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The bad effects of lying
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This essay is about why lying is always wrong. Lying could be bad depending on the situation but sometimes telling a “white” lie could save a person from getting his feelings hurt. A lie is giving false information while believing it to be untrue, intending to deceive by doing so. A lie has three essentials features: A lie communicates some false information, the liar intends to deceive or mislead, and the liar believes that what they are saying is not true. Lying is bad because it treats those who are lied to as a mean to achieve the liar’s purpose, rather than a valuable end in them.
The person who is lied to suffers if they don’t find out because: they are deprived of some control over their future, and they may make decisions that they
Richard Gunderman asks the question, "Isn 't there something inherently wrong with lying, and “in his article” Is Lying Bad for Us?" Similarly, Stephanie Ericsson states, "Sure I lie, but it doesn 't hurt anything. Or does it?" in her essay, "The Ways We Lie.” Both Gunderman and Ericsson hold strong opinions in regards to lying and they appeal to their audience by incorporating personal experiences as well as references to answer the questions that so many long to confirm.
Although it is considered wrong to tell lies, it seems that literature has offered us situations where telling lies isn’t necessarily bad. Of course, lying often has a tragic outcome, but not always for the person or people who told the lie or lies. Oftentimes, these unfortunate outcomes are directed at the person about whom the lie was told. Furthermore, these stories have explained that dishonesty can result in success for both the liar and the target. Maybe we have been teaching the wrong values to our children.
Ericsson's article is clearly about the way people lie, mainly whether the manner in which people lie to others is to make the other’s life easier or their own life easier. People lie every day, whether in simple white lies or more complex lies. Ericsson describes white lies, the most popular lies. She uses an example, how a friend told her another friend looked good when, in fact, she did not look good. People use these types of lies daily to avoid confrontation. “The liar deciding what is best for the lied to” (Ericsson #). Anyone can use them, children to parents, friend to friend, students to teachers, boyfriend to girlfriend, etc. A white lie is a good way to keep oneself out of trouble. Ericsson thinks white lies are so common because the truth is more dangerous than a simple lie. However, the lie may seem simple and part of daily life, but Ericsson points out that it is not always so simple. Telling a white lie may benefit to you in the short term, but if for a...
Lying is an issue that has been debated on for a long time. Some people believe that lying is sometimes ok in certain circumstances. Some people believe lying is always acceptable. In contrast, some believe lying is always bad. Keeping all other’s opinions in mind, I believe that lying is a deficient way of solving problems and is a bad thing. I claim that only certain situations allow the usage of lies and that otherwise, lying is bad. Dishonesty is bad because it makes it harder to serve justice, harms the liar individually, and messes up records. Furthermore, it should only be said to protect someone from grave danger.
Telling the truth can have some consequences, but a lie can cause more damage in a relationship once it has been figured out. People believe that by just lying, a problem is solved, but problems start when lies are told. Lying destroys relationships and truth builds honest relationships which, can last forever. In both F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Rob Marshall’s Chicago, characters lie because they feel that it is easier. However, lying leads to a downward- spiral. The society we live in can either lead us to a complicated relationship with the truth or easygoing. The problem with constantly telling lies is that it starts off with one, then leads to another until everything you say is a lie. Being truthful
Stephanie Ericsson’s The Ways We Lie, analyzes and reflects on how lying has simply become the norm in our society. We all lie, there is not one person in the world that does not lie. Most people lie because they are afraid of telling the truth, however what they do not know is telling a lie can lead them in the wrong direction because many things can happen when lying to a person. The person can find out when everything unravels that person will not have trust in you and you would be known as a liar. To every action there is a consequence, so why not deal with just one consequence when telling the
A German philosopher named Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” People lie. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (CIDN) by Mark Haddon addresses this by conveying a story based on the fact that each person lies about something. A boy named Christopher is faced with the challenge of discovering the truth about the death of a neighbor’s dog, his father’s secrets, and where his mom is. The variations as to why people tell lies are determined through how they feel it will affect those involved. Through these actions, we can see how our words negatively affect others and ruin our relationships. The main reasons people feel compelled to tell lies are because
Lying is simply an act of not telling the truth, and this definition of lying will be used in future sections of this paper. There are three groups of lies t...
The article, “Is Lying Bad for Us,” accurately describes the intentions of a “liar.” The author says, “Though liars do not tell the truth, they care about it, while the bullshitter does not even care about the truth and seeks merely to impress” (Gunderman). This statement proves that lying should not be viewed as out of the ordinary, or unacceptable, and that liars should not be viewed as bad people. Lying can be shown as a way of protecting or caring
In “Teens Do their Share of Lying”, Tim states that lying is a “necessary life-survival skill” and that it could be the “only thing between you and a guaranteed beat down” (Ragsdell, 23). In this instance, you are lying to protect yourself so that you won’t get beat up. If you didn’t lie, you would’ve ended up getting hurt. One historical representation Brad Blanton introduces is when the Nazis were lied to because Anne Frank’s “life [was] in danger” and she was hidden (Ballinger, 11). If she was not protected and kept in secret, she most likely would’ve died. The people hiding her lied to the Nazis to keep her from getting sent to concentration camp. Obviously, lying is crucial when you’re trying to protect someone from getting injured or even
Actions are either classified as right or wrong with no allowance for a gray area. Furthermore, the strict guidelines tend to conflict with commonly accepted actions. For example, lying is always considered morally wrong--even a “white lie.” Therefore, one must not lie even if it does more good. In our society although individuals accept lying as being morally wrong, “white lies” have become an exception.
Webster’s Dictionary defines a lie as an intentionally false statement. However, defining a simple three-letter word is not as easy as it seems on the surface. Upon reading or hearing the word lie, people are instantly associated with a general feeling of negativity. Lying generally creates feelings of dishonesty, untrustworthiness, deceit, and betrayal. However, lying is one of the oldest human social practices. Erin Bryant explains in her essay “Real Lies, White Lies, and Gray Lies” that even though lying has a derogatory label, it is a very common social behavior used by a majority of people on a daily basis. It has been a subject of scrutiny through the millennia by philosophers such as St. Augustine, Aristotle, and Plato. Can lies also be seen as positive? Don’t lies contribute to maintaining the bedrock of most relationships? In his essay “Lies, Lies, Lies,” Paul Gray answers this question. “Most ‘little white lies’ belong here, well-intentioned deceptions designed to grease the gears of society. In this context people want to be fooled. No one expects and few would welcome, searing honesty at a dinner party”.
For example, if you want to eat fast food but your parents don’t let you, you can tell them you're going to your friends house, but really you are going to eat fast food. That is not that bad of a lie. But lying to hurt someone's feelings is worst. We should also speak most likely the truth because you are not lying, and the people can change up. It matters because you don’t want someone to get hurt and harm themselves. If you hurt someone’s feelings badly, there's a chance that they will choose to go away or keep living there life. So, lie less and speak the truth more. I want to leave you guys thinking about that to lies less and to speak the truth more. Lie less because speaking the truth is the better option to make. Also, think about the person that you are lying to because if you told them a secret, they will choose to do the things you did to them. Lying to protect a loved one is very acceptable because you are saving someone’s life if they are in danger of doing something. Those are reasons when to lie ( in certain situations) and when not to lie ( in certain situations). Lying is sometimes acceptable when making others think positive about themselves, protecting people, and/or causing to harm
With an emptiness deep in your stomach, and the most utter feeling of being discovered these are just a very minimal effects of a stretch of the truth. People tell lies even without thinking of the repercussion that could consume them into the black hole of a lie. No lie, even the ones that are to “help” in a situation are justifiable. When a lie is told It could be disguising facts that someone may of need to hear, they never solve any issues mostly just delays the process, and if the person or people find out about this lie it can be more catastrophic then just to tell the truth. Theres a saying the truth will set you free, I hold value to this because honesty is key to letting someone know you can be trusted.
Growing up, we are always told to never lie because it is the worst thing you could ever do. “Lying will only lead to a horrible situation with less than mediocre results. While lying is not always good, it is not always bad either. Samuel Butler once said “Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.