others, as you also wish others to do the same thing to you.
Success is a broad term since a successful cannibal or hired assassin might have very different definitions than a monk or nurse, for example. But in a peaceful society (with folks with very different cultures, beliefs, preferences, and skills), I think the mix of goodness and eudaimonia is the best definition of success. For me, my yearning for perfect inner beauty, inner purity, and inner nobility leads me to embrace and practice goodness.
However, the most important things with honesty are transcendent: a free gift of forgiveness and hoping for the virtuous betterment of the inner child-chooser within ourselves and others. It is unconditional with no expectations in return and frees us and others of our fears so we can gain confidence, understanding, and skill without being angry or defensive. Virtue: truthful, wise, logical, prudent, fearless, trustworthy, praiseworthy, self-restrained, lacking corruption, forgiving, organized, grateful, clean, caring, principled, wisely generous, humble, peaceful, and courageous.
Wisdom: allows us to avoid traps and guides us to success using accumulated insights into what works and what doesn’t work in life and relationships. It also guides us to understand which virtue to use (as with choosing courageous vs. peaceful and choosing logical vs. compassionate). And finding and maintaining ongoing inner fulfillment (the satisfaction that comes via sacrificing and contributing via our effort) will be far more satisfying over time than searching for the next happy experience or feeling.
A major component for developing moral character is honesty. Honesty helps in developing good attributes like kindness, discipline, truthfulness, moral integrity, and more. Lying, cheating, lack of trust, theft, greed, and other immoral attributes have no part in honesty. Honest people are sincere, trustworthy, and loyal throughout their lives. Honesty is valuable, and it is a habit of utmost importance. There are famous quotes, said by a great personality, like “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” It holds good due to its ability to build, shape, and motivate integral values in one’s life.
Honesty is always admirable in the family, civil society, friends, and across the globe. A person with honesty is respected by all. For one to build the character of honesty entirely depends on his/her family values and ethics and his/her surrounding environment. Parents showing honest behavior and character in front of their children create an impact on the children, and we say, “Honesty lies in their genes.” Honesty can also be developed practically, which requires proper guidance, encouragement, patience, and dedication. An honest person is always known for his/her honesty, just like the sun is known for its eternal light and unlimited energy. It is a quality that helps a person to succeed in life and get much respect. It gives identification to the moral character of a person. Dishonest people may easily get trust and respect from other people. However, they lose that forever whenever they get caught.
Being dishonest is a sin in all religions; however, people practice it for their short-term benefits and selfishness. They never become morally strong, and their life becomes miserable. An honest person moves freely in society and spreads his/her fragrance in all directions. Being honest is never meant to bear the bad habits of others or bear ill-treated activities. Everyone has the right to reveal and take action against what is going wrong with him.
Honesty plays an important role in everyone’s life, and it is a character that is visible with open eyes like an open book. Being considered an honest person by society is one of the best compliments one can dream of in his/her entire life. It is the real character a person earns in life by being sincere and dedicated towards it. Lack of honesty in society is doom. It is due to the lack of proper interpersonal relationships between parents-children and students-teachers. Honesty is a practice that is built slowly and patiently, firstly at home and then at school. Hence, home and school are the best places for a child to develop honesty since his/her growing years.
Home and school are the places where a child learns moral ethics. Thus, the education system should ensure to include some essential habits and practices to keep a child close to morality. Children must be instructed right from the beginning and their childhood to practice honesty. Youths of any country are the future of that country, so they should be given better opportunities to develop moral character so that they can lead their country in a better way. For all human problems, honesty is the ultimate solution. Corruption and various problems are everywhere in society. It is because of the decreasing number of honest people. In today’s fast and competitive world, we have forgotten about moral and integral ethics. It is very important and necessary for us to rethink and remodel so that we bring honesty back to society so that everything goes in a natural manner.
Conclusively, the moral ethics of a person are known through honesty, not legacy. In a society, if all the people seriously practice getting honest, then society will become an ideal society and free of all the corruption and evil. There will be huge changes in the day-to-day life of everyone. It can happen very easily if all the parents and teachers understand their responsibilities towards the nation and teach their children and students about moral ethics. People should realize the value of honesty in order to manage social and economic balance. Honesty is an essential requirement in modern times. It is one of the best habits that encourages an individual to be capable enough to solve and handle any difficult situation in his/her life. Honesty acts as a catalyst in strengthening our willpower to face and fight any odds in life. “Public Staunchest Ally”
The writer of this article is a human rights activist, writer, and professional teacher.