"If honor were profitable, everybody would be honorable"

Thomas More’s assertion that “If honor were profitable, everybody would be honorable” strips the concept of honor of its lofty idealism and grounds it in the pragmatic realities of human behavior. He exposes a persistent tension: the divergence between the values people claim to uphold and the incentives that actually direct their actions. By linking honor, typically associated with virtue, integrity, and moral uprightness, to the concept of profit, More raises uncomfortable questions about motivation.

If honor always translated to tangible gain, More argues implicitly, then the masses would pursue it not from genuine commitment or moral vision but out of self-interest. The implication is that many declarations of principled behavior are, in fact, performative or opportunistic rather than authentic. Thus, honor becomes a virtue precisely because it often requires sacrifice, and because the honorable path is frequently more difficult or less rewarding in material terms. Only when tested by circumstances where integrity incurs a cost does one’s true commitment to honor emerge.

Underlying this observation is a skepticism about society’s moral fabric; societal rules and incentives rarely align virtue with self-advancement. People are typically motivated by gain, be it financial, social, or personal advancement. Where these motivations conflict with honor, More warns us, only a few will choose the honorable course, reserving genuine honor for the exceptional individual willing to pay the price.

This insight has enduring relevance. It prompts us to question our own motivations and those of our leaders: Are our actions honorable because they bring public acclaim, or do we sometimes act with principle even when no one is watching, and even at personal cost? More’s words urge us to remember that the value of honor lies precisely in its resistance to commodification, and that the test of character is found only when the path of integrity is difficult or unrewarding.