Maxim
Tell the truth, or at least don't lie.
“Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.”
Judaism · Ancient (before 200 BCE)
Translation: King James Version (public domain)
Honesty keeps our footing sure. Each small truth makes the world, and ourselves, a little easier to trust.
Related expressions
“Tell the truth—or, at least, don't lie.”
— Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life (2018), Rule 8 (rule title); Random House Canada edition, checked against the book's contents as shown on Google Books (that listing drops punctuation; dash corrected to the unspaced em dash of the printed chapter heading)Watch on YouTube (0:00–0:10) ↗Jordan B. Peterson discusses this rule (fan upload)“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”
“Speak the truth, do not yield to anger; give, if thou art asked for little; by these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.”
“We are not called upon to step out onto the square and shout out the truth, to say out loud what we think—this is scary, we are not ready. But let us at least refuse to say what we do not think!”
“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.”
Score
Moral Rank 98.4 · Evidence E = 22.03
E = ln(1+5.01) + √5.01 + 3·4.00 + 1.5·4 = 22.03