The Duty and Expediency of Truthfulness
There is no need to dwell on the fact that truthfulness is a duty. Everyone will agree that it is our duty to tell the truth, and that all falsehood and lying is morally wrong. This we admit at any rate in theory, even though we are not always truthful in practice. The ideal of truthfulness is well put in the oath which every witness has to take, that he will “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”. Yet, in spite of this, there is an enormous amount of lying and falsehood; and in this matter” none of us is without sin”.
As to the expediency of truthfulness, however, there may be two opinions. “Expedient” means wise from a worldly point of view ; and it reminds us of the proverb,. “Honesty is the best policy”—a proverb that has a suspiciously worldly flavour. It means that from a worldly point of view it pays to be honest, and that it is expedient or politic to be truthful. Now is this true ? A really honest man will not ask whether honesty pays. He feels he must be honest and truthful even if it brings him loss or suffering, simply because it is right to be honest and wrong to be dishonest.
But does honesty pay ? Probably it does in the long run. In business, for example, a man who deals straightforwardly with the public will generally establish a reputation for fair dealing that will be a fine business asset. People will be glad to deal with a man whose word they can trust; and, though he may not make a fortune, he will have a sound and satisfactory business. On the other hand, there is no doubt that success is often due to trickery, and great fortunes have been built up on dishonesty. Too many rogues have proved by experience that for them dishonesty has been the best policy. Indeed, it seems that worldly success is too often due more to ability, lucky opportunities, and business cunning, than to honesty.
And many examples could be given of men who, from a worldly point of view, have failed because they were truthful and honest. A martyr who prefers to be burnt at the stake rather than deny what he believed to be true, may be a hero; but in the eyes of worldly men, who think only of worldly success, he is a sad failure.
But if we look at such cases from the spiritual point of view—if we believe that truth and righteousness are far more important than worldly success-then, in the highest sense, honesty and truthfulness are in the end the best policy. “For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ?”
