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Success Quote by Mary Kay Ash

"Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist"

About this Quote

In the Mary Kay universe, honesty isn’t a virtue so much as infrastructure. Calling it “the cornerstone of all success” borrows the language of architecture and real estate: this isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s load-bearing. Ash is selling a theory of business that flatters its audience while disciplining it. If you’re struggling, the implication goes, it’s not because the market is brutal or the incentives are warped; it’s because the foundation is cracked. Moral clarity becomes operational strategy.

The line’s most revealing move is the chain reaction it threatens: without honesty, “confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist.” That’s a savvy bit of managerial psychology. Confidence is not treated as internal swagger but as something granted by others and sustained through credibility. Performance, meanwhile, is framed as inseparable from trust - a practical argument dressed as ethics. In a sales-driven culture where relationships are the product, “honesty” functions as both brand promise and risk management.

Context matters: Ash built a cosmetics empire and a famous corporate culture around personal uplift, religious-inflected optimism, and motivational maxims. She also operated in a world where women in business were routinely doubted; tying success to integrity is a counterpunch to condescension. Still, the subtext lands with a softer edge of control. Make honesty the cornerstone, and you make dissent easy to pathologize: if someone questions the system, maybe they lack integrity. It’s inspirational, yes - and it’s also a neat way to keep the whole machine running on belief.

Quote Details

TopicHonesty & Integrity
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CiteCite this Quote

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Ash, Mary Kay. (n.d.). Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/honesty-is-the-cornerstone-of-all-success-without-27306/

Chicago Style
Ash, Mary Kay. "Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/honesty-is-the-cornerstone-of-all-success-without-27306/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/honesty-is-the-cornerstone-of-all-success-without-27306/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

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Honesty Is the Cornerstone of Success - Mary Kay Ash
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About the Author

Mary Kay Ash

Mary Kay Ash (May 12, 1918 - November 22, 2001) was a Businesswoman from USA.

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