Do you find that you often say one thing and then do another? Or perhaps you find yourself agreeing to something that you don’t actually believe is right. When we struggle with decision-making or feel conflicted, it’s often related to our integrity.
Integrity is thinking, saying, and doing things based on our values. When we lack integrity, we make decisions based on personal gain. As you can imagine, this can lower our self-image, make us feel like a fraud, and lead to a strong sense of unfulfillment.
So how do you ensure you live with integrity? The first step is to get clear on what your values are. What is most important to you in life?
Reflect on this question and be completely honest. Don’t choose values you think you should have; choose those that feel right to you. Top tip: your values are what you do without anyone or anything reminding you or prompting you to do them.
To help in the process of aligning your actions with your values, we’re sharing this list of integrity quotes. These famous sayings will remind you just how essential it is to live with honesty and good morals.
1. “Integrity gives you real freedom because you have nothing to fear since you have nothing to hide.” – Zig Ziglar
2. “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” – Billy Graham
3. “Integrity lies in, doing what one speaks; speaking what one does.” – M. K. Soni
4. “It is easy to live for others, everybody does. I call on you to live for yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. “I don’t want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did.” – Henry James
6. “Retire into thyself. The rational principle which rules has this nature, that it is content with itself when it does what is just, and so secures tranquility.” – Marcus Aurelius
7. “Your feelings wouldn’t get hurt if you were honest with yourself” – Tye Lewis
8. “Watch out for your soul before your shape.” – Amit Kalantri
9. “The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character.” – Margaret Chase Smith
10. “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” – Shannon L. Alder
11. “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln
12. “Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” – Cecil Beaton
13. “Know what’s important and what isn’t. Have the wisdom to know the right thing to do, the integrity to do it, the character to stand up to those who don’t, and the courage to stop those who won’t.” – Mark Goulston
14. “Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.” – Will Rogers
15. “I don’t know a more dignified and effective workforce than one operating from a position of worth, integrity, and confidence, as well as one that excels in language of appreciation.” – Tan Sri Francis Yeoh
16. “As you experience changes and breakthroughs, know that integrity, honesty and truth are the highest vibrating energies to guide you forward. Everything else will fall away.” – Molly McCord
17. “Develop your character so that you are a person of integrity.” – Peter Cain
18. “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” – Alan K. Simpson
19. “Be Impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” – Miguel Angel Ruiz
20. “Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort.” – Remember Cedric Diggory
21. “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” – Albert Einstein
22. “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” – Martin Luther King, Jr
23. “You can’t, in sound morals, condemn a man for taking care of his own integrity. It is his clear duty.” — Joseph Conrad
24. “If you want to influence others, the most important thing you can do is be a living example of the principles, ideals, and faith that you advocate.” – Nick Vujicic
25. “As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself. Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.” – Nelson Mandela
26. “The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.” – Zig Ziglar
27. “True confidence is not about what you take from someone to restore yourself, but what you give back to your critics because they need it more than you do.” – Shannon L. Alder
28. “It is easy to speak of bravery, but it is difficult to live the words.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough
29. “It takes less time to do a thing right, than it does to explain why you did it wrong.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
30. “When it comes to our own behavior, we sometimes display an integrity gap between what we believe and how we behave.” – Bob Stone
31. “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.” – Mark Twain
32. “Moral authority comes from following universal and timeless principles like honesty, integrity, treating people with respect.” – Stephen Covey
33. “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” – Samuel Johnson
34. “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.” – Jimmy Carter
35. “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” – C.S. Lewis
36. “Integrity is doing the right thing when nobody’s watching, doing as you say you would do.” – Roy Bennett
37. “Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
38. “Integrity means that you are the same in public as you are in private.” – Joyce Meyer
39. “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” – Oprah Winfrey
40. “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” – William Shakespeare
41. “It takes courage to create a meaningful life of integrity. It also requires good company. And practice.” – Shelly Francis
42. “Having a grateful disposition brings about other virtues, including generosity, compassion, humility, joy, wisdom, trust and integrity.” – Bree Miller
43. “When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.” – Lao Tzu
44. “To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” – Douglas Adams
45. “The qualities of a great man are “vision, integrity, courage, understanding, the power of articulation, and profundity of character.” – Dwight Eisenhower
46. “Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.” – Spencer Johnson
47. “It is true that integrity alone won’t make you a leader, but without integrity you will never be one.” – Zig Ziglar
48. “Most software today is very much like an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves.” – Alan Kay
49. “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.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
50. “Integrity is when what you think and what you say and what you do are one.” – Naval Ravikant
Now you know what is most meaningful for you, write your values down on post-it notes and stick them around your home. Then, look at them whenever you need to choose or decide something and allow your values to guide you.
Whenever you feel your morals are being compromised, return to these integrity quotes. Study them until you know them off by heart so that these words can help you stay true to yourself in any situation.
