“Be anything but a coward, a pretender, an emotional crook, a whore: I’d rather have cancer than a dishonest heart.” -Truman Capote

I chose this quote for three reasons: one, I love the phrase dishonest heart; two, this quote is punctuated brilliantly; and three, it contains a cancer reference, my personal trigger.

Let’s take each of those separately.

What is a dishonest heart? Capote refers to “a coward, a pretender, an emotional crook, a whore.” The first two are opposites: a pretender puts on a false front, while a coward puts on no front at all. The second pair are also opposites: an emotional crook sucks feelings from those around him, while a whore gives too much to too many, rendering the currency meaningless. These descriptors portray how different types of dishonesty affect others, but that’s only half the picture. A dishonest heart can also deeply affect self. If you are not true to yourself, if you don’t know yourself well, you won’t be living an honest life. That does more damage to your soul than any outward dishonesty.

However, from a writer’s standpoint, I understand why Capote stuck to those four descriptors: they create a beautiful rhythm, and the pairs contrast with each other. I love the structure of this quote, with the colon instead of the period; that colon gives both halves of the sentence much more significance, making them interdependent. (Ah, punctuation geekery. But I defy you to read Eats, Shoots and Leaves– my current nightstand book- and not suddenly become enamored with good punctuation.)

Lastly, “I’d rather have cancer than a dishonest heart.” As someone who’s had cancer, I completely agree with this. The health of the metaphorical heart, mind and soul is more important than the health of the body. The body is only a shell in which to nurture those deeper aspects of self. The heart is what makes you YOU. The body can only show a shadow of that essence.

Of course, I’d rather have no cancer and an honest heart, but only one of those things is completely under my control.