Honesty & Tall Tales

Honesty is such a lonely word.
Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty is hardly ever heard.
And mostly what I need from you.

So goes Billy Joel's Honesty

Is honesty the best policy? Or rather is honesty the better policy?

Lying can take more than one form; be it simple white lies or blatant outright deception.
One can also be addicted to lying – one is then termed a compulsive liar. Jim Carey's Liar Liar movie is a good showcase of this affliction; his character can't go thru a day without uttering some untruth, his attorney job not withstanding.

I cannot help but feel lying is stressful – both to the liar as well as his audience. Let's start with his audience; those people to whom a person tell lies to- may be apt to call them the victims. Very frequently the victims know full well that the liar is spouting lies but are too kind or courteous to tell him off. I know because I have oft been a victim of lies big and small. Stressful as I have to hold myself in check to keep from confronting a friend who is such a compulsive liar. Four out of every ten statements issuing forth from his mouth are untruths. Mind you, he is not trying to swindle me into a get rich quick scheme or somesuch; not that I have anything to be conned out of. Just lies about everyday things. Except he keeps repeating the same lies on different occasions but with dissimilar basis. We'd known each other for over 10 years and while I am not exactly Einstein, I am not a doofus either so he should know I can't be easily deceived. I just didn't have the heart to confront him with his lies. Ever the thinker; I wondered why he keeps doing it. Is there a psychological need for him to keep lying? Does he actually derive a perverse pleasure in diddling his victims?

When one exhibits a penchant for lying; one should be well equipped with a really good memory besides the first prerequisite of verbal creativity. This is because of the problem of lying to many victims; never sticking to the same tall story line. You can forget what lie you told to which person as well as the exact context of the fib. On the other hand, your victims can recall clearly what you lied about earlier and contrast it with what you have just repeated. Worse, they may get together in your absence and compare notes and conclude that you are just a big fraud. Liar Liar becomes your moniker. Yes, it is all too easy to become a liar of Clintonian dimensions.

Some may say such lying is harmless but the problem is such consummate liars may graduate to worse levels such as swindling or cheating as well as marital infidelity. Whatever it is, the harm has been done. I am especially wary of people whom I know are prone to habitual lying that I take everything they say with a double pinch of salt.

Perhaps it is still better to keep one's mouth shut than open it unnecessarily. If you cannot tell the truth, then shut yer trap. Don't lie.Why bother.

Nothing is opened more by mistake than the mouth. A closed mouth gathers no foot too.