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Most people consider lying to be wrong ethically, even those who frequently do, unless they are also lying to themselves. But honesty is the best policy, not only ethically but from a pragmatic point of view as well. We often hear of people being "caught out in a lie", usually with far worse consequences than if they had been honest in the first place. On the other hand, it is quite simply impossible to be "caught out in a truth". As long as you stick to the traditional judicial oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and most importantly, nothing but the truth. What you are saying will then always hold together, no matter how often you are asked to repeat it or how many people you tell it to.

That is the crux of the matter. Ignoring the ethical considerations against lying for the moment, the practical problems are enormous. It is a rare lie that can get away with being the only one you tell in a situation, it normally requires supporting lies to hold it up. That "easy" little lie takes on the aspect of a convoluted 500 page bestselling Thriller. And if you tell different versions to different people, you get the added complication of trying to remember who you have told what, not to mention what they may tell each other. Even if you seem to get away with it, people may well remember it in future situations, so it ends up coming back to haunt you! Lying to the wrong person may not only get you in trouble with the law, but be a serious threat to your physical well-being as well.

Being dishonest is ethically wrong because of what it does. If the person you lie to doesn't believe your lie, you generate mistrust, not only of you; their trust in anyone will be subconsciously lowered, at least fractionally. If they do believe it, then you will have distorted their perception of reality. Many people have a hard enough time recognizing and dealing with reality as it is, without deliberate distortions moving their world-view away from reality. This is true even for yourself; lying to yourself distorts your own world-view. The further a person's world-view is from reality, the more difficult it is for them to function effectively in the real world, and the less likely they are to find happiness or at least contentment.

This is not to say that there may not be rare occasions when lying to someone is better than telling them the truth. In some circumstances, it may be necessary to lie to someone, but this should only be when doing so is to their benefit rather than your

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