Honesty Day reminds us to pay attention to our words on April 30. The whole truth and nothing but the truth? You’re right. The world isn’t “court,” and we’re not under oath in our daily lives. Sure, we’ve spared someone’s feelings or fudged the truth just a little — or yes, maybe told an all-out lie. Represent yourself to the world in the best possible way you can.
History of Honesty Day
Author M. Hirsh Goldberg, author of “The Book of Lies: Fibs, Tales, Schemes, Scams, Fakes, and Frauds That Have Changed The Course of History and Affect Our Daily Lives,” created the day in the early 1990s. He placed it strategically on the final day of April to balance out April Fool’s Day (lies!) at the beginning of the month.
So — how often (and how well) do you lie? Check out our survey.
Honestly.
Honesty Day timeline
The first biography of George Washington published after his death includes the famous story about the cherry tree and Washington’s words, “I cannot tell a lie.”
As part of the process of writing his book, author Hirsh Goldberg creates National Honesty Day.
The comedy movie “Liar, Liar,” starring Jim Carrey, is released.
Another popular movie on lying is released — “The Invention Of Lying.”
Honesty Day Media Coverage
Honesty Day - Survey Results
Additional Findings
FULL RANKING OF THE LIES AMERICANS TELL
#1: White lie (a harmless lie)
#2: Lie by omission (only revealing parts of the truth (18%)
#3: Lies to yourself (e.g. I like my job; my friend’s actions didn’t hurt my feelings) (16%)
#4: Appearance lie (e.g. that dress looks good on you) (15%)
#5: Relationship lie (e.g. lying about having cheated) (5%)
#6: Identity lie (e.g. lying to a person at a bar about who you are) (5%)
#7: Intended hurtful lie (e.g. you’re ugly; I never liked you) (4%)
#8: Compulsive lies (I feel compelled to spread mistruths) (3%)
Honesty Day Activities
Answer questions truthfully all day long
Go on, try your best to keep truthful. It shouldn’t be that difficult if you’re a good soul.
Open up to someone truthfully
Been holding something back, aching to tell someone something important? Go for it today.
Be more transparent
If you’re a leader in the workplace, it’s a good time to be transparent by communicating less over email and become more personally engaged with your employees via face-to-face and/or video interaction and with greater frequency. This will not only build trust, but more importantly set-forth a precedent that will establish a new type of loyalty and attitude that will ripple throughout the organization.
Why We Love Honesty Day
Honesty builds trust
Honesty goes a long way. People get ahead by making the right choices and showing that they are trustworthy. This builds trust, which is essential for teamwork.
The worst truth is better than the best lie
Sometimes when we lie, it can start a snowball effect, and we ultimately are found out. Trust in the notion that the truth always finds a way to surface, so just own up.
We can’t read each other’s minds
Being honest doesn’t just mean telling factual truth, but also being truthful about the way you’re feeling
Honesty Day dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | April 30 | Wednesday |
| 2026 | April 30 | Thursday |
| 2027 | April 30 | Friday |
| 2028 | April 30 | Sunday |
| 2029 | April 30 | Monday |
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