Tell the complete truth, is it always good?

What is the meaning of the word dishonesty? Well, the dictionary defines it like “to act without honesty”, so we should know first the meaning of honesty; the honesty refers to a facet of moral character and denotes positive, virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness and straightforwardness with the absence of lying, cheating or theft. Then after this definition we can say that dishonesty is the lack of all these values mentioned above, but should we always being honest about everything, I mean is it always good tell the complete truth?

Think of a world where no one ever lies. People don't even think it's a possible thing to say something which is not true. I think, it will be nice to live in this kind of world because if everyone always tell the truth, we will have better relationships, Most of the arguments you have with the closest consider lying and hiding the truth; we will waste less time, for example if you go to a job interview, or a first date , if the other side doesn't think you are right for what they need, they will immediately tell you, that way you won't sit at home, waiting for the phone to ring; we will be calmer, for parents, your kid tells you he goes out with his friends to a movie, not more worries, because what they are telling is true.

On the other hand, the total honestly is not always the best policy; nobody wants to hear that they look heavier or less attractive. People who are honest all the time are considered blunt, antisocial, and pathological. People even in the most honest relationships have to lie sometimes. Maybe it’s your anniversary with that special somebody and for some reason you totally forgot, you have to disguise your lies in order to avoid hurting the feelings of the other person, or if your mom or you wife ask you if she is fat, you can’t tell them, yes, you are fat, well it would be better to say a “white lie” so that they won’t feel sad and with low self-esteem

Let’s analyze the fact there are many different type of lies. Remember the time you told your father you were scared because there was a monster under your bed. Did you lie as a child to get some affection from an adult figure? How about your first kiss! Did you tell your date it was great only because you did not want to upset him? Those are calling the “white lies” and it avoids the other person feel bad, but there are also the lies that destroy something, people who lies because they want to hurt with these lies, this kind of lies ought not to be accepted.

In conclusion, there is no person in the world who has not ever lied in the life, but if it is true that there are some lies we can help us not hurt other people, we should try to tell the truth about things, and if it is something very hard to say, then say them slowly and gently in order not to get things worse.

Rivero Ampuero Fernando 09/11/2013