Honesty should not be difficult.

At times, though, being made aware of the truth is at odds with our ego, our ignorance, or our lack of understanding. Thus, the necessity of interventions.

Only a select few people are persuasive enough or talented enough as rhetoricians to communicate effectively using crass honesty as their delivery tool.

As truth would have it, the ones that can do so, eloquently, know damn well that it’s not the sharpest knife in their set.

We need to opt for empathetic honesty instead—raw, and always challenging, but empathetic in spirit.

Empathetic honesty is still difficult to present, and still undeniably difficult to receive, but it’s drastically more effective than being too lazy to deliver that necessary, honest message in a way that it might make both parties better for it.

In essence, 1) never be afraid to say the things that people need to hear, and 2) don’t be a condescending asshole when you do it.