Integrity is the quality of being honest, upright, and principled in one’s actions, thoughts, and dealings with others. It involves consistency between one’s beliefs, words, and actions, as well as a commitment to moral and ethical values even when it’s challenging or inconvenient. Integrity entails doing the right thing, even when no one is watching, and staying true to one’s principles and values regardless of external pressures or temptations. It’s a fundamental aspect of character that builds trust, respect, and credibility both in personal and professional relationships.
Integrity Quotes
1. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
— Maya Angelou
2. “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”
— C. S. Lewis
3. “Integrity is choosing your thoughts and actions based on values rather than personal gain.”
— Chris Karcher
4. “If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.”
— Malcolm X
5. “Don’t try to be different. Just be good. To be good is different enough.”
— Arthur Freed
6. “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”
— Mark Twain
7. “It takes less time to do a thing right than to explain why you did it wrong.”
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
8. “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
9. “Image is what people think we are; integrity is what we really are.”
— John C. Maxwell
10. “There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience.”
— French Proverb
11. “Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”
— Albert Einstein
12. “Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.”
— David Starr Jordan
13. “Everyone makes mistakes, but only a person with integrity owns up to them.”
— Nicole Guillaume
14. “Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”
— Henry David Thoreau
15. “A great man is always willing to be little.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
16. “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
— Abraham Lincoln
17. “The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”
— Norman Vincent Peale
18. “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
— Albert Einstein
19. “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
— Marcus Aurelius
20. “Wisdom is knowing the right path to take. Integrity is taking it.”
— M.H. McKee
21. “The truth is more important than the facts.”
— Frank Lloyd Wright
22. “To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be creditable; to be credible we must be truthful.”
— Edward R. Murrow
23. “What is left when honor is lost?”
— Publilius Syrus
24. “Honesty and integrity are absolutely essential for success in life – all areas of life. The really good news is that anyone can develop both honesty and integrity.”
— Zig Ziglar
25. “Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without integrity, you really want them to be dumb and lazy.”
— Warren Buffett
26. “Character is much easier kept than recovered.”
— Thomas Paine
27. “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.”
— Samuel Johnson
28. “If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?”
— Confucius
29. “Integrity never goes out of style.”
— Jim George
30. “Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.”
— Aristotle
31. “Lead your life so you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip. ”
— Will Rogers
32. “The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out.”
— Thomas Babington Macaulay
33. “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”
— Bob Marley
34. “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”
— Alan Simpson
35. “Courage without conscience is a wild beast.”
— Robert G. Ingersoll
36. “Real integrity stays in place whether the test in adversity or prosperity.”
— Charles R. Swindoll
37. “If we believe a thing to be bad, and if we have a right to prevent it, it is our duty to try to prevent it and damn the consequences.”
— Lord Milner
38. “There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.”
— Tom Peters
39. “Be always sure you’re right, then go ahead.”
— David Crockett
40. “You don’t luck into integrity. You work at it.”
— Betty White
41. “The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.”
— Zig Ziglar
42. “Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done.”
— Colin Powell
43. “Integrity is the ability to stand by an idea.”
— Ayn Rand
44. “A good conscience is a continual Christmas.”
— Benjamin Franklin
45. “Integrity, the choice between what’s convenient and what’s right.”
— Tony Dungy
46. “The supreme quality for leadership is integrity.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower
47. “Excellence is the result of habitual integrity.”
— Lennie Bennett
48. “It’s more important to do the right thing than to do things right.”
— Peter F. Drucker
49. “There is no better test of a man’s integrity than his behavior when he is wrong.”
— Marvin Williams
50. “In the end, your integrity is all you’ve got.”
— Jack Welch
51. “Trust is the byproduct of integrity.”
— Zig Ziglar
52. “Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.”
— Immanuel Kant
53. “To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.”
— Douglas Adams
54. “It is true that integrity alone won’t make you a leader, but without integrity you will never be one.”
— Zig Ziglar
55. “Integrity is the first step to true greatness.”
— Charles Simmons
56. “Honesty and integrity are by far the most important assets of an entrepreneur.”
— Zig Ziglar
57. “Good values are easier caught than taught.”
— Zig Ziglar
58. “Integrity is the most valuable and respected quality of leadership. Always keep your word.”
— Brian Tracy
59. “Without integrity, no company can have positive word of mouth.”
— Jay Abraham
60. “Exercise integrity in the moment of truth.”
— Stephen R. Covey
61. “The time is always right to do the right thing.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
62. “Two things define you: Your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything.”
— Imam Ali
63. “The safest way to try to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want. It’s such a simple idea. It’s the golden rule. You want to deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end.”
— Charlie Munger
64. “When you borrow a man’s car, always return it with a tank of gas.”
— Charlie Munger
65. “Remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets – and can be lost in a heartbeat.”
— Charlie Munger
66. “I think track records are very important. If you start early trying to have a perfect one in some simple thing like honesty, you’re well on your way to success in this world.”
— Charlie Munger
67. “Beware of overconcern for money, or position, or glory. Someday you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will know how poor you are.”
— Rudyard Kipling
68. “Even if the skies were shorter than my knees, I would not kneel.”
— Cyrus the Great