Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Clarke claims a man's honesty is best measured by how accurately he weighs himself on a bathroom scale.
In plain terms
How honest you are about your weight shows your true honesty.
What can you take from it?
Personal honesty is revealed in how we treat private facts about ourselves.

Where it applies

  • self-reflection
  • personal habits
  • character assessment

Putting it to work

  • practice radical honesty with self
  • audit personal choices

Questions to consider

  • How do we test honesty privately?
  • Does self-deception affect public integrity?

Another view

It equates vanity with moral honesty in a limited way.

More from Arthur C. Clarke

  1. There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.

    Permalink to quote #37
  2. SETI is probably the most important quest of our time, and it amazes me that governments and corporations are not supporting it sufficiently.

    Permalink to quote #39
  3. The Information Age offers much to mankind, and I would like to think that we will rise to the challenges it presents. But it is vital to remember that informa…

    Permalink to quote #36

Related quotes

  1. My life is my argument.

    Albert SchweitzerAlbert Schweitzer quote #98
  2. I'd like to be remembered as a guy who tried - tried to be part of his times, tried to help people communicate with one another, tried to find some decency in …

    Paul NewmanPaul Newman quote #1
  3. The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - that's where it's …

    Jesse OwensJesse Owens quote #2