Isn’t it frustrating when you suspect that someone’s not being straight with you? There are all sorts of reasons why people sometimes lie, of course, and in some cases it’s through kindness and concern.
But often it’s malicious or just plain childishness.
Today I thought I’d look for some quotations on deception and there’s quite a selection, dating right back to Plato, so clearly it’s a part of the human psyche to learn the art of lying. I once saw an interesting documentary on TV in which child psychologists revealed that children learn to deceive very early in life, between 2 and 4 years of age!
So I suppose we should sometimes expect things to be not quite what they seem. Of course, what deceivers don’t always realise is that we may know of their deception. We just choose to live with it for a while.
The quotation I finally decided upon is this, once again from Buddha.
“Three things cannot long be hidden. The sun, the moon and the truth.”
Have a great day everyone.
Photo: Matt Nelson, Unsplash.com
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This is something which hits home with me as I discovered my dad was lying to me after my mum died and it went on and was never really resolved, despite me asking him for the truth. It's left a lot of bad memories and sadness with him. I've also had a friend not be straight with me and drop me for some reason I still don't know about; and my husband's uncle also turned out not to be the person we thought he was so a moot point. I suppose we often expect others to be straightforward and honest as we are and it's a shock when they turn out not to be so.
Hi Karen, It's awful isn't it to be left with that truth and not be able to do anything about it except to decide to try to let it go? And it's worth doing that if you can. Don't let the lie define the memory of the person who lied, in this case your dad. He almost certainly still had lovable qualities, and I'd say concentrate on those and not his deception. I think that's what's so hard to take. The generally honest and straightforward person finds it hard to fathom out the reasons why someone has felt the need to lie. 🙏
The problem is I don't know how long the lying went on for, a lot longer than just the last few years of his life. He lied to my mum too and wasn't the person we thought he was. It makes me wonder about him all through my life as he just wasn't the person I thought he was. He was very emotionally closed off.
Yes, I've wondered that too. I tended to make excuses for him in the past; my mum did too but it doesn't change his betrayal and the effect it has had over the years. I'm trying to get past it now but it seems to go deeper than I realised.
Yes I saw a tv programme about 4-year olds being left in a room and testing their truthfulness .. I think they learn from parents, teasing and manipulation to lie and cheat.
Is saying nothing when you should tell, a lie? Interesting ... Patsy x
Deception is a major industry - particularly in the fields of medicine, diet and advertising.
Many "Scientific reports" or trial write-ups are biased, deliberately misleading or fraudulent.
History is written by the victors.
At my previous job they were liars as they would be full of promises but none of them would be delivered like when they offered a taster program of work experience in different departments back in 2017 and nothing came of it and then it was January 2019 and still nothing and at this point I was so fed up with them anyway after they were mean over me having wanted to have had a couple of hours off unpaid that I took control of the situation and I took my name off the list for it and another colleague had broken down in tears as she had asked could she work 3 days a week instead of 2 and had been palmed off with excuses and made to wait and that day when I had asked had the taster program been pulled or was it still on and was told it was happening but no idea of when.
The colleague who cried had asked about working an extra day months before that meeting when she had broken down crying in frustration and I had suggested joining me for a walk in the fresh air over the lunch time and she thanked me but said she couldn't as she only had a 20 mins lunch break.
I find myself that its actions that show intentions!
So very true Hidden and I'm afraid it resonates with me. I had a brother (he's no longer with us) and he lied constantly, stole from my parents, treated my parents with no respect whatsoever, was awful to me, I could go on but all I can say is, and it's not like me to say this, I'm glad he's not here any longer.
I don't understand people that lie, I don't mean people that say 'oh you do look nice in that' so as not to hurt the person but people that lie all the time.
It's a very good saying as liars are found out in the end.
I know the feeling around the early 2000s I went out with a bloke for 2 years & after 2 years he suddenly turned on me while we were living together & made life a misery & he bullied me out of my job
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Quotation for Thursday 21st May 2020