• Society wants you to drop down from level of nobility and honor to their own level. Never agree to the role society imposes on you. Forge your own identity, be an authority on your own image rather than being pushed into one. You will be treated the way you carry yourself. Appear vulgar and people will respect you with vulgarity. Act confident and powerful, but don’t advance yourself by humiliating others.

• Integrity begins with intent. Indeed all actions are judged by intention. If your intention is flawed than your actions are also flawed. Intent is your decision that you made on the motive or agenda that you want to carry in your actions and behavior. If your motive is contrary to the expectations that you have set, then there is a definite problem with being genuine.

• Loss of trust in your authenticity (the correlation of your motive and the expectations that you have set) has a direct affect on a person`s willingness to give you attention and respect.

• We often limit ethics to truthfulness, an action of the mouth or a statement that we make; but being ethical is being integral. Integrity goes beyond mere words and speech, rather it is the fulfillment of all of the parts to achieving completeness. It’s not just the words that you speak, but the thought in the mind that precedes the words and the actions that proceeds. Integrity is adherence to moral and ethical principles beginning with your heart, to your mind, and down to your actions. Integrity goes beyond honesty, and it goes into the realm of doing the right things at the right moment at the right place with the right person. Integrity is honesty, integrity is humbleness, integrity is courage, integrity is keeping commitments, and integrity is standing up for your beliefs …

• Imam Ghazali states, “Verily, one’s external manners is the mark of one’s inner manner, and the movement of the productive members of the body are results of passing thoughts. Moreover, actions are the results of character, and fine breeding is the distillate of knowledge; indeed, actions are rooted and originate in the innermost thoughts of the heart. [Verily] the innermost lights of the heart shine upon one’s external behavior, adorning and embellishing it, and substitute good qualities for disliked and evil ones. Furthermore, he whose heart is not humbled, his external members are not humbled; and he whose chest is not the niche of divine lights, there does not spread over his external features the beauty of the Prophetic manner.”

• Rasoolullah advised Muadh b. Jabal when he was being sent to Yemen. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Fear Allah wherever you are. And follow up a bad deed with a good deed and it will wipe it out. And interact (behave) with the people with a good behavior.” (At-Tirmidhee)

• Ibn Rajab states regarding ‘And interact toward the people with good behavior,’ “Having good character is a characteristic of Taqwa. Taqwa cannot be complete without it. It was mentioned here by itself due to the need for explicitly explaining that point. Many people think that taqwa implies fulfiIlling the rights of Allah without fulfilling the rights of humans. Therefore, the Prophet (saw) explicitly stated that he must deal with people in a kind manner. He was sending him (Muadh) to Yemen as a teacher, instructor and judge. Especially a person in that position, more so than others, must deal with people in a good manner. Many of those who take advantage of fulfilling the rights of Allah, and are attached to love for Him, fear of Him, and obedience to Him, neglect the rights of the humans, either completely or partially. There are very few people who combine together the fulfilling of the rights of Allah and of His servants. The only ones who have the strength to do that are those who are complete in their taqwa from among the prophets and sincere ones.”