Honesty is the Best Policy by Allison

Honesty is the Best Policy by Allison - March 2017 Scholarship Essay

What do William Shakespeare and Thomas Jefferson have in common? Their policy on honesty. Shakespeare said, "No legacy is so rich as honesty", and Jefferson was quoted saying, "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom". These two intellectuals were vastly different from each other, and even came from different centuries and lived in different countries; and yet they both agree that honesty is very important. This is why if I were to give a speech to my entire school, it would be about the importance of honesty.
Honesty is a very important thing to value in society. But this begs the question; what is honesty? Honesty is something that seems like a very straightforward concept, right? You just tell the truth. But the truth is different for everyone, and everyone has their limits on what they will say—even if it's the truth. For example, I like to be very blunt with people. I'm the kind of person that, if I were to see celery in someone's teeth, I'd tell them. However, some people think that telling people about this 'celery' is too awkward, and won't say anything. This situation raises up an important question; is staying silent kind, or is it a lie? In my opinion, not telling someone that they have celery in their teeth is just as bad as lying and saying that they don't. When people first meet me, they usually tell me, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" but I think that this is a horrible rule to live by. If you constantly stifle yourself, your opinion will never get out into the world. Something that is disappearing in society is speaking your mind. Everyone posts things on Facebook or Twitter, but they never really speak their minds. This is another thing that honesty can help with.
Telling the truth and speaking your mind might sound like vastly different things, but they're really not all that different. When you tell the truth, you usually have to be brave; especially if you're confessing to something. Being brave is also required when you speak your mind; you can't stifle yourself just because someone might disagree with you. Society is currently crumbling. Very few people actually tell the truth, let alone speak their mind. Walking through a hallway in a high school, you here the words "yeah; same" a lot. This expression is a declaration of passivity that should not be tolerated. Most students have different political views, but they never argue about them because they never tell the truth about their opinion, which means that they are also not speaking their mind. In this way, speaking your mind and telling the truth aren't all that different.
Another prong of the idea of honesty is character. When you are an honest person, you generally have good character. However, there is a difference between being blunt and having good character. A blunt person will speak their mind constantly, and won't care that they are hurting people's feelings. It is important to be blunt sometimes, like when someone is being a jerk and you have to call them on it. However, other times you have to censor yourself. There is an important line to toe, but if you step on either side of it, you'll be punished. Someone who has 'good character' generally toes this line; they know when to tell the truth, and when to just be quiet. When you're in high school, you're still finding this line, but it is very easy to tell when you're off the mark. Being able to be honest means that you have good character, which can get you far in life.
Being honest is very important; it builds character, shows bravery, and gets the truth out in the open. In high school, being honest is generally shunned, but it shouldn't be that way. Being honest should be praised highly in society, unless people are being excessively blunt. Honesty should be valued more in life, and even though you have to be brave to do it, it's worth it. Being honest and building good character are skills that you can continue honing throughout your life, but they are vastly important in high school. If I were to give an eloquent speech in front of my school, I'd want to discuss honesty.