The multiplicity of desires, within ourselves and including the desires of others, can get us trying to go in a lot of different directions at once, which isn't good, for us or for others. Somehow, we have to sort out who we are, and what we are trying to accomplish. When we resolve the inner conflicts, and arrive at a unified strategy that is good for us and those around us, we become whole people, and thus possess the attribute of integrity. We then speak the truth, and mean what we say. Our promises to others become sacred trusts that we strive to honor. And we are not vulnerable to manipulation. We know who we are, what we want, and how we intend to get it. And this is as much of a benefit to us as it is to others, since integrity makes it easy for others to know us, and to know how to interact productively with us. And in settling on a strategy, we become stabilizing forces within our communities. Thus we are not just good, but consistently good, and we set a pattern for others to follow, encouraging them to be good as well, and the reinforcing the standards of value that strengthen the fabric of society.

 

Note that integrity applies to more than just our own knowledge of ourselves — it also requires that we see others for what they are. We would all like to think that the people around us are good, but this is not always the case, and the person with integrity doesn't go along with what bad people say, just because of any sort of wish that others are good — integrity requires that we see ourselves and those around us in clear terms, regardless of what we wish. If we see things that we do not like, we can fix them. But we cannot be in denial about the true nature of things and still claim to possess the quality of integrity.