“Lying is always wrong.

Before, we were always told that lying is the worst thing you could possibly do.

Lying only results in a horrible situation with negative consequences. But lying is not always a

terrible thing. “Lying has a kind of reverence and honor that comes with it”, Samuel Butler once

stated. When we lie to someone, we pay him the compliment of accepting his power over us.

First of all, it is often preferable to lie rather than speak what is real and hurt the

feelings of someone else. It doesn’t seem wrong to say a white lie just so you can shield someone

you care about from harm. To be more specific, if a friend asked you how you felt about her nails

and you did not like it, you would not tell. Instead of telling the truth and hurting her feelings,

you’d rather tell her a lie and tell her you love it. What is the harm of lying to protect someone

you care about from having their feelings hurt or their pride harmed? Finally, there is nothing

wrong with uttering tiny lies even though you want to be someone who’s honest.

Second, it is okay for someone to be untrue when it is necessary for the safety of others.

In certain circumstances, telling a lie is both more practical and secure than placing a loved one

in danger. For an instance, assuming you are in serious or dangerous situation and you do not

want anyone else involved to be at risk, if you were being held hostage for a random, would you

tell someone you care about the truth and involve them, or would you lie in order to keep them

secure? The obvious answer is to keep them safe at all costs, including lying.

I honestly believe that it is acceptable to lie in some conditions and scenarios. At first,

lying is far preferable than hurting the feelings of someone very important to you. It is also

acceptable to lie in order to keep someone safe. Finally, exaggerations can increase people’s self-
esteem by making them extraordinary. “A truth told with bad intents beats all the lies you can

invent”, William Blake famously remarked. I urge you to consider whether honesty is always the

best option, or whether it is acceptable to lie occasionally.

Clean Copy

Submitted by: Angelic Mae M. Pesimo

Submitted to: Mrs. Jonalyn Gubat