Daily Inspiration Quote by Thomas S. Monson

Monson’s line is less a Hallmark sentiment than a hard piece of pastoral technology: it relocates “integrity” from the tribunal of public opinion to the quieter, more punishing court inside your own head. The key move is the word “refusal.” Integrity isn’t framed as heroic action but as restraint, a practiced veto over the small compromises that rarely make headlines but always leave residue. In a culture that loves redemption arcs and public apologies, Monson points to the unglamorous moment before the damage is done, when character is still a choice.

The subtext is unmistakably religious, but tactically broad. “Self-respect” functions as a secular proxy for conscience, a term that can speak to believers and nonbelievers without invoking doctrine. Coming from a clergyman, it also carries an implicit warning about split lives: the person you perform for others versus the person who has to live with your own private memory. That’s why “do or say” matters. It’s not only about grand moral failures; it’s about language, half-truths, petty cruelties, the social lubrication that corrodes the self over time.

Context sharpens the intent. As a longtime LDS leader, Monson’s audience was steeped in communal standards and reputation. By defining integrity as what you won’t do even when you could get away with it, he subtly resists mere conformity. The “surest test” isn’t surveillance; it’s whether you can still meet your own eyes afterward.