Some Advice from Kierkegaard

While preparing some material for the upcoming semester, I came upon this following bit of advice from Kierkegaard on the importance of being honest in one's words and emotions.

But you should not...hold back your words anymore than you should hide visible emotion if it is genuine, because this can be the unloving committing of a wrong, just like withholding from someone what you owe him. Your friend, your beloved, your child, or whoever is the object of your love has a claim upon an expression of it also in words if it actually moves you inwardly. The emotion is not your possession but belongs to the other; the expression is your debt to him, since in the emotion you indeed belong to him who moves you and you become aware that you belong to him. -"Works of Love"

How often it is that we find ourselves holding back from saying what we believe, or showing how we feel in particular situations so as not to disturb or disrupt others. If we are to be fully honest with ourselves and so realize that we are always in relation to others, we must not hesitate to act and speak up when we believe in something important; otherwise, we are being dishonest to ourselves and those around us.