Nikos Kazantzakis Quotes

Human beings have a vested interest in being trustworthy.

I value my reputation. I work hard to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

Honesty is not necessarily the best policy. The best policy would be to acquire a reputation for honesty and then to cheat at the psychological moment.

I never did anything dishonest.

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.

It is true that integrity alone won't make you a leader, but without integrity you will never be one.

At the end the day because I believe so strongly in leadership, what I look for first, what I try to assess, is integrity.

Live so that your friends can defend you, but never have to

A dominion then, whose well-being depends on any man's good faith, and whose affairs cannot be properly administered, unless those who are engaged in them will act honestly, will be very unstable. On the contrary, to insure its permanence, its public affairs should be so ordered, that those who administer them, whether guided by reason or passion, cannot be led to act treacherously or basely.

It is never good for a politician to have to defend his credibility.

Great nations like great men must keep their word.

When you speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your trust... Withhold your hands from striking, and from taking that which is unlawful and bad.

In business, everything starts with integrity. Otherwise it falls apart, though it does take time to find out who has integrity.

Remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets - and can be lost in a heartbeat.

Honest people will respect us for our merit: the public, for our luck.

Above any commercial success one might enjoy, one's reputation for honesty is the most important thing

If you have no character to lose, people will have no faith in you.

Integrity is what you do when no one is watching; its doing the right thing all the time, even when it may work to your disadvantage.

A good man will never suspect his friends of shady actions: this is part of his goodness. A good man will never be suspected by the public of using his goodness to screen villains: this is part of his utility

A man is already of consequence in the world when it is known that we can implicitly rely upon him. Often I have known a man to be preferred in stations of honor and profit because he had this reputation: When he said he knew a thing, he knew it, and when he said he would do a thing, he did it.

All you have in life is your reputation: you may be very rich, but if you lose your good name, then you'll never be happy. The thought will always lurk at the back of your mind that people don't trust you.

Personal integrity implies such trustworthiness and incorruptibility that we are incapable of being false to a trust or covenant.

Our culture does not teach us this, but what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas. If you cheat in Vegas, it comes right home with you. If you cheat in Vegas, you walk home as a cheater. You lie awake at a night a cheater. You cannot escape it.

Would you want to do business with a person who was 99% honest?