To this noble end the delegates had pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
—David McCullough (b.1933) American Historian
Industry need not wish, and he that lives upon hopes will die fasting. There are no gains without pains. He that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honor; but then the trade must be worked at, and the calling followed, or neither the, estate nor the office will enable us to pay our taxes. If we are industrious, we shall never starve; for, at the workingman’s house hunger looks in, but dares not enter. Nor will the bailiff or the constable enter, for industry pays debts, while idleness and neglect increase them.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Honor is like an island, rugged and without a landing-place; we can nevermore re-enter when we are once outside of it.
—Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux
Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.
—Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) Finnish Composer
It was just him and me. He fought with honor. If it weren’t for his honor, he and the others would have beaten me together. They might have killed me, then. His sense of honor saved my life. I didn’t fight with honor… I fought to win.
—Orson Scott Card (b.1951) American Author, Critic, Political Activist
Better not be at all than not be noble.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
Integrity can neither be lost nor concealed nor faked nor quenched nor artificially come by nor outlived nor, I believe, in the long run denied.
—Eudora Welty (1909–2001) American Short Story Writer, Novelist
Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Happiness is beneficial for the body but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
When neither their property nor their honor is touched, the majority of men live content.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
You cannot believe in honor until you have achieved it. Better keep yourself clean and bright: you are the window through which you must see the world.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Without money honor is merely a disease.
—Jean Racine (1639–1699) French Dramatist
The instinct of nearly all societies is to lock up anybody who is truly free. First, society begins by trying to beat you up. If this fails, they try to poison you. If this fails too, the finish by loading honors on your head.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Novelist, Dramatist, Playwright, Artist
Let honor be to us as strong an obligation as necessity is to others.
—Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) Roman Scholar, Encyclopedist
Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.
—Robert E. Lee (1807–70) Confederate General during American Civil War
It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
Be honorable with yourself if you wish to associate with honorable people.
—Welsh Proverb
An honor is not diminished for being shared.
—Lois McMaster Bujold (b.1949) American Novelist, Writer
Your word can never be as good as your bond because your memory can never be as trustworthy as your honor.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The fiery trials through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the last generation.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Honor puts us under an obligation as binding as necessity is for other people.
—Pliny the Younger (61–112) Ancient Roman Lawyer, Author, Magistrate
There’s no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except its ending.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Who sows virtue reaps honor.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist