The Quality of Sincerity

In considering some essential qualities of character, an industrialist had this to say of sincerity: “I am as certain as one can be, . . . that a great deal of any absence of industrial goodwill from which we may be suffering, and to go even farther, of our industrial unrest, is due to the fact that we have failed time and time again to convince each other of our sincerity and honesty of intention and purpose.”

This sentence suggests, among other things, that sincerity is simply honesty of intent. The dictionary also suggests some significant synonyms: “straightforward, honest, free from hypocrisy, being in reality what appears to be; genuine, true, rea; not falsely assumed; authentic, correct, frank, unfeigned, unaffected.”

Sincerity does not necessarily have anything to do with politeness or polish or politics or policy⎯but should add its own element of honesty to any or all of these. It is more than conversation; more than front; more than passing pleasantries. It is doing what one says. It is meaning what one says. It is not presenting the face of friendship yet lacking the loyalty. It is what gives a person assurance that his interests are safe in his absence when someone assures him that it will be so. It is being truly interested when we ask someone how he is. It is meaning it when we ask someone to let us know if we can help. It is what gives us something we can count on.

We would here quote Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s comment that “the most exhausting thing in life, . . . is being insincere”⎯pretense⎯saying something that isn’t so, or trying to make what isn’t seem to be so. In all life it is exceedingly essential to find the real facts, to see the real face.

Before God there can be no concealment or deception. And among men sincerity is an essential quality of character⎯the sincerity which is simply the assurance of honest intent.