When is it inappropriate to tell the truth? Is anything else a lie?

A friend asked me this question recently, and caused me to pause and think before replying. I remembered when she asked a poem by Sir Walter Raleigh called The Lie (below) that begs for the exposition of lies in the world. Passionately. Angily almost. I like the sentiment, but don’t necessarily feel the same. Lies are encoded in everything we do… Manners are lies. As are so many of the ways we interact. Those who pride the... read more

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with T... read more