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By a lie a man throws away and, as it were, annihilates his dignity as a man. A man who himself does not believe what he tells another … has even less worth than if he were a mere thing. … makes himself a mere deceptive appearance of man, not man himself.

— Immanuel Kant Doctrine of Virtue as translated by Mary J. Gregor (1964)

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Honesty

More quotes by Immanuel Kant

Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.

Critique of Practical Reason (1788)

Apart from moral conduct, all that man thinks himself able to do in order to become acceptable to God is mere superstition and religious folly.

There must be a seed of every good thing in the character of men, otherwise no one can bring it out.

The Educational Theory of Immanuel Kant (1904)

Natural science is throughout either a pure or an applied doctrine of motion.

Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (1786)

That all our knowledge begins with experience there can be no doubt.

Critique of Pure Reason (1781)

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You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion.

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False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

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It is better to be poor and walk in integrity than to be stupid and speak lies.

Solomon

Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
My heart detests him as the gates of hell.

Homer Iliad (-750)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Immanuel Kant (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.