Honesty is not the Best policy ?

No doubt dishonest people are gaining ground but even in such a scenario, there is always a higher place and respect for someone who does not give into pressure and temptations. The respect such people earn , even if they are very few in number , is immense.The others will be looked down for their deeds !

usha manohar wrote:

No doubt dishonest people are gaining ground but even in such a scenario, there is always a higher place and respect for someone who does not give into pressure and temptations. The respect such people earn , even if they are very few in number , is immense.The others will be looked down for their deeds !

 

Exactly. Dishonesty is actually an easy way out. Whenever in doubt, lie, cheat,steal and move on with your life seems to be the trend because it suits everyone and  is so convenient and secondly people are so ambitious that they would do whatever it takes to get to the top . In the process however, they have something to hide because it is something they are ashamed of. An honest person may not( I say may not because I personally know various honest, no nonsense, straightforward people reaching great heights) reach the top but the respect they command can not be matched with anything. It is even more disheartening to see the young people accepting dishonesty as a way of life and as normal . Yet we blame the govt all the time for corruption. A wake up call for the nation I guess!

@Sarala Your reply will never go down well with the people who advocates honesty despite all hurdles posed by dishonest people. Actually, I must admit that it shocked me. I completely second the opinion of @usha manohar. Knowingly, I would never step into the shoes of dishonesty maybe for that I would not get to enjoy some materialistic happiness but that's fine with me.

It is true that honesty may deprive you from mundane luxuries. But some times it may be necessary to be dishonest in order to avoid conflict and an ugly situation. Some times it becomes necessary  for the Doctors to save a dying patient. It is necessary to create hope and keep the patient alive or for recovery

 If one  uses at times dishonest ways for some Nobel purpose, it's OK. But knowingly if one chooses Dishonesty, it is not good

Ultimately it's the individual's choice that counts.

vijay wrote:

Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:

Shampa Sadhya wrote:

Interestingly this thread made me think about the thread "You can hold someone's progress but can't stop for forever" started by Jeets where some opined that whatever the situation be one has to face all odds and keep on marching towards his/her goal. One must not give up under any pressure but here on this thread the opinion completely differed though some of them are the same people. Honesty is definitely not paying positive returns in this corrupt situation but I would say it's the best policy because it gives peace to one's mind and heart as well as keeps the conscience totally clean. Honesty is not required in work place only but at home, among friends, with neighbours and so on is also very much needed. Dishonesty spoils every relationship so I am always in favour of honesty.   

There is a paradox about honesty. even the dishonst expect 'honesty'  from others. A smuggler also likes ;honest enployees'.  In fact, the corrupt and dishonest 'very honestly' share the 'benefit of unlawful income' among themselves. 

The dishonest also want to be treated with respect. A customer of mine was once raided by the IT Dept. and a heavy penalty was to be imposed on him. The matter was 'settled' and he was required to pay a few lakhs to a top IT official. Innocently he took the cash to the officer's office and was about to hand over when the officer admonished him and to him to come to his house in the evening. At the house the officer berated my friend for insulting him by coming to his office and showing disrespect to his rank. He was furious and all this happened in presence of his wife. After venting his anger he asked his wife to collect the cash and store it safely. My friend told me that he even had to apologise for his lapse. It had become a routine affair for the officer. Dishonesty was to be practiced with respect and dignity.

 

One has to be pragmatic. Nobody will generally accept bribe openly. The usual way is send cash in an envelope and hand over carefully. 

 

 

 

rambabu wrote:

It is true that honesty may deprive you from mundane luxuries. But some times it may be necessary to be dishonest in order to avoid conflict and an ugly situation. Some times it becomes necessary  for the Doctors to save a dying patient. It is necessary to create hope and keep the patient alive or for recovery

 If one  uses at times dishonest ways for some Nobel purpose, it's OK. But knowingly if one chooses Dishonesty, it is not good

Ultimately it's the individual's choice that counts.

 

You are contradicting yourself...For  doctor saving life is the only honest thing there is and how can a life saving situation become dishonest? If he has the will he will do it no matter what opposition or red tape there is..Dishonesty and Nobel purpose can never go hand in hand and how is it OK to be dishonest but noble ??? and is the person not knowingly being dishonest to become noble,....It just does not make sense !

That's what I wanted to stress. Ultimately, i agree it's a dishonest. But one has to to lie if and when necessary.

rambabu wrote:

That's what I wanted to stress. Ultimately, i agree it's a dishonest. But one has to to lie if and when necessary.

Honesty is not same thing as telling lies. In fact, to tell lie in interest of duty is honesty. Honesty means doing your job sincerely and if need be tell lie for your performance.  

 

Whichever way you look at it Honesty is the best policy. Rest is all compromise with an specific outcome in mind. Ill gotten gains weigh heavily on one's conscience howsoever normal one may try to appear. One falls in the eyes of near and dear one's who even though they are the beneficiaries do not respect the dishonest. Frankly it is not worth it but yes it is attractive.

rambabu wrote:

That's what I wanted to stress. Ultimately, i agree it's a dishonest. But one has to to lie if and when necessary.

 

Anyway you still dont make sense, we will leave it at that ...

Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:

rambabu wrote:

That's what I wanted to stress. Ultimately, i agree it's a dishonest. But one has to to lie if and when necessary.

Honesty is not same thing as telling lies. In fact, to tell lie in interest of duty is honesty. Honesty means doing your job sincerely and if need be tell lie for your performance.  

I agree. A doctor who does his job sincerely is Honest. And his duty is to save one's life. My opinion is some times it becomes necessary for a doctor to kindle hope in a dying patient. Then there is nothing wrong in lying with the patient. Because the Doctor's ultimate mission is to save the patient.

 Anyhow this is my personal opinion.

 

 

rambabu wrote:

Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:

rambabu wrote:

That's what I wanted to stress. Ultimately, i agree it's a dishonest. But one has to to lie if and when necessary.

Honesty is not same thing as telling lies. In fact, to tell lie in interest of duty is honesty. Honesty means doing your job sincerely and if need be tell lie for your performance.  

I agree. A doctor who does his job sincerely is Honest. And his duty is to save one's life. My opinion is some times it becomes necessary for a doctor to kindle hope in a dying patient. Then there is nothing wrong in lying with the patient. Because the Doctor's ultimate mission is to save the patient.

 Anyhow this is my personal opinion.

Thanks Ram Baboo. But let me add that whatever we write is perosnal opinion. So it is not necessary to tell. 

 

 

 

Even Krishna advised to speak a "lie" honestly by announcing Ashwathama, the elephant, has  died in the Mahabharata.

Speaking blatant lie to put someone in deep trouble or harm a genuine person cannot be appreciated. On the other hand if one says lie for someone's good then it's a different story. I think some or the other way we are getting entwined while discussing this topic. The reason why I say so is, this topic should not be discussed in that perspective when lie is spoken deliberately to save someone's life or to give a little happiness to anyone such as parents do lie to their little ones about Santa Claus but it has no harmful effect because when the child grows up and understands then it all pass by as a fun. We need to discuss and try to motivate each other that negativity is all around but that does not mean we should become dishonest. We all should be prepared for some harsh results for being honest and take it as it comes. Yes, there are people of sick mentality who can go to any extent to take revenge from honest people who cause them despair. That is traumatic and so it becomes difficult to take a decision but practising dishonesty just because it is the present norm then it's awfully wrong.

a lie is said to be good when it is used for the betterment of the people or anybody but when it is used to safeguard anybody to hide his/her evil deeds then it is wrong and it will not be taken in a good sense 

@Shampa is right when she says that dishonesty should not be practiced just because it is the present norm. But the problem is that how many of us can withstand hte pressures to become dishonest. I give an example. I had a junior once come crying into mu cabin. The reason was that his wife was continuously taunting him that the wivesof other employees of the organization had purchased gold and ornaments when their husbands were in the same grade as he was. However the problem was that he was in a dept where their was no overtime and no dealing with outsiders. Employees in many other depts were generating overtime in a planned but dishonest manner and thus drawing much higher take home salaries. My counselling had no effect on him. I had to promise him that if he is able to arrange for transfer to an 'overtime' dept I will relieve him. After some time he indeed got transferred and made peace at home by getting overtime allowances. Thus there are internal and external pressures which also force honest to become dishonest. 

rambabu wrote:

Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:

rambabu wrote:

That's what I wanted to stress. Ultimately, i agree it's a dishonest. But one has to to lie if and when necessary.

Honesty is not same thing as telling lies. In fact, to tell lie in interest of duty is honesty. Honesty means doing your job sincerely and if need be tell lie for your performance.  

I agree. A doctor who does his job sincerely is Honest. And his duty is to save one's life. My opinion is some times it becomes necessary for a doctor to kindle hope in a dying patient. Then there is nothing wrong in lying with the patient. Because the Doctor's ultimate mission is to save the patient.

 Anyhow this is my personal opinion.

 

So where was that doctor wrong in your opinion, was he cheating or being dishonest to his patient? A person is branded as dishonest or a cheat when does something for his personal gain. 

 

 

 

suni51 wrote:

rambabu wrote:

Gulshan Kumar Ajmani wrote:

rambabu wrote:

That's what I wanted to stress. Ultimately, i agree it's a dishonest. But one has to to lie if and when necessary.

Honesty is not same thing as telling lies. In fact, to tell lie in interest of duty is honesty. Honesty means doing your job sincerely and if need be tell lie for your performance.  

I agree. A doctor who does his job sincerely is Honest. And his duty is to save one's life. My opinion is some times it becomes necessary for a doctor to kindle hope in a dying patient. Then there is nothing wrong in lying with the patient. Because the Doctor's ultimate mission is to save the patient.

 Anyhow this is my personal opinion.

 

So where was that doctor wrong in your opinion, was he cheating or being dishonest to his patient? A person is branded as dishonest or a cheat when does something for his personal gain. 

It happened in Ispat General Hospital, the hospital run by Vizag steel plant. The Doctor. I'm sure he has not used dishonest ways for his personal gain. A patient was admitted in the Hospital after a Major accident in the Mines. A crow bar went flying during a mine blast directly in to his body from his back, half inside and half outside. In this condition, the Doctor lied to the victim that not to worry. He will be recovered soon.

Had the doctors said the truth that the patient is going to die, he would have died instantaneously. It's because of this lie lived and leading a happy life. He was given an office job.

 

 

 

 

I think we are a little confused as to role and place of honesty in a civilized order as a civilisational value and virtue. I don't know who coined this slogan of 'Satyameba jayate'. Was he or she an idealistic moron with the head in the clouds ,unfamiliar with the evil-mindedness and crookedness of the real pragmatic world ? Perhaps not.He or she was supremely farsighted to discern that edifice of an immoral and dishonest society is bound to crumble however solid it might look in its exterior - today,tomorrow or day after!!