Allow me to preface with a few well-spoken words of Winston Churchill.

“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”

It is just as simple as that.

The truth is straightforward and unabashed. It’s not misleading, nor confusing. It remains the same down all avenues. There are no pretenses.

If you find yourself perplexed, it is deception that is so hard to understand.

It is showy and full of itself, often changing its tone to suit another’s ears.  It is witty when it wants to be and withholding when you ask for more, always offering little in the way of fulfillment.

Then in it’s inattentiveness, oversells the punch line.

The truth is a pill — bitter and, at times, hard to swallow. (An acquired taste, if you will.) Veracity, its code of conduct.

Though you may find that bending the truth may soften blows or give the medicine a sweeter taste, it is still a general disregard for the reverence of reason, and the upshot is, as it never fails to be, all trust will be lost.

Trust being such an essential and deeply rooted part of our human condition.

Duplicity spawns from many sources, with a desire to protect or gain favor being no better than the rest.

The truth is plain and never dresses up, not even for the sake of another’s emotions.

Unornamented, somehow, it’s so much more desirable and, once you’ve realized the shallowness of the alternatives… that is it’s great allure.

Never lavish. It speaks only as necessary, and now holds a captive audience.

Be the first to tell the truth.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Truth is by nature self-evident.” Allow honesty to become second nature, part of your moral code.

If it’s not, it will always eventually be discovered… and the consequences will be your own.