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Sincerity is thevirtue of one who communicates and acts in accordance with the entirety of their feelings, beliefs, thoughts, and desires in a manner that is honest and genuine.[1] Sincerity in one's actions (as opposed to one's communications) may be called "earnestness".
TheOxford English Dictionary and most scholars state thatsincerity fromsincere is derived from the Latinsincerus meaningclean, pure, sound.Sincerus may have once meant "one growth" (not mixed), fromsin- (one) andcrescere (to grow).[2]Crescere is cognate with "Ceres," the goddess of grain, as in "cereal".[3]
According to theAmerican Heritage Dictionary,[4] the Latin wordsincerus is derived from theIndo-European root*sm̥kēros, itself derived from thezero-grade of*sem (one) and the suffixed, lengthenede-grade of*ker (grow), generating the underlying meaningof one growth, hencepure, clean.
An often repeatedfolk etymology proposes thatsincere is derived from theLatinsine "without" andcera "wax". According to one popular explanation, dishonest sculptors inRome orGreece would cover flaws in their work with wax to deceive the viewer; therefore, a sculpture "without wax" would be one that was honestly represented. It has been said, "One spoke of sincere wine... simply to mean that it had not been adulterated, or, as was once said, sophisticated."[5]: 12–13 Another explanation is that thisetymology "is derived from a Greeks-bearing-gifts story of deceit and betrayal. For the feat of victory, the Romans demanded the handing over of obligatory tributes. Following bad advice, the Greeks resorted to some faux-marble statues made of wax, which they offered as tribute. These promptly melted in the warm Greek sun."[6] TheOxford English Dictionary states, however, that "there is no probability in the old explanation fromsine cera 'without wax'".[citation needed]
The popularity of thewithout wax etymology is reflected in its use as a minor subplot inDan Brown's 1998 thriller novelDigital Fortress, though Brown attributes it to theSpanish language, not Latin. Reference to the same etymology, this time attributed to Latin, later appears in his 2009 novel,The Lost Symbol.
Sincerity was discussed byAristotle in hisNicomachean Ethics. It resurfaced to become an ideal (virtue) inEurope andNorth America in the17th century. It gained considerable momentum during theRomantic movement, when sincerity was first celebrated as anartistic and social ideal, exemplified in the writings ofThomas Carlyle andJohn Henry Newman.[7] In middle to late nineteenth century America, sincerity was reflected in mannerisms, hairstyles, women's dress, and the literature of the time.
Literary criticLionel Trilling dealt with the subject of sincerity, its roots, its evolution, its moral quotient, and its relationship toauthenticity in a series of lectures published asSincerity and Authenticity.[5]
According to Aristotle "truthfulness or sincerity is a desirable mean state between the deficiency ofirony orself-deprecation and the excess ofboastfulness."[8]
In the Islamic context, sincerity means: being free from worldly motives and not being ahypocrite.[9] In theQur'an, all acts ofworship and human life should be motivated by the pleasure ofGod, and theprophets of God have called man to sincere servitude in all aspects of life. Sincerity in Islam is divided into sincerity in belief and sincerity in action. Sincerity in belief meansmonotheism—in other words not associating partners with God[10]—and sincerity in action means performing sincere worship only for God.[11]
Sincerity is developed as a virtue inEast Asian societies (e.g.China,Korea, andJapan). The concept ofchéng (誠、诚)—as expounded in two of the Confucian classics, theDa Xue and theZhong Yong—is generally translated assincerity. As inthe West, the term implies a congruence of avowal and inner feeling, but inner feeling is in turn ideally responsive to ritual propriety andsocial hierarchy. Specifically, Confucius'sAnalects contains the following statement in Chapter I: (主忠信。毋友不如己者。過，則勿憚改。) "Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Then no friends would not be like yourself (all friends would be as loyal as yourself). If you make a mistake, do not be afraid to correct it."
Thus, even today, a powerful leader will praise leaders of other realms as "sincere" to the extent that theyknow their place in the sense of fulfilling a role in the drama of life. In Japanese the character forchéng may be pronouncedmakoto, which carries still more strongly the sense of loyal avowal and belief.
