Is honesty really the best policy?

By Ben (Discover English Teacher)

Proverbs are old sayings that people still mention in the present. They usually contain some old ideas and are often written in old-fashioned language. Sometimes they even contradict each other!

I was reading a book recently by an American-Hungarian writer named Thomas Szasz, and he compared two contradictory proverbs, one in English and one translated from Hungarian.

Here’s the English one:
‘Honesty is the best policy.’

But the Hungarian one goes like this:
‘Tell the truth and get your head bashed in.’

We can see two very different messages there! Well, you might be thinking, why are the two proverbs so different?

Thomas Szasz explains it like this. If telling the truth challenges powerful people, then you might be punished. But if people are trying to work together to solve a problem in an open way then honesty helps people to understand each other and to achieve their goals. The two proverbs are really talking about two very different types of social situations.

Different cultures also communicate differently. How honest can you be in your culture with your boss, your parents or your romantic partner? Do you think Australian culture is more or less honest than your culture?

Contradict (v) to disagree with or to say the opposite of another statement