Tell an honest story first.
In the riverside park in new york, there is a monument to the soldiers killed in the Civil War, and many tourists come to pay homage to the dead every year. General Grant's grave is located in the north of the park. He was the 18 th president of the United States and the commander-in-chief of the Union Army during the Civil War. The mausoleum is tall, majestic, solemn and simple. There is a large green lawn behind the mausoleum, which extends to the boundary of the park and the edge of the steep cliff.
Behind General Grant's mausoleum, closer to the cliff, there is also a children's mausoleum. This is a tiny and ordinary grave, and you may ignore it anywhere else. Like most American graves, it has only a small tombstone. On the tombstone and nearby're signs, there is a touching story about honesty:
The story happened on 1797 more than 200 years ago. This year, when the little owner of this land was five years old, he accidentally fell off the cliff here and died. His father was heartbroken and buried him here and built such a small mausoleum as a souvenir. A few years later, family fortune fell and the old owner had to transfer the land. Out of love for his son, he made a strange request to the future landowner. He asked the new owner to take the child's mausoleum as a part of the land and never destroy it. The new owner agreed and wrote this condition into the contract. In this way, the child's mausoleum was preserved.
Times have changed, and a hundred years have passed. I don't know how many times this land has been sold or how many owners have changed. The child's name has long been forgotten by the world, but the child's tomb is still there. According to one sales contract after another, it was completely preserved. 1897, this land of geomantic omen was chosen as the cemetery of General Grant. The government became the owner of this land, and the tomb of the Unknown Son was preserved intact in the hands of the government and became the neighbor of Grant General Cemetery. The grave adjacent to the grave of a great historical creator and the grave of an unknown child may be a unique miracle in the world.
One hundred years later, 1997, in memory of General Grant, Giuliani, then mayor of new york, came here. It happened to be the centenary of the establishment of General Grant's mausoleum and the bicentennial of the child's death. Mayor Giuliani personally wrote this touching story and carved it on the wooden sign, standing next to the tomb of nobody, so that this honest story can be passed down from generation to generation. ...
The meaning and essence of honesty and credit
The category of honesty consists of two concepts: "sincerity" and "faithfulness". Sincerity means sincerity and honesty; Faith refers to trust, credit and trustworthiness. As a scientific moral category, "honesty" and "faith" are the products of modern society. In modern society, the marketization and internationalization of economy, the democratization and legalization of politics, the diversification of culture and the modernization of communication methods all highlight the value of honesty and require its practice. We can define honesty as the sum of psychological consciousness, principles and norms and behavioral activities that meet the requirements of the development of modern market economy, are closely related to modern economic contractual relations and democratic politics, and inherit the traditional virtues of honesty and trustworthiness. We should grasp the essence of honesty from the following aspects:
First of all, honesty is a kind of sincere and realistic attitude and trustworthy behavior quality that people must have in their life, life and practice. Its basic requirements are telling the truth, doing honest things and being honest. Honesty is sincerity and loyalty; Honesty means keeping your word and keeping your promise, which is the basic quality and character that modern people must and should have. Under the condition of market economy, only by establishing the moral quality of honesty and trustworthiness can people adapt to the requirements of social life and realize their own life value.
Secondly, honesty is a kind of social moral principle and norm, which requires people to guide their behavior with the principle of seeking truth and being pragmatic, and treat all work with the attitude of knowing and doing. In modern society, integrity not only refers to the commercial integrity between citizens and legal persons, but also includes social public integrity based on social justice, such as institutional integrity, national integrity, government integrity, enterprise integrity, organizational integrity and so on. In other words, any government and system should be organized and constructed according to the principle of good faith, and should also exercise its functions and powers according to the principle of good faith. Once it deviates from the principle and spirit of honesty, the government will lose faith in the people and the system will become an unreasonable burden.
Thirdly, honesty is the dialectical unity of individual and society, psychology and behavior. Honesty is essentially the unity of virtue ethics and normative ethics or belief ethics and responsibility ethics, and the unity of deontology and utilitarianism, teleology and means theory. If "sincerity" emphasizes the sincerity of one's inner belief and is a kind of conduct and virtue, then "sincerity" is the externalization of this inner moral character and a kind of responsibility and norm. There is a saying in the history of China called "Sincerity in China, Faith in Foreign Countries". Honesty is not only a moral purpose, a belief that people should have, but also a moral means, a social responsibility that people should bear, and a way to seek and realize benefits. Honesty can be axiological and utilitarian, as well as deontological and deontological. The theory of value and the utilitarian view of honesty regard honesty as a kind of value and a means to achieve goals, and believe that without honesty, people cannot achieve their own development and perfection, and it is difficult to obtain long-term and real benefits. The view of honesty in deontology and deontology regards honesty as an obligation and an inherent requirement, and holds that people attach importance to honesty is the need to improve their own quality and realize all-round development. Even if it can't bring material benefits, it is still precious. We advocate the combination of deontology and utilitarianism on the issue of honesty. We regard honesty as a means of making profits and promoting development, and as a sacred mission and inherent obligation, which makes honesty noble and practical, great and ordinary, and embodies the value characteristics of "extremely bright and moderate" advocated by China traditional culture.
In a word, honesty is the foundation and origin of all morality. It is not only a personal virtue and quality, but also a social moral principle and norm; It is not only an internal spirit and value, but also an external reputation and resource. Honesty is the embodiment of morality and the guarantee or source of utility.
There are different types and forms of honesty. From the vertical historical coordinates, we can divide honesty into natural honesty in primitive blood society, family or interpersonal honesty in medieval agricultural society and public honesty in modern contract society. The natural integrity of primitive consanguineous society is manifested in the connection with consanguineous relationship, which arises from the needs of production and life within the original group, and the consanguineous group is the behavioral boundary of similar groups. In primitive society, where the level of productivity development is extremely low, individuals are completely dependent on blood groups, and naturally have loyalty and credit to blood groups, so "keeping promises and cultivating friendship" has become the basic code of conduct of primitive people. Moreover, this natural honesty is closely related to natural unity and courage, primitive collectivism and so on. The natural factors of honesty at this stage are more than social factors, and it is hazy, chaotic and lacking in ideological content as a whole. Honesty in medieval agricultural society is family or interpersonal honesty related to the dependence of status and rank. Agriculture-based economy is a self-sufficient and closed inward-looking economy, which is limited by narrow space-time and communication. It relies on family ties and "acquaintance society" for production, exchange and consumption. People live in an acquaintance society, and thus form moral principles and norms such as honesty to maintain this acquaintance society. In such a society, people have different status levels and different rights and obligations, so the content, nature and methods of honesty are different. In modern market society, honesty is characterized by contract. An essential difference between modern society and traditional agricultural society is from identity to contract, from acquaintance society to stranger society, from personal attachment to personal independence. Modern market economy is an open and export-oriented economy, which links production and consumption through exchange. It breaks the kinship between people, breaks the traditional geographical restrictions and makes the "acquaintance society" enter the "stranger world". In such a society, the integrity of commodity exchange can only be carried out under the protection of laws and systems by relying on contracts and contracts. With the development of market economy, the norm of honesty has developed from subconscious to explicit ideology, and it has become increasingly clear and specific, becoming the most basic and universal criterion for regulating social relations.
From the perspective of horizontal realistic coordinates, we can divide the integrity of a society into economic integrity, political integrity and cultural integrity. Economic integrity refers to the integrity in economic life and material civilization construction, which is directly related to profit and credit, mainly manifested in the integrity of enterprises. Market economy should be honest economy, and honesty is the soul of market economy. As a borrower, whether it can gain market trust depends on its solvency; As an operator, whether it can gain the trust of investors depends on its operational ability; As an agent, whether you can gain the trust of controlling other people's assets depends on your ability to bear the asset responsibility to others according to law; As a laborer, whether he can gain the trust of the labor market depends on his professionalism and professional ability. With the rise of new trading methods such as e-commerce, online trading and futures trading, the spirit of credit ethics has become an important foundation for the healthy development of market economy. Experience at home and abroad shows that the more developed the market economy is, the more it needs to strengthen credit ethics, which is a prerequisite for integrating into the world economy and participating in international economic competition. Therefore, Franklin said, "Credit is money." Credit, trust and reputation are the passport of modern economic activities, as well as the power source and superior capital to ensure its success. Modern credit is the solemn commitment of the main body of economic activity to its own behavior and the positive evaluation of its performance by all walks of life. Credit includes professional credit in the sense of borrowing capital (including commercial credit, bank credit and consumer credit) and social credit in general economic activities. Trust is an economic relationship between two parties to a transaction based on credit. Only trustworthy enterprises can gain the trust of the public and have a good business environment. Reputation is the sublimation of general credit relationship. A trustworthy enterprise has a high reputation in the market and can be favored by other enterprises and consumers. Reputation is the spiritual wealth and value resource of an enterprise, a place and even a country, and even becomes a special capital. A reputable enterprise has a good image and high popularity in the market, which is itself a huge intangible asset. Economic integrity includes production integrity, exchange integrity, distribution integrity and consumption integrity, which are embodied in economic decision-making, economic activities and economic evaluation.
Political integrity refers to the integrity in political life and political civilization construction, which is mainly manifested in government integrity. Honesty should be emphasized in governing the country. Zi Gong was a student of Confucius. He asked Confucius how to govern the country. Confucius summarized it as "sufficient food, sufficient soldiers and people's trust." Zi Gong asked which of the three must be removed and which one to go to first. Confucius replied without hesitation: "To join the army." Zi Gong asked which of the two items should be removed: "having enough food" and "being trusted by the people". Confucius replied, "Eat." In Confucius' view, "there has been death since ancient times, and the people cannot stand without faith." Building people's trust in the government is more important than a strong army and adequate food for the "establishment" of the country. Xunzi also had a profound understanding of this. He believes that the law is strong if it wins the trust of the people, and the country is weak if it does not win the trust of the people. Therefore, the purpose and foundation of governing the country should be to establish faith. In modern society, political democratization has become a trend, which requires standardizing the behavior of the government and its officials according to the principle of good faith, increasing the transparency of government behavior, avoiding administrative monopoly and black-box operation of administrative work, making government affairs open, administering according to law, and establishing an honest government. In addition, political integrity also includes the integrity of political activities and political systems.
Cultural integrity is the integrity in cultural life and spiritual civilization construction, which is mainly manifested in educational integrity and academic integrity. In contemporary China, developing advanced culture means developing national, scientific and popular socialist culture facing modernization, the world and the future, constantly enriching people's spiritual world and enhancing people's spiritual strength. To build an advanced socialist culture, we must adhere to the direction of serving the people and socialism, adhere to the policy of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend, arm people with scientific theories, guide them with correct public opinion, shape them with noble spirit and inspire them with excellent works. To this end, it is necessary to strengthen the civic moral construction focusing on honesty and trustworthiness, implement the moral standards and systems of honesty and trustworthiness in all walks of life, and resolutely eradicate dishonest behaviors in the spiritual and cultural fields.
The function and function of honesty
In social life, honesty not only has the functions of education, encouragement and evaluation, but also has the functions of restraint, standardization and adjustment. Personally, honesty is a noble personality force; For enterprises, honesty is a valuable intangible asset; As far as society is concerned, honesty is a normal production and living order; As far as a country is concerned, honesty is a good international image.
First, honesty is the foundation of an individual. Honesty is a moral quality and character that an individual must possess. If a person does not have honest moral character and quality, it is not only difficult to form a complete self with internal unity, but also difficult to exert his potential and achieve success. Cheng Yi pointed out: "A scholar must not be dishonest, be dishonest and be good, and be dishonest and be a gentleman. If you don't study honestly, you will learn miscellaneous things; If you don't do things honestly, you will lose; Self-seeking is not sincerity, but deceiving your heart and abandoning your loyalty; If you don't treat others with sincerity, you will lose your morality and increase your resentment. " "Honesty" is not only the foundation of virtue and goodness, but also the guarantee of success in all undertakings. "Honesty" is a sign of a person's image and reputation, and it is also the moral quality that a person should have at least. Confucius said, "If you believe, you are responsible." "People don't believe it and don't know what to do." Be sincere internally and believe externally. A person's heart is sincere, and his mouth must have faith; Be sincere in your heart, believe in your mouth and be sincere in your body. Honesty is an important guarantee to realize self-worth, and it is also an inherent requirement for individuals to cultivate themselves and achieve goodness. Lack of honesty will put the self in a very embarrassing situation, and it is difficult for individuals to make positive judgments and evaluations on their own lives. At the same time, the lack of honesty not only deceives oneself, but also deceives others. This kind of self-deception not only destroys the sound self, but also destroys interpersonal relationships. Therefore, honesty is the foundation of personal life and the treasure of life. Individuals stress moral cultivation and moral self-education, and cultivate ideal personality, which requires sincere and faithful self-cultivation and self-transformation. Ancient thinkers in China emphasized the position and function of "pure heart" and "anti-pure heart" in personal moral cultivation, and thought that the key of Xiu De was to have a pure heart and a pure heart. The degree of sincerity determines the height that Xiu De can reach. It can be said that "sincerity can make the stone open" and "there are incorrigible people in the world, for fear that sincerity will not come; There is nothing to do in the world, but I am afraid that my determination is not strong. " Therefore, China people put special emphasis on "being true, telling the truth and doing practical things".
Second, honesty is the foundation of enterprises and institutions. As a universally applicable moral principle and norm, honesty is a moral lever to establish a benign interactive relationship between industries and units. Honesty and trustworthiness is an important norm in the construction of socialist professional ethics. Honesty and trustworthiness is the code of conduct that all employees must and should follow in their professional activities, covering the relationship between employees and customers, occupations and employees, and occupations and occupations. The activities of enterprises and institutions are all human activities, so to develop, we must pay attention to honesty. Because development not only includes the enhancement and promotion of the organization's own strength and viability, but also includes the optimization and improvement of the relationship between organizations, organizations and external and internal factors. Whether it is the enhancement and promotion of an organization's own strength and viability, or the optimization and improvement of its internal and external relations, honesty is indispensable. Honesty not only produces benefits and materialistic social wealth, but also produces harmonious and spiritual social wealth. In a market economy society, "the customer is God" and the market is a just judge. If an enterprise betrays God, operates in bad faith and blindly goes astray, the result will inevitably be eliminated by the market. Honesty is the cornerstone of shaping corporate image and winning corporate reputation, an important weight to defeat the enemy in competition and the lifeblood of modern enterprises.
Third, honesty is the foundation of a national government. The main body of the country is the people, and the sovereignty of the country also belongs to the people. China's ancient political ethics emphasized that "the people are the foundation of the country, and the country is the foundation", "the people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the least", and "those who win the hearts of the people win the world, and those who lose the hearts of the people lose the world", holding that national leaders should win the trust of the people with sincere attitude and methods, so as to realize the people's living and working in peace and contentment, and the country is peaceful and clear. In the Tang Dynasty, Wei Zhi wrote to Emperor Taizong: "The elders who seek wood must be solid; Those who want to flow far away will dig their source; Those who think about the security of the country also accumulate virtue. " (Zhenguan politician, on the first way to govern) The way to govern the country lies in respecting benevolence and righteousness, the main content of which is honesty. Liu Zongyuan said: "Faith is the law of politics, and we can't just let it go." In Song Dynasty, Sima Guang pointed out in Zi Tong Zhi Jian: "A man who believes in his husband is a man's wealth. The state is protected by the people and the people are protected by the written language. It is impossible to convince the people, and it is impossible for them to defend the country. Therefore, the ancient king did not bully the four seas, and he did not bully his neighbor. He who is good at his country does not bully others, and he who is good at his family does not bully his relatives. On the contrary, bad people bully their neighbors and their people, even their brothers and their fathers and sons. If you don't believe it, you won't believe it, and you will be centrifugal up and down, so that you will lose. " The above remarks show that honesty is the basic principle for leaders to govern the country. Honesty constitutes national morality and dominates national luck. Without honesty, it is impossible for national morality to have a long-term and upward national destiny. In modern society, democratic politics has become a trend and requires honesty as the basic principle of governing the country. The core of politics is power. The historical form of political power is private power or centralized power, and the power under democratic politics is public power. Public power means that power belongs to the people and essentially serves the people. The legitimacy of power comes from the people's trust. If we lose the trust of the people, we will lose the foundation of the legitimacy of power. China is a socialist country, and building a high degree of democracy is an important task in the construction of socialist political civilization.
Overview of honesty motto
Life cannot blossom brilliantly from lies. Heine
If you don't believe you, you will fail. -Mozi
Honesty is a symbol of strength, which shows a person's high self-esteem and inner sense of security and dignity. Eileen Cather
People can't stand without faith. -Confucius
The most immoral thing about human beings is dishonesty and cowardice. Gorky
● Without integrity, there is no dignity. -Cicero
When credit disappears, the body has no life. -Dumas
Half-truths are often big lies. Franklin
Sincerity is an open mind. La Rochefoucauld
● If you want others to be honest, you must be honest first. -Shakespeare
Honesty is the lifeblood of life and the foundation of all values. Dre
● Honest people, heaven also; If you think sincerely, you will learn from others. -Mencius
Deception can only be temporary, and honesty is the long-term policy. John Ray
● Credit is scarce and unstable. The credit accumulated in ten years is often lost because of temporary words and deeds. Daisaku Ikeda
I would rather win the attack of a hundred enemies with sincerity than win the praise of ten friends with hypocrisy. -petofi
Honest people never hate hypocritical people, but hypocritical people often appear as honest people. -Spinoza
● Without integrity, how can there be dignity? -Cicero
● Breaking a promise is failure. -Zola Credit Chinese Editorial: Jing Li