OK, we all know lies are bad. They tend to be self-perpetuating. That is once a lie is told often more are needed to cover the first. When I was a kid, my mother told my brother and me that we had a “little red light” in our eyes that only parents could see, and it came on when we told a lie. Naturally we both looked away when we lied, and she would say “I see that little red light!” Caught. Once I looked directly at her, told a lie, and bingo, no light. Another parental lie uncovered.
White lies are different though. You don’t go up to somebody and say “boy, are you fat!” If asked how you feel, you mostly answer “OK” when in fact you feel like crap. Or when you deny that you have cooked up something for a birthday or other event that will be a surprise to someone. You get a free pass on those kinds of lies because the intent is to obfuscate to please someone, not to deceive them for harm.
I tell white lies all the time and so should everyone. Who wants to know they are getting fat, or look 10 years older than they really are? Not me.
Image: www.rabbitholemusic.com/best/2009/whitelies.jpg
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