3.31.2007

Integrity

Here's another word that I often want to use but always forget: integrity. When I see someone or a group that I respect, I want to say, "They have integrity" but I forget what the word is. So I use other adjectives that don't come close to describing what I'm looking for. And it's very frustrating, which is why I'm posting it here--as a reminder.

The last often-forgotten word I posted was tedious, and since then, I haven't forgotten it, even when I've had to do tedious work. So now I think, "Wow, this work is tedious" rather than saying "This work is...I forgot what word I'm looking for, but it's like nitpicky and boring, but there's a better word for it."

Well, tonight was a situation that I want to end: I was thinking of Rush, and how they work hard to create quality music and don't have typical "rock and roll" or trashy lifestyles, and wanted to say that they have integrity, but I drew a blank. So I said, "They have, you know--it starts with an 'a'," then thought that maybe the word I'm looking for is "ethical," but that can't be right because ethics are about honest values, and I don't know if they have that. So then someone reminded me that the word is "integrity."

However, the definition mentions "moral" in one of the meanings: "firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values" though I don't think of "moral" when I think of all folks who have integrity. But it's good to see "artistic values" mentioned, because that's what I often think of.

So now that the word is posted here, I won't have to search for it again.

2 comments:

Rose said...

I guess that all depends on your interpretation of the word moral. It has a bad connotation for some, bringing up ideas of religious fundamentalism and po-faced, thin-lipped preachers. But: 'founded on the fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities, enactment, or custom.' That doesn't sound so bad, now does it?

Anonymous said...

I'm pro-morals, but I meant that when I think of integrity, I don't necessarily think of morality. That definition is cool, but I also don't have a prob with the other definitions of moral.