Honesty is the best policy—when there is money in it.

About Mark Twain

Portrait of Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He has been praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced", with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature". Twain's novels include...

More quotations from Mark Twain

You can either hold yourself up to the unrealistic standards of others, or ignore them and concentrate on being happy with yourself as you are.

Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.

Let us take things as we find them: let us not attempt to distort them into what they are not. We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them.

The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane.

We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.

More quotations tagged with “honesty”

Honesty pays, but it doesn't seem to pay enough to suit some people.

—Lois McMaster Bujold

I would rather be accused of breaking precedents than breaking promises.

The day is for honest men, the night for thieves.

—John F. Kennedy

Maybe coming clean is the ultimate selfish act. A way to absolve yourself by hurting someone who doesn't deserve to be hurt.

The best measure of a man's honesty isn't his income tax return. It's the zero adjust on his bathroom scale.

—Arthur C. Clarke

History

11 Jul 2015 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it.