Let’s face it, everyone is a liar to one degree or another. Lying is so prevalent in our society that we are assumed to be a liar until we prove ourselves honest and even that proof has a limited time span. We all have serious scars from being lied to.

We lie to ourselves — We say we did the best that we could when we really never even put up much of an effort. We invent stories in our distant past so that our lives sound more interesting.  Sometimes we lie to people to make them feel better. Sometimes we lie to ourselves for the same reason. We convince ourselves that everything is fine when our personal world is falling apart. We lie to ourselves on a daily basis.

We lie to get ahead — We pad our work resumes to make it look like we have accomplished more than we did. We lie to take credit for something that someone else did. We lie to inflate our egos and to advance to that next level job.

We lie to those we love — We lie to our spouse because we don’t think they can handle the real truth. We tell many “white” lies because it is easier than confronting the truth and we don’t want to hurt our loved ones feelings.

In fact lying is a necessity of life.  If we told the truth in many circumstances we would probably be without friends. I think I am more truthful than many in this regard. Some people call me blunt. Some call me rude. Now don’t get me wrong, I lie just like everyone else but it seems that I often let the truth slip out of my mouth without thinking of the consequences.  Sometime I just don’t take the time to see where a lie is more tactful than the truth.

But, lying is not just on a personal level. Here are some words from Jane McCrath about the The Ten Biggest Lies in history

Supposedly, the truth can set you free. But for many, deceit holds the key to money, fame, revenge or power, and these prove all too tempting. In history, this has often resulted in elaborate hoaxes, perjuries, and forgeries that had enormous ripple effects.

There are our personal, some might say “little” lies and then there are those that have grievously harmed or world. This article counts down what the author deemed the ten biggest lies in history. The number one liar was without a doubt Hitler.

 people will believe it if you repeat it enough. Everyone tells small lies, Hitler reasoned, but few have the guts to tell colossal lies. Because a big lie is so unlikely, people will come to accept it.

Getting back on a personal level, we all discover the truth about the truth and that is that oftentimes the truth hurts and lying is just easier.