Preview

No harmful of telling white lies

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
366 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
No harmful of telling white lies
Lying. We are all liars. We lie to others, and we lie to ourselves. Anyone who says they never lie is the biggest liar of all. From childhood onwards, we are bombarded with the message that honesty is always the best policy, from teachers, parents, religion and society in general. But, there are times when lying is permissible, particularly the little white lie. It is permissible when it saves a life, for the cause of peace, to spare another person's feelings and to provide comfort. If saying a small lie will preserve life, that may be the right thing to do.
First of all, people are telling white lies because of psychology factor. Psychology is how the mind influences behavior in a particular area of life. By telling white lies, they will always think positive eventhough they have critical problems. For example, healthcare providers have not been honest as patients assumed. Sometimes they felt patients couldn’t handle the truth, particularly that relates with diseases and dying. Thus, they telling white lies trying to cheer patients up. Other than that, parents not feel guilty for telling their children white lies of The Tooth Farry because it is good for their development, by stimulating their imagination. Besides that, white lies are acceptable in some careers like military intelligence and undercover police work. But, as a general policy, honesty is the best policy. The undercover is carried to gather information about ongoing and future criminal activity as well as disrupt these activities and arrest those involved. Examples of crimes are manufacture and distribution of drugs, kidnapping of children or teenagers and street gangs. Undercover work is ethical because it is carried to protect the citizens in that city.
Lastly, in relationship, there are times when we might even tell a lie, in order to protect someone's feelings, or prevent a conflict. Can love survive without little white lies? Of course not. Sometimes when people lie to the ones they love,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Lies are complicated things. They can range from a little white lie to lies which can create a web of deception that can produce a noose that chokes you, binding you very move you make. However, the nature of a lie is dependent on the individual who tells it. For example, the retelling of events is often skewed because of personal perspectives.…

    • 1546 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lying is sometimes acceptable justable when you are trying to protect others or yourself. For example, Barbara Ballinger says “If you’re hiding Anne Frank in your attic because her life is on danger” (Ballinger P11). This shows that it is okay lie if you are protecting someone.…

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lies are told every day by you, me, and even your close loved ones. Everyone lies at some point in their lives. The simple true is we all lie. While reading the “Ways We Lie” by Ericsson’s it was very clear that lies are being told more than the truth. She explains many different types of lies being told from the smallest of lies to protect the emotional state of others, to the extreme lies being told and merely ignoring the plain facts of lies that cause real pain.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After revisiting Ericsson's interpretation of the ways we lie, I stumbled upon a quote were she stated “It is an act of subtle arrogance for anyone to decide what is best for anyone else”. She was inferring that an individual can not imply that their suggestion is the best option for anyone else. Clearly, that statement is true for numerous reasons. An individual can not state a suggestion towards someone saying it is best for them. While in reality, it's just a faulty lie. People would rather give inaccuracy information instead of telling the honest truth. For example,my neighbor ask for cooking advice and I shelter he or she with lies such as”Your cooking is nice and tasteful”. When in reality I could just give he or she the advice they need to improve their cooking. With that said, white lies (as Ericsson refers to) are genuinely feeling holders.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In "The Ways We Lie" by Stephanie Ericsson, Ericsson talks about how lies exist in aspects of our life every single day. She describes the different ways that humans lie and justifies why people doing so. These lies discussed in this article include the white lies, facade lies, lies of omission and lies that focus around stereotypes. White lie is a common way that people lie to others, because the lie would be better than the truth. Sometimes, the truth will cause more damage or dangerous than a simple harmless…

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “No, you look great in that color”, “I don’t think you need to diet”, or “I’ve never binge watched Netflix” are all example of common lies we tell. As Stephanie Erecsson, the author of “The Ways We Lie” essay, implies that white lies are necessities for living. Though, when lies are incorporated into important affairs, lots of trouble can be aroused. Lying can become a cultural cancer when provided in any political or governmental situation, however, in an individual’s personal life, lying is necessary.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The term deception means the deliberate act of misleading an individual some may refer to deception as “little white lies.” Deception has long been used in the criminal justice area by officers in the detecting process of criminal cases, and is one of the most commonly used tools in the investigative process. Investigators use deception in the detecting process. This involves misleading criminals during the investigative and interrogative stages, to gather enough information about the crime that only the suspect would know to arrest the suspect, and then present the case to the court. There are three stages of deception, the investigation, then interrogation, and finally the testimonial.…

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In to story, "The Ways We Lie, the author tells about the many ways people lie and explains the reasons for doing it. Her essay explains the different lies told daily by most people. First is the white lie, which is basically telling a harmless lie instead of the truth, if the truth I bad news. Then a facade is changing your behavior while avoiding the real truth. The author tells of a lie done with the intent to do wrong. And deflecting is not answering the question at all. The author tells how people are often up-front about unimportant issues and not revealing the couple of very important details that changes everything.…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why Are Lies Wrong

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The debate over the acceptability of lying is a complicated one. Some feel that it is morally wrong and only ever worsens a situation. Others feel that it is acceptable in cases where feelings could be hurt, or if a person’s self-esteem may be lowered. However, there are instances in which lying happens simply to avoid the consequences of a person’s actions, and most would agree that it is morally wrong. Instead of going back and forth between “lying is wrong” and “lying is okay sometimes,” a better use of our time would be learning to improve our honesty with ourselves and with the people around…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In America, one thing everybody has in common is lying; it is a natural humanistic behavior. Author Stephanie Ericsson describes some of the average every day lies in her essay “The Ways We Lie”. She describes the white lie as the liar assuming that the truth will cause more damage than the simple, harmless untruth; and an out-and-out lie she describes as the bald-faced lie. A lot of people lie without realizing it. Through personal experience, white lies and out-and-out lies have come across my path a lot in my lifetime.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Nursing Paper.

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages

    -I believe everyone has told a white lie sometime in their life and also that everyone is a victim of a white lie. An example of mine would be that for my birthday this past year my sister got me a new shirt, Well, me and my sister do not have the same taste in clothing and when I opened the gift I just had to smile and tell her I loved it and would wear it somewhere that next weekend.…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Moral Compass

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages

    White lies, defined as one told someone for not hurting another's feeling was most acceptable lies among all. However, how many of us have actually face the life threatening events that need us to decide to lie, or how many of us were the superheros who was faced to lie for saving the public safety. Hardly any of us would have face these situation. It is these "it's o.k" situation that presented to us that made us to think lying as a common thing, and later second nature.…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Personal Code Of Ethics

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I may tell little white lies in situations where feelings my be hurt by telling the truth (ex. bad meal, new haircut looks awful..etc).…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A little white lie can’t hurt anyone can it? White lies are all about the liar choosing what is best to be lied about. I’m sure as a human you yourself have told many of them maybe even without realizing it, I know I have. A white lie I know that I’ve told is telling one of my friends that I liked their new haircut when in reality I hated it. I told them I liked it because I could tell they really liked it and I wouldn’t want to hurt their feelings. Personally I didn’t see anything wrong in saying that because either way there was nothing they could do about…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In a small home, a question is left unanswered, lingering in the air. “Is lying really something that is for the better good?” Within the many levels of lying lays a wavering argument only known as lying. Is it justified? Perhaps it should only be classified as unforgivable? Lying is a “necessity” in our everyday lives, it is and can be needed for the greater good whether it comes to lying to save a relationship with a close friend, or used to protect someone and even used to save a life. Lying is an action that is acceptable; it can even be considered a necessity.…

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics