William Makepeace Thackeray Quotes

The first requisite of a gentleman is to be true, brave and noble, and to be therefore a rebuke and scandal to venal and vulgar souls.

What is it to be a gentleman? Is it to be honest, to be gentle, to be generous, to be brave, to be wise, and, possessing all these qualities, to exercise them in the most graceful outward manner? Ought a gentleman to be a loyal son, a true husband, an honest father? Ought his life to be decent, his bills to be paid, his taste to be high and elegant, his aims in life lofty and noble?

And what, incidentally, do you think integrity is? The ability not to pick a watch out of your neighbor's pocket? No, it's not as easy as that. If that were all, I'd say ninety-five percent of humanity were honest, upright men. Only, as you can see, they aren't. Integrity is the ability to stand by an idea.

All I want is a gentleman. I'm sick to bloody death of bastards.

Conscience - the only incorruptible thing about us.

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

I really don't care with whom you sleep. I just care what kind of a decent human being you are.

I would like to think that I'm a gentleman and a nice guy.

The most important thing for me, when somebody asks me what I class as being a success, is being a decent human being.

Gentlemen cherish worth; the vulgar cherish dirt. Gentlemen trust in justice; the vulgar trust in favor.

An honest man nearly always thinks justly.

Do what is right, not what you think the high headquarters wants or what you think will make you look good.

Honesty is telling the truth to ourselves and others. Integrity is living that truth.

Integrity is honesty carried through the fibres of the being and the whole mind, into thought as well as action so that the person is complete in honesty. That kind of integrity I put above all else as an essential to leadership.

Nothing speaks louder or more powerfully than a life of integrity

People do peculiar things in life and they do for whatever reason but I think one of the greatest crimes in life is when you lie.

I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things.

I think it's just too much trouble to be dishonest and keep up with yourself.

Integrity simply means a willingness not to violate one's identity, in the many ways in which such violation is possible.

So, I think that's the centerpiece of morality: Don't lie. But to do that, you have to go a step further and find out what the truth is.

Public esteem is the recompense of honest men.

What I'm trying to do is be righteous. And when I say “righteous,” I don't mean God. You know? God- Righteous. I mean just when I wake up, I know I was honest to myself.

A person who is fundamentally honest doesn't need a code of ethics. The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount are all the ethical code anybody needs.

Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.

The good I stand on is my truth and honesty.