A recent conversation made me feel the need to speak about my opinion on the difference between simple honesty and brutal honesty. I believe that honesty is always welcomed and brutal honesty is never needed. What is the difference you ask? Well, brutal honesty implies a certain level of malice (to me at least). For example (albeit an extremely generic and over used one)… someone asks “Do these pants make me look fat?” An honest response could be “well, they aren’t the most flattering pants”, but a brutally honest response could simply be “yes”. There is a subtle difference, both are true statements, it is simply the delivery. You could take brutal honesty to an extreme by adding an insult to the statement (as some do) but regardless it isn’t necessary. Using the guise of honesty to convey an insult is cowardly in my opinion. I am annoyed by people who use “brutal honesty” as an excuse to be an asshole.

Just my two cents on the subject; always be transparent and honest, just choose the right delivery method. If you ever find yourself saying you were brutally honest take note you might have just been a complete jackass (purposefully or not).