--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For most people, honesty is such an…" description: "\"For most people, honesty is such an unusual departure from their standard modus operandi - such an abherration in their workaday mendacity - that they ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f06/zo-heller-19571_departure_for-most-people-honesty-is-such-an-unusu_713223.png" --- # For most people, honesty is such an unusual departure from… ![“For most people, honesty is such an unusual departure from their standard modus operandi - such an abherration in their workaday mendacity - that they feel obliged to alert you when a moment of sincerity is coming on.” quote by Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f06/zo-heller-19571_departure_for-most-people-honesty-is-such-an-unusu_713223.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f06/zo-heller-19571_departure_for-most-people-honesty-is-such-an-unusu_713223.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f06/zo-heller-19571_departure_for-most-people-honesty-is-such-an-unusu_713223.png) > “For most people, honesty is such an unusual departure from their standard modus operandi - such an abherration in their workaday mendacity - that they feel obliged to alert you when a moment of sincerity is coming on.” [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Honesty is rare, so people highlight moments of sincerity as noteworthy events. **In simple terms:** Honesty is unusual and noticed. Key Takeaway Value and encourage sincerity. Themes ethics communication authenticity Mood thoughtful curious Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - team meetings - public speaking Key Concepts social norms trust self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - Why do we treat honesty as exceptional? - How can we normalize sincerity? A Different Perspective May overlook everyday honesty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Departure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/departure/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Honesty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honesty/) [Honesty Unusual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honesty-unusual-5620947/) [Mendacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mendacity/) [Modus operandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modus-operandi/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Obliged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obliged/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Honesty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-honesty-2411078/) [Sincerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincerity/) [Sincerity Coming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sincerity-coming-5620948/) [Standards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/standards/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Unusual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unusual/) ## Related quotes > [It's better to hurt people with Honesty, then hurt them with Lies...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silent-killer/it-s-better-to-hurt-people-with-honesty-then-hurt-them-with-lies/) [Silent Killer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silent-killer/) > [“You see, people in the depressive position are often stigmatised as ‘failures' or ‘losers'. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/you-see-people-in-the-depressive-position-are-often-stigmatised-as/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [“HONESTLY …I believe people are intimidated with truthful/ outspoken people. HONESTY… will help you grow and it shows maturity. HONEST…people will push you closer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takina-cupp/honestly-i-believe-people-are-intimidated-with-truthful-outspoken/) [Takina Cupp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takina-cupp/) > [May we be people of honesty and integrity trying to do the right thing at all times and in all circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-s-monson/may-we-be-people-of-honesty-and-integrity-trying-to-do-the-right/) [Thomas S. Monson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-s-monson/) > [I have faith in the people. Honesty will prosper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bibi-bourelly/i-have-faith-in-the-people-honesty-will-prosper/) [Bibi Bourelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bibi-bourelly/) > [Among all the world's races, some obscure Bedouin tribes possibly apart, Americans are the most prone to misinformation. This is not the consequence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/among-all-the-world-s-races-some-obscure-bedouin-tribes-possibly/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The poor must be wisely visited and liberally cared for, so that mendicity shall not be tempted into mendacity, nor want exasperated into crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-charles-winthrop/the-poor-must-be-wisely-visited-and-liberally-cared-for-so-that/) [Robert Charles Winthrop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-charles-winthrop/) > [Better mendacities Than the classics in paraphrase! Some quick to arm, some for adventure, some from fear of weakness, some from fear of censure,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/better-mendacities-than-the-classics-in-paraphrase-some-quick-to-arm/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [We live surrounded by a systematic appeal to a dream world which all mature, scientific reality would reject. We, quite literally, advertise our commitment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/we-live-surrounded-by-a-systematic-appeal-to-a-dream-world-which-all/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Liquor is one way out an’ death’s the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/liquor-is-one-way-out-an-death-s-the-other/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [Mendacity is a system that we live in," declares Brick. "Liquor is one way out an'death's the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/mendacity-is-a-system-that-we-live-in-declares-brick-liquor-is-one/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [Instead of recognizing the State as ‘the common enemy of all well-disposed, industrious and decent men,’ the run of mankind, with rare exceptions, regards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-j-nock/instead-of-recognizing-the-state-as-the-common-enemy-of-all-well-2/) [Albert J. Nock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-j-nock/) > [One of the chief obstacles to intelligence is credulity, and credulity could be enormously diminished by instructions as to the prevalent forms of mendacity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/one-of-the-chief-obstacles-to-intelligence-is-credulity-and-credulity/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [My child, you have a flawed grasp of the nature of myth-making. I am a poet and storyteller, a creator of ballads and sagas.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hardinge/my-child-you-have-a-flawed-grasp-of-the-nature-of-myth-making-i-am-a/) [Frances Hardinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hardinge/) > [If it doesn’t have ambiguity, don’t bother to take it. I love that, that aspect of photography—the mendacity of photography—it’s got to have some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/if-it-doesn-t-have-ambiguity-don-t-bother-to-take-it-i-love-that-that/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) ## More by Zoë Heller > [“All my life I have been the sort of person in whom people confide. And all my life I have been flattered by this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/all-my-life-i-have-been-the-sort-of-person-in-whom-people-confide-and/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [It's similar to the way you feel cuddling an infant or a kitten, when you want to squeeze it so hard you'd kill it...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/it-s-similar-to-the-way-you-feel-cuddling-an-infant-or-a-kitten-when/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“Music, together with certain sorts of majestic landscape, had a well-known tendency to induce such faux-sublime moments: artificial intimations of transcendent truths, grandiose hunches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/music-together-with-certain-sorts-of-majestic-landscape-had-a-well/) [Zoe Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [We are bound by the secrets we share.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/we-are-bound-by-the-secrets-we-share/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“Being alone is not the most awful thing in the world. You visit your museums and cultivate your interests and remind yourself how lucky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/being-alone-is-not-the-most-awful-thing-in-the-world-you-visit-your/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [Somewhere between sanity and madness lays a fine line, for some it is a tightrope walked daily, a fight for balance to be won…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/somewhere-between-sanity-and-madness-lays-a-fine-line-for-some-it-is/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“But that I should have ended up in a place like this seems too custom-made a nightmare to be the work of mere ill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/but-that-i-should-have-ended-up-in-a-place-like-this-seems-too-custom/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [It's hard to resist the magical thinking that the work habits of great writers are the key to their greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/it-s-hard-to-resist-the-magical-thinking-that-the-work-habits-of/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“...elegance loses its power in the presence of the properly stupid...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/elegance-loses-its-power-in-the-presence-of-the-properly-stupid/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“The conclusion of Dowell's narrative offers not a resolution, so much as a plangent confirmation of complexities. While Ford would certainly have agreed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/the-conclusion-of-dowell-s-narrative-offers-not-a-resolution-so-much/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“I could feel Monika nudging me furiously at this point, but I refused to look at her. I wasn’t feeling particularly reverent about my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/i-could-feel-monika-nudging-me-furiously-at-this-point-but-i-refused/) [Zoe Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“Sheba has often told me that she thinks there's a rhythm to married life, an ebb and flow in the pleasure that a couple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/sheba-has-often-told-me-that-she-thinks-there-s-a-rhythm-to-married/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“If this was cynical, then we must allow that all courtship is cynical.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/if-this-was-cynical-then-we-must-allow-that-all-courtship-is-cynical/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [“He had made a fairly unambiguous pass at her, as she was getting out of the cab. But event that had come to nothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/he-had-made-a-fairly-unambiguous-pass-at-her-as-she-was-getting-out/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) > [It seems to me that my lack of faith is not, as I once thought, a triumph of the rational mind, but rather a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zo-heller/it-seems-to-me-that-my-lack-of-faith-is-not-as-i-once-thought-a/) [Zoë Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) [Explore all 32 Zoë Heller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zo-heller/) ## More Departure quotes > [The last act in the biography of the hero is that of the death or departure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-last-act-in-the-biography-of-the-hero-is-that-of-the-death-or/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The album is a definite departure. I haven't written original material before, except for one song on my first album, but Elvis and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-krall/the-album-is-a-definite-departure-i-haven-t-written-original-material/) [Diana Krall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-krall/) > [There is all the difference in the world between departure from recognised rules by one who has learned to obey them, and neglect of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-terry/there-is-all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-departure-from/) [Ellen Terry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-terry/) > [I always use the analogy that when you go to a jeans store and put on a new pair of jeans, it's a pair…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bana/i-always-use-the-analogy-that-when-you-go-to-a-jeans-store-and-put-on/) [Eric Bana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bana/) > [Science sees the process of evolution from the outside, as one might a train of cars going by, and resolves it into the physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/science-sees-the-process-of-evolution-from-the-outside-as-one-might-a/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Black and white photography is truly quite a 'departure from reality', and the transition from one aspect of visual magic to another was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ansel-adams/black-and-white-photography-is-truly-quite-a-departure-from-reality/) [Ansel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ansel-adams/) > [Any departure from fact is the first step on a slippery slope toward unbelievability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-henry-iii/any-departure-from-fact-is-the-first-step-on-a-slippery-slope-toward/) [William A. Henry III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-henry-iii/) > [“Never before did I feel so bound by the chains of the soul. Never before was there such pain of ripping my heart apart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-mcgahan/never-before-did-i-feel-so-bound-by-the-chains-of-the-soul-never/) [Kate McGahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-mcgahan/) > [Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. It is a corrective to the sluggishness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/protest-beyond-the-law-is-not-a-departure-from-democracy-it-is/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Departure should be sudden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/departure-should-be-sudden/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [“Packing up. The nagging worry of departure. 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A harbour like St. Ives is totally transformed in a very short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dyer/the-most-amazing-thing-to-me-about-the-sea-is-the-tide-a-harbour-like/) [John Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dyer/) > [Contrary to all we hear about women and their empty-nest problem, it may be fathers more often than mothers who are pained by thechildren's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-b-rubin/contrary-to-all-we-hear-about-women-and-their-empty-nest-problem-it/) [Lillian B. 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