IMYM Faith & Practice, 2009, pp 46-47

Let what you say be simply “yes” or “no”; anything more than this comes from evil.

Matthew 5:37

Integrity is a condition in which a person’s response to a total situation can be trusted: the opposite of a condition in which he would be moved by opportunist or self-seeking impulses breaking up his unity as a whole being. This condition of trust is different from the recognition that he will always be kind or always tell the truth. The integrity of some Dutch Friends I have met showed itself during the war in their willingness to tell lies to save their Jewish friends from the Gestapo or from starvation.  

Kenneth Barnes, 1972 – Quaker Faith and Practice of Britain Yearly Meeting, 20:44

Friends consider integrity a way of life. In the stillness of worship we come into the Divine Presence and open ourselves to the Light; we hide nothing of who we are. In keeping with that openness of spirit, Friends express themselves with honesty in their dealings with others. Plain truth needs no decorative flourishes. We speak with simple clarity to reflect in our words the reality of our perceptions and thoughts.

Our experience tells us that things honestly said are no more or less true than words spoken under oath. Friends hold one standard of truth; therefore we eschew oaths. Friends have suffered imprisonment and loss for taking this position, but time and the law have recognized the justice of this view. In our country today we are free without prejudice to declare and affirm, in courts of law and in other situations where an oath is usually required, the plain and simple truth of what we say. Friends do not want to deceive or exploit anyone. Therefore, we arrive at what we consider a fair value for buying and selling time, food, labor, material goods, and services. We do not try to gather any profit in excess of need or worth. 

Friends attempt to behave with honesty in all our relationships. In speaking truth to others, we speak the truth in love.