Essay on White Lies

There comes a time in every persons life where they feel a burning sensation to lie, but is it worth it? Don’t they feel the shame and the guilt of that lie? On average, people lie between ten to two hundred times a day. But doesn't all of that lying come with a lot of conflict and trouble? The more that you lie the more conflict arises by avoiding truth then if it were to be faced head-on.

Lying is a common habit that everyone has had experiences with. I have lied and have been lied to numerous times. Everyone has. However, not everyone exposed to a certain lie is aware of it’s true power. In her essay “The Ways We Lie”, Stephanie Ericsson criticizes our bad habit of lying. She explains many different types of lies and even gives examples to show how harmful they can be as “our acceptance of lies becomes a cultural cancer that eventually shrouds and reorders reality until moral garbage becomes invisible to us as water is to a fish” (128).

Have you ever wondered why it can be so hard to tell the truth, or why it seems better to tell a lie? In both F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Rob Marshall’s Chicago, characters lie because they feel that it is easier. However, lying leads to a downward- spiral. The society we live in can either lead us to a complicated relationship with the truth or easy going. The problem with constantly telling lies is that it starts off with one then leads to another until everything you say is a lie. People know it is easier to tell lies than face the truth because they are either doing it for money, or protection for themselves, people they love, or relationships. Yes, telling lies can help but imagine the damage you’re building up on the way. Nobody likes liars and liars can be found anywhere, even families lie to each other. Relationships are just like thin pieces of paper that make small tears to it every time a lie is told. The paper can be put back together but it will never be the same or be seen the same.

“...ok to lie to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.” The people who believe lying is justified, usually say it’s ok to not tell the truth to cover someone’s feelings or to keep someone from being hurt mentally and/or physically. However in the long run, they may think it’s for the better but are still blatantly lying and could possibly cause even more damage than intended. “Apparently even white lies are acceptable, even necessary.” Everyone tells a white lie here and there, and if they’re lucky it won’t affect anyone, but why should it be risked? Just because we color code a lie doesn’t makes it kind of “ok.” Do we say a white lie is ok, and a yellow lie is bad, and a red lie is unacceptable?o, because a lie is lie in the end, whether is considered a “white lie” or just a lie. A person might tell a white lie, but gets caught so has to cover it with another lie again and again, and in the end turns out not to be considered a white lie anymore. Others who say it’s justified, have a different opinion on lying, but as a question, why should we lie when honesty is an option?Everyday people hear others lie and see how bad the outcome it could be, however still deliberately lie. When a person lies to you they don’t respect you in a way others don’t see, or when a person calls you a liar they insult your integrity. However, in vise versa if the opposite person lies to them they are being egocentric. So in the

Lying is evolving into normalcy. Since there are several types of lying, there are loopholes and ways that people defend themselves for telling untruths. For example, we tell lies in order to evade trouble or consequences but tell ourselves that it is better or easier that way. Ericsson claims, “We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize,

A significant form of interpersonal communication that plays an enormous role in relationships is lying. Lying has evolved into a frequent practice in today’s society. Even though, lying seem to be fond upon, we all have done it multiple times for not just our benefit but for others. In relationships, lying is turned from a negative to positive act depending on the circumstances. It seems as if, you lie in attempt to help another person it’s celebrated than if you lie for your benefits. Lying is known to only mislead or give a false impression in which the false hood can only cause negative acts. Why does one enange in lying if the outcome is negative? The most found reason that people find themselves lying is because of the truth. It is said that many people lie because long-term the truth is worse than the short-term lie. Lying is judged off its cost and benefits. In each situation, there will be outcomes when it comes to the lies being told. Lying to those you have impersonal connection with has less of an impact than those you have an interpersonal relationships. Those that has an impersonal relationships is nearly never affected by the lies told because normally they do not see that person as often as those with the close bonds. I understand that lying can be beneficial in relationship of any kind, but I personally feel that the truth is preferred. There are two consequences that puts strain on the relationship. Termination is the last step in a relationship; there are

Once people know that a person habitually lies, they do not take that person as seriously. Being honest demonstrates self-respect and respect for others. Honesty is appealing and engaging to others. Honesty also sets a good example for people who look up to that person. People will become closer and have faith in an authentic person. An honest person invites authentic and real friendships. Imagine if a friend overhears a lie told by another peer, it is possible that it could damage the relationship. It can be difficult to regain their trust once they are aware of the regular lying. People frequently tell lies to bypass sharing truths that feel uncomfortable or awkward. Lying should be avoided because it is important to share true judgment and care for others. Lying typically ruins relationships whether they are personal or work-related. It is clear that lying creates skepticism and disbelief. Most people will stop asking liars for advice on personal issues because they know they will not get truthful information. Friendships are often broken because of lies that get too big to keep lying about. Lying hides who people really are. People should try to keep a clean slate by staying honest, especially when there are consequences. Lying gets rid of credibility, yet people seem to lie more

Growing up, my mom always taught me to always tell the truth, one of the first times that I can remember this was really stressed to me is when I was just a young boy. At the time I was a trouble maker and would always altercate the truth to save myself from getting in trouble. I thought that this was the most ingenious thing because I could get away with anything by just telling these little “white lies”. In history these small lies can make huge impacts on the path that we take to move forward. For example, a native American figure in history that went by the name Acorn Whistler victimized others by lying and finally fell victim to it himself. Now Is lying just something we as humans do to get what we want or is there a deeper ethos behind

Why do people lie? In the Truth about Lying by Judith Viorst, she describes the different types of lying and she shows how society has accepted it. She also explains the reason why we lie and what we lie about. The main types of lies that she talks about are social lies, peacekeeping lies, protective lies and trust keeping lies. On social lies Viorst describes that people find it acceptable to decline invites. With I’m busy that night. Or complement someone’s hairdo that doesn’t look good with that looks good. When it simply isn’t true. She also talks about what peace keeping lies which is when you lie to cover up for someone else’s mistakes

Many time we lie because we don’t want to hurt or disappoint people when in return you are hurting yourself . I understand your action and have done the same myself. The statement you made we need to take a deeper look at the decisions that we make on daily basis is so true. Many time are white lie affect people. For , example if I call in sick and have no substitute to cover my class this cause a great effect on my students and coworker. When it would have been better to plan for a day off.

Lying the one form of communication that is the untruth expressed to be the truth. Immanuel Kant states that lying is morally wrong in all possible ways. His hatred for lying has made him “just assumed that anyone who lied would be operating with a maxim like this: tell a lie so as to gain some benefit.”(Landau,pp.171) This is true for a vast number of people, they will lie in order to gain a certain benefit from the lie rather than the truth.It is similar to if you play a game of truth or dare, some rather pick a dare because it would release them from having to tell the truth. However, those who do pick truth still have a chance to lie to cover up the absolute truth.People lie in order to cover who they truly are. Even if you lie to benefit someone or something else, it would not matter to Kant because he does not care for the consequences. If you lie but have a good intention it is not the same for Kant, he would argue that you still lied no matter the consequence that a lie is a lie. “ While lying, we accuse others for not being transparent. While being hypocrites ourselves, we expect others to be sincere.” (Dehghani,Ethics) We know how it feels to be lied to by a person, so in order to not have the feeling returned, we hope the person will be truthful. We rather be surrounded by truthful people constantly despite all the lies that some people tell. No

Admittedly, we as humans are considered to be savages, on the other hand there are those who perceive there is a greater good to humanity. So as humans, we tend to lie in order to better our image. This shouldn’t be the way things are, life should be about the honest truth and pointing out our mistakes when made. But as we all know the truth is not always

These white lies are often overlooked and shrugged at, when people should actually be more cautious because it can be effortless to tell a lie or not say the truth. Telling the truth may hurt someone, but you will be respected more for your honesty and have a chance to resolve an issue without having your character

In most cases, people don’t intend to lie. Sometimes our memory becomes defective and we may remember events a bit differently than how they

Lying is unavoidable in our daily lives. Whether it be small or large, people have tendencies to lie in order to benefit themselves or others. One very common lie is a white lie, which is a lie that is considered harmless and often is used to avoid hurting someone's feelings. Another type of lie is an Out-and-Out lie, which are “complete” or “absolute” lies that are often bad, or the person is trying to avoid trouble. Everybody lies at some point to avoid, protect, or to minimize consequences. However, consequences are determined by the severity of the lie. The less severe, such as a white lie, the less harmful it can be to yourself and others. The more severe, such as the Out-and-Out lie, become more harmful to yourself and others.