Lies are not always bad. There are good and bad lies and some which have no moral liability or virtue at all. Lies that hurt people are bad:, those that help are good. Lies that neither hurt nor help are wasted. Some lies are planned and therefore intentional, others just seem to find their way from our brain to our mouths before we have a chance to stop them. I don't know if we should be held responsible for those. I've heard the malicious rumor that the tale about GeorgeWashington never having told a lie is a lie.
Anyone, except George, who claims to never have told a lie is a liar. We lie for different reasons.. Mostly we lie for our own benefit but frequently it is to protect or defend a friend. This is a noble lie. When playing cards we sometimes lie, that's called a "bluff". When betting in poker there is a lie called "check and raise", where, when you have a great hand and don't want to scare others from betting by revealing it with a large bet, you by-pass betting so you can enlarge the pot by raising the bet of others. In sports there is the maneuver called a "fake" which is a lie to your opponent that says you are going to do one thing then proceed to do another. Lies surround us. Some times we lie by enhancing or diminishing the truth. This could be considered as lying about the truth.
I don't remember all the details but when I was in the eighth grade, we had a debate in a history class about some action the British had taken in the revolution and the American response. Whatever it was all about, I was assigned to defend the British but could find nothing to do that. Finally I came across some passages which, if I truncated, would be a fairly good defense. It worked out pretty well. After it was over, the teacher said, "If any one in this class ever becomes President, it will be John Carone.". I swelled with pride over such a compliment and carried that with me for years.
As I matured and began to understand politics, my bubble was burst when reality struck me. The compliment of my eighth grade teacher was a reference to the propensity of politicians, especially Presidents, to lie by taking things out of context. This is a lie, but if you are a politician it is called a "mis-statement".
My advice to you is to never, ever lie unless you have to.
Anyone, except George, who claims to never have told a lie is a liar. We lie for different reasons.. Mostly we lie for our own benefit but frequently it is to protect or defend a friend. This is a noble lie. When playing cards we sometimes lie, that's called a "bluff". When betting in poker there is a lie called "check and raise", where, when you have a great hand and don't want to scare others from betting by revealing it with a large bet, you by-pass betting so you can enlarge the pot by raising the bet of others. In sports there is the maneuver called a "fake" which is a lie to your opponent that says you are going to do one thing then proceed to do another. Lies surround us. Some times we lie by enhancing or diminishing the truth. This could be considered as lying about the truth.
I don't remember all the details but when I was in the eighth grade, we had a debate in a history class about some action the British had taken in the revolution and the American response. Whatever it was all about, I was assigned to defend the British but could find nothing to do that. Finally I came across some passages which, if I truncated, would be a fairly good defense. It worked out pretty well. After it was over, the teacher said, "If any one in this class ever becomes President, it will be John Carone.". I swelled with pride over such a compliment and carried that with me for years.
As I matured and began to understand politics, my bubble was burst when reality struck me. The compliment of my eighth grade teacher was a reference to the propensity of politicians, especially Presidents, to lie by taking things out of context. This is a lie, but if you are a politician it is called a "mis-statement".
My advice to you is to never, ever lie unless you have to.
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