What is a lie?
Wikipedia dictionary says that ,' A lie is a false statement to a person or group made by another person or group who knows it is not the whole truth, intentionally.
A lie is a fabricated statement submitted as truth, without knowing for certain whether or not it actually is true.
A lie may be be a half-truth statement intended to deceive or cheat the other person.
A half truth statement or a wholly false statement intended to deceive , cheat or misrepresent truth , facts and figures constitutes a lie. A slight exaggeration too counts for a lie.
Everybody has told a lie(s) at a certain point of time and /or phase.
Humans by birth are not prone to lie. A child is innocent as he speaks unblemished truth but as the child undergoes changes , observes the social and home environment begins with small lies. When he is successfully able to convince the other person , camouflaging the truth he gains confidence and cultivates the fine art of lying graduating to adulthood.
Why do people lie?
To seek attention / be the centre of attention :
A child to avoid going to school or day care centre complains about an upset tummy .
A pregnant wife raves and rants of morning sickness exaggerating the symptoms to be the cynosure of the family.
To hide unpleasant truth / harsh reality
A husband on getting a pink slip does not disclose the information to this wife.
A college-going youth lying about his/her whereabouts to his parents and enjoying the company of his beloved.
A matter of habit
A child may have been scolded or punished for a certain reason in childhood and he resorts to lying to escape the punishment. Continuous lying and lying to hide another lie makes the child a habitual liar.To distort facts
To save relationships : A cheating spouse knows the relevance and importance of the sanctity of marriage and lies to preserve it but cannot prevent oneself from straying.
To avoid confrontations
To project a good / clean image
A student sleeps with the lights on in his room projecting an image of a studious child.
A husband lies about the compulsion of entertaining corporate clients while in reality he would love to guzzle beer by gallons.
Effects of lying.
when a spouse stumbles upon the truth of the other half 's fling / affair , how does she/he feel/react?
Cheated, betrayed. keep mum, shout and scream, cry, confide in close friends, walk out of the marriage.
Can the cheating spouse be trusted? Probably no or never ever.
Can the wronged spouse re-build the faith ?
Will the wronged partner be able to command respect in the marriage?
Will the relationship be the same as before?
A single lie has the vicious power to create a serious crack in the mirror of relationship. Can it be held together by the glue of forgiveness? The cracked mirror will show a distorted reflection. Can the wronged partner see one-self in the cracked mirror?
“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
A child steals money from the house for partying, booze or drugs or for a visit to the mall.
The child lies but is caught red-handed , can he/she be trusted even when he/she tells the truth? The parents will always be suspicious , spy on the child or will cross-question the child.
The person who fabricates and distorts facts will develop personality disorders as he is leading a double life.
From childhood , at home and school alike we are repeatedly taught to believe that 'Truth alone triumphs'.
A truth is bare and naked , while a lie has to be gift-wrapped.
Readers , I would like to know your views?
Your post encompasses all aspects of falsehood or uttering a lie.Truth is non negotiable.Where the truth is unpleasant,it is good to be silent unless the latter causes harm to the individual or society.Cheating,deceiving,lying,half truths are all one and the same.
ReplyDeleteA good article.
This post is intended to bring out the truths about a lie , its reasons for thriving , the bad-effects and ultimately destruction as in the end truth has to triumph and if its not so then its still not the end. Cheating deceiving , hiding facts etc are all different form of lying.A truth need no be dressed up while lie has to be çovered'.'thanks for reading KP.
DeleteTrust once broken cannot be rebuild. Kids should be taught to be sincere and parents should also be friendly enough so that children are not scared to admit the wrong they did. When relations are strong and people are good to each other lying might get reduced to an extent.
ReplyDeleteSheetal you have hit the bull's eye. Children should not be scared to admit and accept the wrongs.Only then can they blossom as mature adults. In our society adults blatantly lie as they are scared to tell the truth or their wrongdoings.
DeleteIt's true that we should be truthful all the time, and never resort to lies, but I feel a little bit of lie will do no harm. Sometimes, we need to lie in order not to hurt others. What could be bad about it?
ReplyDeleteYes, we must ensure that it doesn't become a habit :-)
it should not become a habit.
DeleteEverybody has told a lie(s) at a certain point of time and /or phase.
as I have mentioned earlier , a little white lies is okay to indulge in but not a serious one. when my son was a little boy I had explained to him the bad effects to eating excess chocolates and he understood it but a child being a child always wanted more. So I used to hide the chocolates and tell him that the shop is closed and we would buy the next day.
Lies always come out, no matter how much anyone tries to gift wrap it or camouflage it. Only the time period that it takes to come out differs. The longer the lies remain hidden, the more pain the truth inflicts. We always learn to forgive the people we love. But yes, forgetting rarely happens. :(
ReplyDeleteTruth alone triumphs! indeed. Lies are always the easy way out, but when they come out in open, they always hurt.
ReplyDeleteJust like some of the other earlier comments, it is because children are scared of the negative consequences of their actions that they resort to lying and then slowly it becomes a habit. Children must be taught to be truthful about all their activities and feelings from a very young age and must not be subjected to severe negative consequences for their mistakes as well, this will discourage them from lying.
ReplyDelete"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive" - Sir Walter Scott - sums it up nicely. Trust once broken is hard to repair.
ReplyDeleteAgain I was talking with someone during lunch and as a part of joke I suddenly said, "truth has no party it keeps dwelling around" It was a joke but when I went back i realised how correct I was... Truth has no party and lies always has one which is us.
ReplyDeleteRicha
Usually if trust is broken, you just never get it back. Lying never helps anything. It only makes things worse. ♥
ReplyDeleteEverybody has lied at some point in time..maybe something Simple and small. Maybe big.Truth always comes out in the end. But by that time the lie has caused sufficient damage. I tried to write a similar post called Liar liar. Well written Kalpana .
ReplyDelete