Character Is Painfully Honest
Character is painfully honest, as I was reminded this week when reading the “apology” of Michael Vick, suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback who plead guilty to a federal dog-fighting conspiracy charge. Do I mean Vick was painfully honest? Not at all. Let’s look at the facts. As do most celebrities charged
Honesty in Government
Mr. Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate, released an ad this week in which he says that government needs honesty. Well – not quite. Mr. Obama said the country needs honesty when it comes to talking about Social Security. Honesty, claims Mr. Obama, is the only way to fix the system.
Honesty Exemplified
Honesty exemplified is a great goal to set. Do you illustrate honesty? Does your life show others what it means to be honest? How honest are you? If you needed money, and found something very valuable, would you try to find the owner – or go for the cash? If
Teaching Honesty As a Character Trait
What is honesty? I’ve written about it other places. Jeremy Rabbit’s Honesty Pie tells children what it is, and Character Education 101, my free e-course for educators, tells teachers the meaning of honesty. Many people, however, don’t really know what honesty is. This past weekend, as I scanned TV program
Hillary Clinton Misspoke – or Did She?
Hillary Clinton misspoke, she says, about the sniper threat when she visited Bosnia in 1996 – twelve years ago. Mrs. Clinton said that it was a rare thing for her to misspeak, telling her listeners on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: “… Last week, for the first time in 12
Honesty Jar
I was thinking today about the merits of an honesty jar. I have no idea of the jar strategy’s origins, but when our two children were in lower elementary school, we ran across this tool for breaking bad habits. It requires only a jar and a supply of coins. We
The Cherry Tree Never Fell…
But someone’s honesty did! Most of us know the story of how George Washington honestly confessed to his father that it was he who had chopped down the cherry tree – but did you know that the story itself is not honest – is, in fact, just fiction? Mason Weems,
What’s The Limit?
How honest should I be? A Japanese saying translates loosely as: “Even to cleverness, there is a limit.” Most things do have a limit, but is there a limit to honesty? How honest should we be? Is it all right to lie about age; income; weight? Is honesty vital when
The Truth, the Whole Truth…
Nothing more and nothing less. In the courtroom, a person must swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Unfortunately, many do not tell the truth in court, and few of those who lie in court are prosecuted – maybe because we all have been
Teaching Honesty Honestly
…requires honesty Most of us are teaching honesty to others, whether formally or informally. The question is: are we teaching honestly? There is a difference between teaching about honesty and teaching honesty. Example 1: “Mr. Kurtz,” second grade teacher, is required to teach honesty in a character education class. Frustrated
