The 128 most classic philosophical essays in the world

Chapter 57 Honesty is the Best Policy
[China] Feng Youlan

From a social point of view, faith is an important morality.

From a social point of view, faith is an important morality.In Chinese moral philosophy, faith is one of the five constants.The so-called constant means the morality that never changes.The establishment of a society depends entirely on the mutual assistance of its members.To help each other, the members must first be able to trust each other.For example, we don't have to cook for ourselves, but we can have food to eat.It is because there are cooks who cook for us.In this respect, it is the cook who helps us.On the other hand, we pay the cook so that he can support his family, and we help the cook.This is mutual aid.To have this mutual assistance, there must first be mutual trust.We work here and don't worry about whether we have lunch, because we believe that our cook will prepare it for us.Our cook prepares lunch for us because he believes that we will pay him at the end of the month.This is mutual trust.If there is no such mutual trust between us and the cook, if we are untrustworthy people, the cook will not get paid at the end of the month, the cook will not do it; if the cook is untrustworthy, and lunch is not prepared when it should be prepared, We will not dare to use a cook.It is obvious that mutual assistance is impossible without mutual trust.

From the point of view of personal success, having faith is also a necessary condition for personal success.Imagine a person who never speaks properly and always deceives others.He said he would go to a date, but he would not come then.He said he would pay a bill, but he would not pay it back then.If he is so untrustworthy, no one in the society dares to associate with him, and no one can associate with him.If no one in society dares to associate and work with him, if no one can associate with him and work with him, he will not be able to gain a foothold in society, and he will not be able to mix in society.Conversely, if a person speaks, he is always serious and never deceives others. He says he wants to go to a date, and he will definitely come when the time comes.He said that he had to pay back a bill, and he would definitely pay it back when the time came.If so, people in the society must be willing to communicate and work with him.This is a necessary condition for his success.For example, many stores have false prices.Among the many shops, if there is one that is truly "genuine at a price, no one can deceive the old", although this one sometimes cannot take advantage of small advantages, I hope that more people want to buy things at his store than other stores.On the plus side, he's still a bargain.That's why Westerners often say: "Honesty is the best policy."

Heart mark notes
Honesty is the lifeblood of life and the foundation of all values.Life cannot bloom brilliantly from lies.So, when credit is lost, life is lost.

Roosevelt said that being a man of faith is better than being a man of fame.Honesty is a symbol of strength, it shows a person's high self-esteem and inner sense of security and dignity.Chekhov said: "Everything about a person, his face, heart and thoughts, should be good." Then, honesty, as a part of the soul, must be good.When one day honesty and trustworthiness are deeply rooted in the depths of our hearts, it will gradually infiltrate and penetrate into the soul like a spring of water.At that time, honesty will replace pretense, order will replace disorder, simplicity will replace complexity, warmth will replace indifference, honesty will be like a stream of running water, and our lives will continue to last forever.

(End of this chapter)