Preview

The Subtle Art of Honesty

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1231 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Subtle Art of Honesty
THE ART OF SUBTLE HONESTY

Sometime ago, I once told a friend of mine her drawing wasn't very good; In fact let me be completely honest here, I simply told her, her drawing sucked… yep I told her that with pretty much brutal honesty, and naturally she was pretty devastated (as it turns out she was expecting praise or at the very least a positive comment since she thought it was her first decent drawing). Either way it seems that the damage was done because ever since she's gone to great limits to hide her drawings from me.So…. Are you guys getting the moral of the story here?If you say "Yes" then thanks, at the very least my words weren't wasted and someone actually learned something from that little story, if you say "No I didn't understand the gist of that stupid, somewhat pointless story" well, let me thank you still since you've given me the opportunity to explain so that this essay won't end with only a below 150 word count, sarcasm there's absolutely no way I am tempted to pass my essay like that! /sarcasmAnyways I won't waste anymore words; the moral of the story is that honesty hurts; in fact it hurt/traumatized my friend so much that ever since that little careless comment she won't even let me get a peek at her drawings ever since. Not. One. Single. Peek.When I get annoyed and demand to know why she won't let me see her drawings she just says (with equal annoyance) that she thinks I'll just make "fun of it" again; Ever since then I've been careful to watch my words It seems that the since saying "what goes around, comes back around" does in fact hold truth.As of that I've been in a moral dilemma, do I keep telling "the truth and nothing but the truth" every time I am asked for a helpful opinion or do I overlook some mistakes and tell a little white lie? After all what harm can a lie do? Is honesty truly the best policy? Will my friend regain trust in me and let me see her drawings? Will I get a somewhat decent grade for this essay? Why did I even

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reading Stephanie Ericsson’s article titled “ The ways we lie” , I chose to write about delusion. In Ericsson’s article she said that delusion is closely related to other forms of lying such as dismissal , omission , and amnesia. It is a form of protecting yourself from facts that you don’t want to face. Instead of taking a good look at yourself and being totally honest with yourself , you allow logic to go out the window and make up excuses for your actions. You may truly believe what you are telling yourself . That makes delusion a cunning way to excuse your behavior and your actions. On a grander scale, some people may delude unpleasant or overwhelming facts ( such as “The Revelation” (or second coming) because to truly adknowledge…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The ways lies can impact or affect the lives of the people who tell them are explained in “The Ways We Lie” written by Stephanie Ericsson in 50 Essays. Ericsson talks about the types of lies and how it impacts the person who tells lies. For instance Ericsson Three Common Lies Ericsson uses are The White Lie, Deflecting, and Omission.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    What defines honesty and integrity? Is there a connection between these two words, and what does that imply? Stephen L. Carter, a law professor and writer, questions the common definitions of these words and the their moral interpretations in his essay, “The Insufficiency of Honesty”. In the essay, he makes several about the key differences between what “honesty” and “integrity” actually mean, and I agree with Carter that too often integrity is mistaken for honesty. He mentions that, “…acting in accordance with what you think is right and risking no loss in the process is a rather thin and unadmirable form of honesty”, and I concur that selfishness of that caliber lacks integrity by definition.…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the essay “The Ways We Lie,” by Stephanie Ericsson, Ericsson states the various methods of lying that we use, whether they are used with purpose, or used out of impulse. Ericsson talks about 9 different ways of lying: The white lie, facades, ignoring the plain facts, deflecting omission, stereotypes and cliches, groupthink, out-and-out lies, and delusion. After Ericsson states a lie she uses a crafty quote that gives an example on how the lie is portrayed, for example, for the white lie, the first lie she explains in her essay, She uses a quote by Bergen Evans,” a man who won’t lie to a woman has very little consideration for her feelings.” Ericsson uses the quotes and proceeds to inform you about how the lie is used, the plain fact of the…

    • 134 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Raisin In The Sun Honesty

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A Raisin in the Sun debuted on Broadway in 1959. Critics have consistently mentioned the honesty presented throughout the play. The actors in all the remakes of this play have all had been claimed to be “vivid” “eloquent” and “heroic”. The set was accurate to what they know about the real life situation Hansberry lived in. In reviewing its Broadway debut, critic Brooks Atkinson praised the way A Raisin in the Sun was played out and who played it. Claiming, “ A Raisin in the Sun has vigor as well as veracity and is likely to destroy the complacency of any one who sees it.” Atkinson notes that the play really impacts the audience, also stating “The play is honest.” as other critics have exclaimed. Although he noted, “...There are occasional crudities…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Deception

    • 1178 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In The Odyssey, there seem to be many common rules of life that everyone knows about and lives by including hospitality, loyalty, and justice. However, telling the truth takes a back seat to these other virtues for many of the main characters. Plenty of times, it appears that telling the truth ends up making a situation turn out horribly wrong, while lying and deceiving other characters ends up being the smarter thing to do. The theme of deception and lying in The Odyssey is especially important because it shows the prominence of the gods to the characters who are lying. This trait brings out a side of the characters that would otherwise remain hidden throughout the book. However, this hidden side of the characters the reader sees is not necessarily a fatal flaw, but more of a smart choice.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Honesty is most laudable when we risk harm to ourselves; it becomes a good deal less so if we instead risk harm to others when there is no gain to anyone other than ourselves. Integrity may counsel keeping our secrets in order to spare the feelings of others. Sometimes, as in the example of the wayward husband, the reason we want to tell what we know is precisely to shift our pain onto somebody else - a course of action dictated less by integrity than by self-interest.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I think there are many circumstances were people justify a lie. The fictitious Santa Clause and Easter Bunny are those little white lies where it seems better as a parent to lie than having a small child become sad. I personally do not think it is the right thing to do. When my children asked me if Santa was real I gave them the correct answer. I personally think lying is wrong and that we should always tell the truth. On the flip side I think there may be times when it is ethically right to lie. I hold a Top Secret Clearance and I am often asked questions in which I seem to have to morally lie in order not to divulged sensitive information that is vital to the National Security of our country. Is it right or wrong? I believe it is Ok for…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With one little lie, I had seriously wounded our friendship, and she was upset. Adrienne was not distraught and distressed about why I did not want to go; it was because I had lied to her in the first place. Consequently, she showed scorn towards me, and she rejected anything I had to say for nearly a week. No matter how much I apologized and tried to retract what I had done and said; it did not make things much better. I tried to make amends with her, but she would not accept my apology.…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Credibility Of Honesty

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sartori ((2002). p122) argues that credibility relates to a state’s perceived honesty and the ability of the actor to bluff successfully. In this case Actor B judges Actor A’s credibility by assessing the previous and perceived future behaviour of Actor A. Actor B is far less likely to escalate a situation when Actor A has a reputation of following through with threats, i.e. a reputation for honesty.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Historians believe that honesty and integrity should be the main bases that form the work of all historians. Historians should try to understand the historical developments and how they connect with our society today and also the future. In the American Historical Association it talks about how practicing history means acknowledging ones debt and to the work of other historians. I believe that’s what most authors see as an issue in the presentation of history today. “Plagiarism violates the historical record by failing to reveal the secondary sources that have contributed to a given line of argument.” The honesty of the work is the historian’s main responsibility no other individual can be in charge of it. It’s also the teachers, scholars and…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Deception and Truth

    • 879 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Everyone characterizes deception differently. One may view it as breaking the trust of a loved one and think of it as a mere deceit. Others may accept deception as a way to gain or give happiness. Some may even think of it as part of life. More commonly, deception stands being viewed as hand and hand with “evil”, this includes, not only viewed by people, but also portrayed in movies and novels from all eras of time. Frequently feelings dealing with deceit, like jealousy, create anger in an individual leading into irrationality. Although honesty is important, of course, deception can actually make it easier for people to get along. Most lies are harmless social untruths in which people pretend to like someone or something more than they actually do. Deception is sometimes justified. People shouldn’t be satisfied with themselves when they play this card every time they can, but it is true that sometimes it is required. Deception is justified only if and when it is causing no harm.…

    • 879 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Deception

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Deception includes several types of communications or omissions that serve to distort or omit the complete truth. Deception itself is intentionally managing verbal and/or nonverbal messages so that the message receiver will believe in a way that the message sender knows is false. Intent is critical with regard to deception. Intent differentiates between deception and an honest mistake. The Interpersonal Deception Theory explores the interrelation between communicative context and sender and receiver cognitions and behaviors in deceptive exchanges.…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lying Game

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A) Laurel- Laurel is Sutton’s adoptive little sister. Laurel is shady and wants to be like…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wrong But Responsible In her 2011 TED talk “On Being Honest,” Kathryn Shultz references St. Augustine as saying “I err therefore I am.” A couple of hundred years after St. Augustine’s quote, Shultz understood that people’s capacity of making mistakes does not have to be either something to be ashamed or embarrassed of. Instead, it is what makes people human. It has become common today to think that to be wrong and to make mistakes is equal to ignorance, idiocy or evil assumptions (Schultz).…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics