Why lie?

well i would have said something but it would be a lie too.

a famous line perhaps : “nothing is true, everything is permitted”!! go figure!

It is basically a self defence mechanism to prevent oneself from sustaining physical and emotional damage alike.
You are shopping for clothes with your sexual partner of choice, and your SPoC asks you “how do I look in this?”.
(truth) Gross. It makes you look fat(ter).
(lie) You look great in it!
Which do you choose? (she has a knife)
And as a wise man once said: “The truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination.”

It’s idealogical to believe the truth is always better.

I could give you the classic example of if you were Keeping Anna Frank up stairs and the Natzi came knocking at your door and said “Do you have any Jews” of course lying is better.”

Lying is sometimes the best thing to do

Aside from lying to save the life of an innocent person, lying is harmful to ones own sense of self esteem and integrity.

Like ‘they’ say, ‘To lie to anyone else, you must lie to yourself first.’

Most people lie for selfish reasons, for personal gain, failing to see they are really harming themselves the most.

A healthy human psyche cannot feel good about itself if it is guilty of deception with others.

I am honest because I like the woman in the mirror, we can make direct eye contact! ;-)

The primary motive to lie is to build and protect a false identuty.
Not being aware that the Truth will show you your identity which is far greater than the one the lies protect.

For some, I think it becomes a habit and the lies just slide out without conscious thought being given. But there were times when I lied, it was because I couldn’t face the truth.

There are different kinds of lies, a lie to protect someone else doesn’t seem as deceitful as one told to protect or glorify oneself. I really wonder if there is anyone in the history of humans who has never lied and is that a good thing?

Most often to protect someone’s feelings. 100% truthfulness is brutal and unnecessary.

A lie is verbal cheating to gain sometime that is not deserved. People lie for the same reasons that people rob. To some people who have weak arguments telling lies is a crutch that they use to support their phony cause. Yes the motivation for people to lie is for gain as well as to hide.

A lier is a coward, afraid of the truth.

There are lies and then there are lies. White lies are ones told to preserve civility and to protect the feelings of others.

Then there are lies that one tells in the hopes of avoiding serious, embarrassing or criminal behaviour. Good luck trying to keep track of those kinds of lies.

Then you have the lying that happens in my husband’s extended family. His mother makes the consequences of telling the truth so high that they all learned a long time ago that lying to her is easier than telling truth. Sad. Really sad.

Plenty of reasons to lie. Save someones life, protect someones feelings, or get out of a situation that is uncomfortable or inconvient, call out sick because you really need a day off and your boss is a douche. I could go all day. But if you are asking why some people lie at the drop at the hat, when there is no need too, or they continue to lie, even after you have proven to them you know the truth, than I would have to say they are simply either a compulsive liar, or they believe their lies.
As to why, only they can tell you but it will probably be a lie.

One must ‘never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn’
Which leads me to ask: At what point in twisting the truth does it become a lie?

I will get back to you as soon as I find the answer. hah! Seriously, I believe people to lie because it’s easy for them to get something or somewhere by doing so. I’ve seen instances where people were actually quite rewarded for telling lies, so its a neverending circle of madness!

To protect oneself. To avoid hurting people’s feelings.

So you don’t get in trouble.

Everyone has different reasons. What separates “good lies” from “bad lies” is, in my mind, the intention and ultimate outcome of the lie. If it’s for the greater good, then I say why not. But if it’s solely for selfish reasons, such as personal gain, or just for the heck of it, I have no sympathy for the liar in question if and when he/she gets caught (and they always do in the end).