Spartan Scroll

by Anthony Atencio

photo courtesy of Gettyimages.com 

Although honesty may seem to be a social obligation that everyone should follow, sometimes a white lie may be a better option compared to the harsh truth.

Lying is not necessarily always a bad thing. While white lies are still technically lies, they are there to provide comfort.

For example, a man lying to his wife about where they are going in order to get her to a place where a surprise birthday party has been organized, is considered a white lie. However, in this case, this white lie is not necessarily a bad thing as that man had no intention of harming his wife. Instead, he wanted to simply surprise her.

According to the huffpost.com, there are four rules in determining which truths are worth telling and which are not. The first rule is that one must always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Also, one must tell their loved ones as much as they can. Without honesty, people feel disconnected and drift apart. One must tell acquaintances enough truth to maintain optimal connections. Finally, if one is desperate to kill a relationship, lies are usually effective. With these rules, people can determine when they should give a white lie or simply tell the truth.

There are many factors for determining whether one should tell the truth or a white lie, such as what is going on and who one is with. If one does not have the intention of harming another person with a white lie, that lie is not automatically a bad thing.