We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings.
OvidRead
A man is sorry to be honest for nothing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the idea that honesty can be undervalued if it does not bring any reward or recognition.
Ovid's quote suggests that a person may feel regret or sorrow for being honest when there is no tangible benefit or acknowledgment for their honesty. This speaks to the human tendency to seek validation and the often harsh reality that truthfulness may not always lead to immediate rewards. It implies that the value of honesty can be called into question, especially in a society where results and recognition are valued over integrity.
Themes
HonestyRegretTruthValueIntegrity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of integrity in leadership, this quote can be used to emphasize the need for honesty even without reward.
More from Ovid
All quotes βAll things human hang by a slender thread; and that which seemed to stand strong suddenly falls and sinks in ruins.
OvidRead
A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow.
OvidRead
Fas est ab hoste doceri._x000D_ One should learn even from one's enemies.
OvidRead
Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.
OvidRead
The end doesn't justify the means.
OvidRead
Similar quotes
We were romantics in the 1990s and thought that communism was dead. But 10 years passed, and Putin came, and it became obvious that the process is reversible; that communism will, to varying degrees, return again and again.
Svetlana AlexievichRead
Futility Move him into the sun - Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields unsown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds, - Woke, once, the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides, Full-nerved -still warm -too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? -O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth's sleep at all?
Wilfred OwenRead
Experience, already reduced to a group of impressions, is ringed round for each one of us by that thick wall of personality through which no real voice has ever pierced on its way to us, or from us to that which we can only conjecture to be without.
Walter PaterRead
I believe it is universally understood and acknowledged that all men will ever act correctly, unless they have a motive to do otherwise.
Abraham LincolnRead
Decisions are made by those who show up. Don't ever forget that you're a citizen of this world.
Aaron SorkinRead
Where there is no conflict, there is no fault.
LaoziRead