Literary notes about Probity (AI summary)
The term “probity” is employed by many authors as a marker of moral integrity and uncompromising honesty, often illustrating a character’s inner virtue or their public reliability. In some works, it signifies inherent sincerity and honour in personal affairs, as seen when a character’s honest confession or unblemished reputation is highlighted ([1], [2]). In other texts, probity is linked to public duty and civic virtue, underpinning responsibilities in leadership and art alike, and is portrayed as the foundation of trust and respect in society ([3], [4], [5]). Moreover, its usage frequently extends into philosophical discussions about ethics and the human condition, serving both as a critical evaluative tool and as an ideal to which individuals aspire ([6], [7]).
- The deposit honestly restored, the probity of the confession—these were good.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo - He hoped by this confession of dishonesty to others to quite convince her of his probity to her.
— from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert - All his works are linearly beautiful demonstrations of his sincerity—his sanity indeed—in proclaiming that drawing is "the probity of art."
— from French Art: Classic and Contemporary Painting and Sculpture by W. C. (William Crary) Brownell - The eyes of the great American nation are now upon you, and men of honor, probity and position represent your acts.
— from The Life of John Taylor Third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by B. H. (Brigham Henry) Roberts - Their conduct was above all praise; their probity amounted to heroism.
— from Monsieur Lecoq, v. 2 by Emile Gaboriau - These are the men of true probity, the few aequi (just) among the countless number of the iniqui (unjust).
— from The Basis of Morality by Arthur Schopenhauer - Their chosen virtues are industry, good sense, probity, conventional piety, and whatever else has acknowledged utility and seemliness.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
