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“Truthfulness is at the foundation of all personal excellence.”

Samuel Smiles

Source
Character
Date
1871
Attribution
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Meaning

What does this quote mean?

Personal excellence is grounded in truthfulness because habits of distortion eventually weaken trust, judgment, and the consistency between principle and action.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Character, Chapter I, “Influence of Character,” Project Gutenberg #2541. Smiles places the sentence in his discussion of veracity and reliableness, arguing that talent or genius cannot command durable confidence unless conduct can be trusted.

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Attribution

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This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.

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Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

GrowthHonestyIntegritySelf ImprovementShortTrustTruthCharacter
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Source identified
“truth is truth only when it is in action”
Leo Tolstoy · My Religion · 1885

Tolstoy argues that truth becomes socially consequential when embodied in conduct rather than remaining only an inward opinion or abstract proposition.

Source note: My Religion, Chapter XII; Huntington Smith translation, represented 1885 Crowell edition, Project Gutenberg #43794. In the concluding chapter Tolstoy argues that truth becomes transmissible when embodied in action and brought to individual conscience; the explicitly Christian and social context remains visible.

Source identified
“Lying is the sacrifice of honor to create a wrong impression.”
William George Jordan · The Power of Truth: Individual Problems and Possibilities · 1902

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.

Source identified
“What he says has the ring of sincerity, the hallmark of pure gold.”
William George Jordan · The Power of Truth: Individual Problems and Possibilities · 1902

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.