I have loved this saying since I read it – and, like most people, I have felt the sting of lies…
Unfortunately, I have also felt the sting from lying… which only underscores the point.
In a valuation of “lies”, which is what this KFEB entry is trying to say, the initial lie does not appear to be as bad as the one that is required to back it up or otherwise justify it. Why is that? Is there ever a reason to tell the initial lie in the first place? Well, in a utopian world, no… but we’re not in a utopia.
Also, this isn’t about “little white lies”, so we won’t address them here.
Here is the valuation – whenever you have to support one lie with another, it probably means that you were almost caught and needed to deflect the attention / defend your position… Like if someone was committing adultery, lied about where they were, and were called on it.
Here’s the ‘value’ – if you feel the need to lie, it’s probably because you’re doing something wrong to begin with; when you have to create an elaborate story to substantiate / support that lie, it’s further down the rabbit hole…
If you can live life without telling a lie, that’s awesome – and good on you. If you have to lie, like in self-defence, that’s one thing; but if you do something wrong, it’s best to just own up to it and tell the truth… otherwise you’ll find yourself down the rabbit hole of trying to remember which lie supported which…
