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“A lash like mine no honest man shall dread,”
Pope’s satirical persona claims that his criticism is aimed at vice or folly rather than honest conduct, presenting moral discrimination as the defense of satire.
Source note: Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot; the line introduces the Sporus passage and is part of Pope’s self-justifying argument about the proper targets of satire.
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“Lie not one to another.”
The short instruction makes honesty a basic requirement of life with other people.
Source note: Colossians 3:9 in the King James Version; the opening command is quoted here.
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“Before him, I may think aloud.”
The line describes the relief of a friendship in which thought can be expressed openly before it is polished for public judgment.
Source note: Emerson continues his description of sincerity between friends in the essay Friendship.
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“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.
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“Lying is the sacrifice of honor to create a wrong impression.”
The sentence defines lying through intended deception: honor is traded away in order to make another person believe something the speaker knows is false.
Source note: The Power of Truth, opening chapter, Project Gutenberg #56020; Jordan contrasts truthful dealing with deliberately creating a false impression.
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“What he says has the ring of sincerity, the hallmark of pure gold.”
Sincerity is presented as a recognizable quality of speech that grows from consistency between what a person knows, believes and chooses to say.
Source note: The Power of Truth, opening chapter, Project Gutenberg #56020; the “pure gold” comparison belongs to Jordan’s description of sincere speech.