Для меня честность важнее, чем красивые слова.

Для меня means for me / as far as I’m concerned. It explicitly marks this as the speaker’s personal viewpoint.

So Для меня честность важнее... means something like For me, honesty is more important...

You can also hear мне in similar sentences, especially with a slightly different structure, for example:

• Мне важнее честность, чем красивые слова.

That also means Honesty is more important to me than beautiful words.

In this sentence, для меня sounds very natural because it frames the whole statement as a personal value judgment.

Меня is in the genitive case because the preposition для always requires the genitive.

So:

• для
  • genitive
• я → меня

Other examples:

• для тебя — for you
• для друга — for a friend
• для нас — for us

In Russian, the verb to be in the present tense is usually omitted.

So where English says:

• Honesty is more important...

Russian simply says:

• Честность важнее...

There is no present-tense есть here. Using есть in this sentence would sound wrong or very unnatural.

This is a very common feature of Russian:

• Он врач. — He is a doctor.
• Она дома. — She is at home.
• Честность важнее. — Honesty is more important.

Важнее is the comparative form of важный (important).

So:

• важный — important
• важнее — more important

This comparative form is used when comparing two things:

• Это важнее. — This is more important.
• Работа важнее отдыха. — Work is more important than rest.

In your sentence, важнее means more important.

Because чем introduces the comparison, and in this kind of sentence Russian normally uses a comma before it.

So:

• честность важнее, чем красивые слова

This is similar to English more important than beautiful words, but Russian punctuation requires the comma here.

A good practical rule for learners is: when чем introduces a comparison after a comparative form like лучше, хуже, важнее, быстрее, you will usually see a comma before it.

Чем means than in comparisons.

So:

• важнее, чем = more important than

Examples:

• Он выше, чем я. — He is taller than me.
• Это лучше, чем вчера. — This is better than yesterday.
• Честность важнее, чем красивые слова. — Honesty is more important than beautiful words.

That is a very common question.

In this sentence, красивые слова appears after чем, so it is part of a comparison introduced by чем:

• важнее, чем красивые слова

This structure behaves like a shortened comparison clause, so the noun is not put into the genitive here.

However, Russian also allows another pattern with some comparatives: comparative + genitive, without чем.

So these are both possible:

• Для меня честность важнее, чем красивые слова.
• Для меня честность важнее красивых слов.

Both mean essentially the same thing.

Very roughly:

• чем + noun is often clearer and more explicit
• genitive without чем can sound a bit more compact or literary, depending on the context

Честность is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative case here

It is the subject of the sentence: honesty is the thing being described as more important.

A detail that often confuses learners: nouns ending in -ь can be masculine or feminine.
Честность is feminine.

Other similar feminine abstract nouns:

• важность — importance
• бедность — poverty
• молодость — youth

It can literally mean beautiful words, but in many contexts it has a nuance like:

• nice-sounding words
• fancy talk
• empty rhetoric
• pleasing but insincere words

So in this sentence, красивые слова often suggests something like pleasant speech that may not be backed up by honesty or action.

That is why the sentence sounds natural as a statement of values:
honesty matters more than pretty words.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, and changing it changes the emphasis more than the basic meaning.

For example:

• Для меня честность важнее, чем красивые слова.
• Честность для меня важнее, чем красивые слова.
• Честность важнее для меня, чем красивые слова.

All of these are understandable, but the first one is very natural if you want to start with for me and frame it as a personal opinion.

A rough guide:

• Для меня... at the start = emphasizes as for me
• Честность... at the start = emphasizes honesty

Yes. You could say:

• Для меня честность более важна, чем красивые слова.

This is grammatically correct and means the same thing.

But there is a style difference:

• важнее = the normal, compact comparative; very common and natural
• более важна = analytic comparative; can sound a bit more formal, deliberate, or bookish

Also notice the agreement:

• честность is feminine singular
• so you say важна, not важен

That is why the full form is более важна.

In everyday speech, важнее is usually the more natural choice here.