Building Trust: 12 Great Quotes About Integrity

Integrity is one of the most important characteristics of a great leader. Without integrity, you lose trust. And when you’ve lost trust, respect usually follows suit. It can be a hard line to walk at times, but it’s even more difficult to re-establish your footing after you fall.

Having integrity means not only knowing, but always doing what’s right – even when no one’s looking. As you continue down the never-ending, constantly changing path toward becoming a great leader, keep these words from some of history’s greatest leaders and thinkers in mind as a source of inspiration and motivation.

“Lead your life so you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.”
– Will Rogers

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.”
– Albert Einstein

“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I am a slow walker, but I never walk backwards.”
– Abraham Lincoln

 “There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.”
– Tom Peters

“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.”
– Oprah Winfrey

“Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.”
– Aristotle

“Be good to your work, your word, and your friend.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.”
– Mark Twain

“Character is much easier kept than recovered.”
– Thomas Paine

“The truth is more important than the facts.”
– Frank Lloyd Wright

“Always vote for a principal, though you vote alone, and you may cherish the sweet reflection that your vote is never lost.”
– John Quincy Adams

How does a commitment to integrity help make your business stronger? Tell us about it in the comments section below.