What does this quote mean?

“In all you speak, let truth and candor shine.”

Pope treats candor as part of good judgment: accurate criticism should also be spoken with integrity and fairness.

Source note: An Essay on Criticism, in the section describing the moral duties of a critic.

“I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare.”

Frank self-description has limits, but Montaigne still treats increasing candor as part of the value of writing honestly about oneself.

Source note: Essays of Montaigne, Book III, Charles Cotton translation; the surrounding passage discusses fidelity and self-report.

“Insincerity is always weakness; sincerity even in error is strength.”

The claim values genuine conviction over calculated pose in literary work, while allowing that sincere writers can still be factually or critically mistaken.

Source note: The Principles of Success in Literature, discussion of sincerity, Project Gutenberg #10420; preserved as Lewes’s literary-critical principle rather than a universal law.

“speak the speech of honor.”

Honorable speech is presented as expression that can be trusted because it does not depend on concealment, manipulation or a second hidden meaning.

Source note: The Simple Life, Chapter IV, “Simplicity of Speech,” Mary Louise Hendee translation, Project Gutenberg #23092; Wagner contrasts honorable speech with duplicity.

“His honesty is not policy.”

Honesty is distinguished from strategy: a person of character tells the truth because it is right, not merely because truthfulness happens to be advantageous.

Source note: The Power of Truth, opening chapter, Project Gutenberg #56020; Jordan rejects the phrase “honesty is the best policy” as too transactional.

“No legacy is so rich as honesty.”

The line values trustworthy character above possessions or reputation inherited after death.

Source note: All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 3, Scene 5; the line occurs in dialogue that values honest character above material inheritance.