By Kim Jeong-kyoo
A couple of years ago, I met a man in his late 40s at our apartment council meeting. He appeared to be your regular type of a guy whom you might meet on the street. But as time passed by, he started to reveal his real identity: He was a chronic liar.
He was ready to lie at any moment in which he thought he needed to get what he wanted. Eventually, people around him began to leave him out in the cold, which prompted me to reflect on the meaning of honesty.
Unflinching honesty is a cardinal human virtue. I think that without honesty and integrity, we cannot reach genuine happiness. Of course, the will to live honestly can leave us in momentary trouble, but integrity will eventually bring us authentic happiness.
Honesty implies being truthful. Honest souls will not lie; they will always tell the truth. This virtue or merit works as a strong point that prods people into believing that we are trustworthy and faithful. Honesty is a great asset that yields success in life. People like honest people they can trust. To put this another way, if we are not honest, no one will willingly help us, let alone love us.
If we have integrity, we will always behave ourselves, following the rules. This integrity, in turn, brings us peace of mind. Or rather, we will not feel pangs of guilt associated with past wrongdoings.
Importantly, if we live honestly, we don't need to struggle to deal with shameful secrets, which is a real burden. Trying not to reveal guilty secrets leaves us strained, forcing us to remain wary and anxious. This effort deprives us of every chance to feel relaxed, pushing us to experience enormous distress and tragedy.
Admitting or confessing to dishonesty takes plenty of grit. Telling the truth can be painful. We need to stay prepared to accept the pain of remaining honest. To not be a cowardly liar, we need courage and must tell the truth.
To earn and further raise our reputations for reliability, we need to honor our promises. Denying or retracting what we've said can drive people to believe that we are neither honest nor dependable. Doing deeds that do not match with words means that we are faithless and fickle. If we are not responsible for our own words or cheat people, we will soon find ourselves in hot water.
Dishonesty may appear to save us at that instant, but if we lie, we will come to tell another lie to defend a previous lie. This keeps going, coercing us to continue to lie. It's a vicious circle.
Indeed, no secret refuses to emerge. We'd better stay honest and tell the truth from the start on every occasion. This virtue will help us lead a decent life without incurring much anxiety and anguish.
We live in an unfair world, and life is unfair. Still, the unfairness of life cannot go on to defend and justify dishonesty. We don't want others to deceive or cheat us. Just the same, others want us to stay true to and be candid with them. More importantly, sticking to integrity, we will feel as free as birds, enjoying real bliss.
The author (kimjstar@hanmail.net) lives in a rural village near Seoul, studying and teaching golf.
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He was ready to lie at any moment in which he thought he needed to get what he wanted. Eventually, people around him began to leave him out in the cold, which prompted me to reflect on the meaning of honesty.
Unflinching honesty is a cardinal human virtue. I think that without honesty and integrity, we cannot reach genuine happiness. Of course, the will to live honestly can leave us in momentary trouble, but integrity will eventually bring us authentic happiness.
Honesty implies being truthful. Honest souls will not lie; they will always tell the truth. This virtue or merit works as a strong point that prods people into believing that we are trustworthy and faithful. Honesty is a great asset that yields success in life. People like honest people they can trust. To put this another way, if we are not honest, no one will willingly help us, let alone love us.
If we have integrity, we will always behave ourselves, following the rules. This integrity, in turn, brings us peace of mind. Or rather, we will not feel pangs of guilt associated with past wrongdoings.
Importantly, if we live honestly, we don't need to struggle to deal with shameful secrets, which is a real burden. Trying not to reveal guilty secrets leaves us strained, forcing us to remain wary and anxious. This effort deprives us of every chance to feel relaxed, pushing us to experience enormous distress and tragedy.
Admitting or confessing to dishonesty takes plenty of grit. Telling the truth can be painful. We need to stay prepared to accept the pain of remaining honest. To not be a cowardly liar, we need courage and must tell the truth.
To earn and further raise our reputations for reliability, we need to honor our promises. Denying or retracting what we've said can drive people to believe that we are neither honest nor dependable. Doing deeds that do not match with words means that we are faithless and fickle. If we are not responsible for our own words or cheat people, we will soon find ourselves in hot water.
Dishonesty may appear to save us at that instant, but if we lie, we will come to tell another lie to defend a previous lie. This keeps going, coercing us to continue to lie. It's a vicious circle.
Indeed, no secret refuses to emerge. We'd better stay honest and tell the truth from the start on every occasion. This virtue will help us lead a decent life without incurring much anxiety and anguish.
We live in an unfair world, and life is unfair. Still, the unfairness of life cannot go on to defend and justify dishonesty. We don't want others to deceive or cheat us. Just the same, others want us to stay true to and be candid with them. More importantly, sticking to integrity, we will feel as free as birds, enjoying real bliss.
The author (kimjstar@hanmail.net) lives in a rural village near Seoul, studying and teaching golf.
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