“Let's tell the truth to people. When people ask, 'How are you?' have the nerve sometimes to answer truthfully. You must know, however, that people will start avoiding you because, they, too, have knees that pain them and heads that hurt and they don't want to know about yours. But think of it this way: If people avoid you, you will have more time to meditate and do fine research on a cure for whatever truly afflicts you.” ( Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter). This paper will talk about whether honesty is always the best policy. Honesty is always the best policy unless in certain situations like when someone else's feelings are at stake, personal protection, and self preservation. “ I have three children - how may I teach them to walk …show more content…
When he says this he is giving a reason as to why he is lying about being a witch. He thinks for the good of others. This is why this lie is allowed to be told. He does not want anybody to suffer. He wants to teach his sons that do not conform to the low social level, that everybody else has succumbed to. He would rather die than to live a lie. This is an example of why it would be better to lie than tell than truth in this situation. “Honesty isn’t just a word, it’s a characteristic of an act, behavior, or personality.”(Dustin Wax, Life Hack) You can either behave honestly or act honestly. The difference between the two is that behaving honestly is truly being honest while acting honest is like having a mask on. You may seem honest but you’re truly not. No one should act honest but sometimes you have to. Being this way can mostly lead to bad experiences. But the only time when you should act honest is when your life's in danger or protecting someone …show more content…
Honesty is usually the best policy but other times it is not. Would you want to loose people? Would you want to protect a reputation? These are some of the things that play in when you choose to lie or not lie. Would you want to wear the mask? “You deceived yourself. Self-deception. That's when we convince ourselves that a lie is the truth. Sometimes it's hard to tell the two apart.” ( Magic of Truth and Lies, TED Talk). When we deceive ourselves, we essentially lie to ourselves. Lying to ourselves is a problem. When we lie to ourselves, we tell ourselves to forget the bad and fake it with something good. This is not only bad for the indivual, but for the world. This is true because when you lie to yourself, you’re faking your true, self, and your personality, known to your peers, is fake. You’ve got to face what is true to you.
“Even telling a small lie risks being unmasked as a liar.”(Why Be Honest, Psychology Today). Would the indivual want to risk a reputation that you built to so high, be diminished? Would you want to be classified as a liar for the rest of eternity? These are all questions that you must think about, before telling a lie, and getting caught telling it. If you are going to tell a lie, you must think about the repercussions that will follow, if caught. Telling a lie is a major deal. You must only do it in certain, important