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About this quote

What does it mean?
The best agreement between people is eternal truthfulness.
In plain terms
Always tell the truth to friends.
What can you take from it?
Truth builds lasting connections.

Where it applies

  • negotiation
  • friendship
  • personal relationships

Putting it to work

  • practice honesty
  • build trust

Questions to consider

  • Are you fully truthful?

Another view

White lies sometimes protect relationships.

More from Ralph Waldo Emerson

  1. Fine manners need the support of fine manners in others, and this is a gift interred only by the self.

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  2. 'Tis very certain that each man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank in the immense scale of men, and we are always learning to read it. A compl…

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  3. There is always a best way of doing everything, if it be to boil an egg. Manners are the happy ways of doing things; each once a stroke of genius or of love, -…

    Permalink to quote #211

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