"All men have a feeling, that they..." - Quote by Marcus Tullius Cicero
All men have a feeling, that they would rather you told them a civil lie than give them a point blank refusal.... If you make a promise, the thing is still uncertain, depends on a future day, and concerns but few people; but if you refuse you alienate people to a certainty and at once, and many people too.
More by Marcus Tullius Cicero
More on Communication
“I cannot find language of sufficient energy to convey my sense of the sacredness of private integrity.”
“And we went our separate ways without having understood each other. As in this world nobody understands the other easily.”
“No matter how much success you're having, you can't continue working together if you can't communicate.”
More on Honesty
“A full and candid admission of one's mistakes should make proof against its repetition.”
“Truly, I would not hang a dog by my will, much more a man who hath any honesty in him.”
“People seldom tell the truths that are worth telling. We ought to choose our truths as carefully as we choose our lies and to select our virtues with as much thought as we bestow upon the selection of our enemies.”