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Honesty

HONESTY

Honesty is when you speak the truth and act truthfully.

Many children think honesty means you "don't tell a lie"-- and speaking the truth is a big part of being honest. But honesty means more than "not lying." Honesty means your actions are truthful too. If you have to hide what you are doing because you are trying to trick someone, you probably aren't being honest. In simple words, honesty is about both speaking and acting truthfully.

Being Truthful means saying how something really is or how it really happened.

telling the truth based on what actually happened, based on facts and real things (not lying)
telling the whole truth, and not leaving out parts in order to hide something you know is wrong (lies of omission)
acting in a way that is truthful and doesn’t hide the truth or trick others (not deceiving)

Honesty is speaking the truth. Saying things that aren't true, or that you think might not be true, or that you are making up to hide the truth are all types of lies. Lying is not honest (also called being dishonest) because you are saying something that isn't true.

Examples of what speaking the honest truth means:

Honesty means you don't say things about people that aren't true. You are not being honest if you make up rumours about someone or if you share rumours someone else made up.
Being honest means you admit to your actions, even if you'll get in trouble. You are not being honest if you deny you did something wrong when you really did it.
Honesty means you explain how a situation really happened. You are not being honest if you say something happened one way when it really happened another way.

What is honesty? Acting truthfully

When you do something you know is morally wrong, or when you have to hide your actions because you know they are wrong, you are not being honest. Being honest means you act in a way that you know is the right thing to do. (More about good character, morals and how to know "right" from "wrong".)

This part of the definition of honesty includes not hiding the truth (deceiving), not breaking rules to gain an advantage (cheating), and not taking something that isn't yours (stealing) and any other action that you would hide because it is against what you consider morally right.