Do you ever think of yourself as an honest person? Someone who always tells the truth regardless of what may happen? Just by asking yourself that question alone, you may have thought of instances where you may have told a white lie.
What is a white lie?
A white lie is a lie about something small or unimportant to avoid hurting another person.* For those who try their best to be as honest as possible, this may seem unthinkable. However, you may not even notice you create white lies all the time.
One example I noticed is when a friend and I went to try out a new restaurant. After sitting down to order some food, my friend told me he did not find it very good. The owner of the restaurant came to our table to ask us how we liked the food. Without missing a beat, my friend told him it was very good!
Confused by this lie, I listened to them conversate and then afterwards asked why he lied. He told me that he wanted to make that man’s day. The owner had come to our table happily asking us what we thought and instead of giving blunt feedback, he was given reassurance in that moment.
When is it necessary to lie?
You would likely answer never. It is never okay to lie. What about a white lie? As we defined above, these lies are used to avoid hurting someone else. For my friend, he chose to do this to avoid hurting the restaurant owner’s feelings. Instead, he chose to make a negative food experience into a positive one by offering words of encouragement to someone else.
Maybe it wasn’t true but it was kind. Spreading kindness whenever you can, is what may constitute a reason to let a white lie slip. Even though we may not be truthful in that moment, would it really be so terrible to spare someone’s feelings and make their day a little brighter?
If the lie creates more good than bad, wouldn’t that be reason enough to tell it? So what good can from a white lie? The goodness comes from making someone happy, by spreading kindness, and by being good to those who are out there at least trying.
*White lie definition