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Probable attribution
This saying is widely associated with Mahatma Gandhi, but the attribution is not supported by a reliable primary source.
Likely origin: An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth, M.K. Gandhi (1927), Part I (schooldays reflection); reprinted in CWMG.
About this quote
This sets an order of foundations: conduct rests on morality, and morality in turn rests on truthfulness. Strip honesty out and the rest of one's ethics loses its ground, since a life built on pretense can't hold weight once it's tested. Getting truthful with oneself is where any real integrity starts.
When to use it
- A company's fine-print promises collapse the moment customers test them, taking its reputation along.
- A friendship survives a bruising disagreement because neither person lied about how they felt.
- A researcher who reports an inconvenient result keeps his work trustworthy for years afterward.