I have known a lot of people over the years who take pride in saying, “I am honest, I say what I think.” These people fall into two categories. Those who say it but don’t really do it as much as the comment might suggest, and those who really do it.
Those in the first category are people who use what is called discernment. They have the ability to speak honestly, to say what they think, when it is wise and appropriate to do so. The can be a person’s best friend because you can rely on them to tell you the truth without being stupid or mean.
Those in the second category are those who love the brutality in ‘brutal honesty’ more than the honesty. They aren’t anyone’s best friend because whatever honesty they have is so tinged with meanness and a lack of discernment that they can’t be trusted or relied upon.
Those people are usually cocksure and bellicose in defense of their honesty. They also are woefully ignorant of who they really are and obsessively mean in their character assassinations disguised as ‘truth’. I don’t like those people unless they are on reality TV, then I like watching them as a warning to myself and as a psychological study in self-destructive behavior and attitudes.
Do you know people like that? Do you agree with my characterization of them? What would you add or subtract?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Anonymous