When is the last time you told a lie?

Question

It's been said that it's almost impossible to go an entire day without telling at least a small fib. Do you find this to be true? Is the idea of "complete honesty" unrealistic?

Answer 1

Well, there is honesty and there is honesty. Do you count it as a lie when someone asks how they look and you say, You look good to me!
Or do you have to do a brutal analysis?
Or when someone asks,"wouldn't you agree?" when it's something that you really aren't that concerned about, so you just say, 'for sure."
Or when your spouse brings home a special treat and it's something high calorie and you've just started a diet? Do you say - you idiot, chuck that in the garbage, or do you take a token spoonful and say, "This is so yummy, and it was so sweet of you to think of it" and leave the rest for him to eat?
I probably tell lots of little white lies in the course of a day - but then, I have a good excuse. I write fiction so I have to keep my imagination cranked up......

Answer 2

'I think it's true. Complete honesty seems totally unrealistic because we are HUMAN BEEINGS, which means we can't be perfect. Nevertheless there are many ways of lying. In my opinion some are far more disturbing than others. Real liars, always telling fibs, are uninteresting false and untruthful. people. Nothing, no job, no relationship, can be based on lies. Compared to that, small little fibs are nothing. It is often better to tell a little lie and make people happy.. ...and I must say that even if I don't remember having told a lie today I am sure I have done so and it doesnt worry me in the least !

Answer 3

Today at work. The only time you can go an entire day without telling even a small fib is if you live on an island by yourself and even then the probability is you'll lie to yourself.

Complete honesty is unrealistic.

Answer 4

LoL, About fifteen minutes ago, when I told my husband that I would put gas in the car. I know that was not true. I think that everyone tells at least one "white lie" daily, but I think it has been a few days im my life that I did not lie. Complete honesty is unrealistic. Sometimes you tell a lie without even knowing that it was going to be a lie in the first place. When you are suppose to be at the office at 8:00am. You have made that commitment when you were hired, but then you unexpectantly run late and you lied in a sense. When you tell someone that you are going to visit at a certain hour and if you get there late or early then you lied again. I think that most people do the very best that they can and sometimes it happens. Every now and again, we tell the bigger lies just to make our days go a little smoother.

Answer 5

Last time i visited Lie Land was Thursday, 7 June. I prevaricated at 11:20 a.m. Found a fib that suited me & i've kept it for years and i trot it out every six months when my dental hygenist, Carlotta, asks, "Have you pre-medicated?" The answer is always, "Yes", and is is untruthful. I am not going to put almost a gram of antibiotic in my healthy system twice a year because of an iffy diagnosis of mitral valve prolapse. But no meds, no clean teeth so i blithely lie my way to pearly whites.

Probably a person could go more than a day without lying but not without a few juicy rationalizations. A rationalization is just a lie that knows someone. A little dressed up. Complete honesty probably is unrealistic in our fallen society. And anyway one could become a social pariah if everytime Mrs. White asked you how you liked her tired old Easter hat & you told her what you thought. Sometimes lying is gentler than the truth.

I think people will lie forever to try to cover up what they did or didn't do. Apparently we lie instead of taking our lumps. We'd do better with less lying. We' be better people. That's my story & i'm sticking to it.

Answer 6

Actually, I don't remember the last time I told a lie. It was some minor social thing, because I don't tell ones big enough to have to remember.

Of course the idea of telling the total truth is unrealistic. People ask questions where you don't want to tell them the truth, but they don't easily accept no answer at all. But learning how to avoid answering, or to answer with something that does not reveal too much, is a very useful skill. My Steve rarely lied. He learned how to give a non-responsive answer, like "That would be a long and complicated story." (Doesn't say, "and I'm not telling you that story," but just moves on.) Or even "I don't know how to answer that." (Not the same, of course, as "I don't know the answer to that.") Or "Why do you want to know?" and throw the burden back.

But now that I think of it, the last time I told a lie was probably to some authority figure, because they are not good at accepting non-responsive answers. And Steve used to say that you have the right to lie to someone who presses you for an answer they have no right to hear. Answering "none of your business" to an authority figure just doesn't work, so you lie in self-defense.

Answer 7

Truth and lies are not just black or white. There are many different shades of truth. I distort the truth many times a day. but not really lie. I try to be as honest as possible, but sometimes you have to not say "the whole truth".

Complete honesty can be a very hurt full for yourself and for others. Benign lies like "you look great in that dress!!" or "no, you're don't look fat" are necessary for human relations. Sometimes truth hurts and it isn´t necessary to tell the truth.

I have gone days without saying lies not even a small fib, but mostly when I'm not at work. In a friendly environment it is easier to be completely honest (friends being male). In male-female relations I tend to lie more. And in working relations I tend to adjust the truth many times. like "yes the report is almost ready, give me a few minutes I am adjusting the pages" (and have to finish almost half of it).

Answer 8

The idea of complete honesty is not unrealistic, but the ability to follow up on that idea may be. It could depend on the definition of "complete honesty". If a parent asks "Do you know who broke this vase" and the child says "yes", the child is being completely honest, but the parent still doesn't know who broke it. The obvious next question in the sample is "Tell me who broke it". The child can now say "no" and still remain truthful.

When Wife is in the shower and can't come to the phone, does Hubby lie when he says she can't come to the phone right now? He doesn't need to blurt out "She's in the shower and doesn't want to walk through the house nekked and dripping wet just to talk to you!

Many people mistake "completely honest" with being mean. I saw a child that had a very ugly purple growth on her face. I picked her up and hugged her and said "Hi there, bright eyes, you are so quiet." in a happy voice. Did I lie? Of course not.

Words are very powerful, and can be used in the most honest manner without being mean, confrontational, or revealing way too much information.

Answer 9

Complete honesty - B.S. Brutal Honesty - WAY too much of that to go around. Me - Completely, honestly, full of B.S. I find THIS to be true. Hell - I fib almost every day when someone asks me how I'm doing. I almost always say, "great" when what I really mean is..."super fantastic!" Oops...I just told a fib.

Answer 10

The most recent lie i have told was a little white lie in aid of saving the dreams and illusions of christmas for 2 of my children.....they still believe in santa claus (bless) I ordered my youngest daughter and son a new bike for christmas, and today they were delivered, unfortunately they were delivered just after school finished so my children were home. Fortunately they were in boxes so they didnt know what they were. I told them that they were a new computer table, (which i will be buying tomorrow afternoon when they are at school) Hopefully my children are none the wiser. Ohhh that reminds me, i have to get some christmas writing paper and envelopes so they can write their letters to santa.

Answer 11

No, it is not unrealistic. I can go thru an entire day without telling a lie (one reason might be cos I'm enjoying summer holidays:) U know... no school, no lies :D

I know I lied two days ago though. When my bro made a mess on the carpet of ketchup and other stuff and I said our cat did it..... ;)