O.K. I lies, rarely. I admitted as much in a thread concerning my feigned Canadian nationality. I received my fair share of abuse for that admission.

On second thought , I admire the artful liar. I wish I was a much more skilled liar! I tell little stupid lies to spare myself or others some degree of discomfort. "you look lovely in that shirt, dear".... Who cares? Would you give money to the panhandler who says, "can you spare a dime, man?!" or the man who smiles, tells you a tall tale, then asks for a dollar? Do you want to own a painting that appears photographic or the one that expands on reality, deletes, enhances and alters? These are questions w/o a "right answer". I happen to love a great story; the lie that may reveal truth rather than hide it.

Aristotle wrote that Homer first taught the rest of us the art of framing lies the right way.

Do you lie?

Its an expression - as if you were such a good liar that you might be selected for the National Team.

I believe in the potential edification found in Vonnegut's notion of 'Foma', or, harmless untruths. But then, there are the harmful ones.

I am a champion fabricator - its almost an art here in Ireland, especially with nosey people, never to tell them a word of truth - but I would never bear false witness against another human being. Such as who would, in my opinion, are the lowest, most base of all humanity.

Its a question of the most vital importance - the worst of atrocities against human persons, throughout history, have all begun with the simple lie against their name.

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"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened."

I usually lie only to spare someone pain, the so-called "white lie". I used to lie quite a bit more as a kid, usually to stay out of trouble.
I've never been good at it.
Usually when people think I'm lying, it's because I'm confused. I tend to remember things fuzzy. Occasionally I recall being places at times I wasn't and vice versa. Other times I can't think of how or why I actually feel some way or another but make up the most logical guess... only to contradict it later. This is mostly only a problem with my wife.

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"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

sorry- I guess I failed to proof read the original post.

I know many a fine individual who would guiltlessly deliver an "expedient" (for example , "Of course, I mailed the check just this morning") but would never tell an intentional falsehood out of malice or for personal gain.

During the time I spent in S. America I found that "truth" ,like time, was invested with less importance than it is here in the states. Oh perhaps it has subtler shades of grey in Latin countries. Ask directions and you will receive instructions whether or not the respondent knows the answer. It is only polite! "When are we leaving? When will we arrive? How long will we stay? How old are you?" Who knows the answer to such profound questions.

The Bush Administration will long be remembered for inspiring the word of the year, "truthiness": preferring concepts or facts one wants to hear and closing one's ears to concepts or facts known to be true. Lies? Calculated avoidance of unpleasant truth can be very harmful especially in the employ of the powerful even w/o outright falsehoods.

It seems to me that the role of the Trickster, the artist, the actor, the storyteller is to tell the great "whopper", the lie that reveals us to ourselves. Raise a glass to the champion fabricators of the world!!!

There are many forms of deceit from the little white lies we tell in our private lives to the blackest calumny in the councils of public affairs. Deception infects every aspect of human intercourse. Some lies are told for the sake of oneself, some for the sake of others, and all for the sake of convenience, which is the bastard child of corruption. Even so, no lie can live alone; it must be supported by a whole family of falsehoods. But President Bush has engaged in the most foolish deception of all, that of deceiving himself.

I lie under certain circumstances. I'll lie to protect someone who I believe did nothing wrong. I'll lie to spare someone's feelings unless doing so would cause more harm later. I'll lie to protect myself when I think someone has less than noble intentions.

I tend not to do things I need to lie about. People often lie to protect themselves. So I try to avoid doing things that would cause me to have to protect myself. People often lie to impress others or "fit in". I don't because I frankly don't care enough to.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

Sadly, when it comes to telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I seldom do so with my parents. I generally tell the truth and nothing but the truth, but to save myself from their suffocating "protection", I often evade certain issues entirely and so don't tell the whole truth. I know that I should, but if I did I would have to face constant confrontations. In fact, those who have read enough of my posts on this forum know more about the skeletons in my closet than my parents do.

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"Some people complain about the system. The system is not good, so they can't do anything. It's an excuse. Freedom is in your heart." (Jin Xing)

Think about it this way, Force. If they can't help and it will make your life worse, what's the point in telling them?

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

That is a good point. Because of situations like this, I prefer the ethics of Sir David Ross to those of Immanuel Kant. Kant made the mistake, also made by rule utilitarians, of stating that moral laws applying to types of acts that are, when closely examined, usually but not always wrong, must always be obeyed. Ross noted that the specifics of each situation must be examined such that the best possible, rather than the theoretically ideal, action is taken. Ross then combined this breakthrough with Kant's greatest breakthrough, the statement that no one should be used as the means to an end. I am a very strict deontological ethicist, but I do see how part of the categorical imperative is flawed.

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"Some people complain about the system. The system is not good, so they can't do anything. It's an excuse. Freedom is in your heart." (Jin Xing)

That's the reason there are so few hard and fast rules in Buddhism. The proper course of action is the one which reduces the overall amount of long term suffering. And often times following a set of rules from on high does not accomplish that. Lying is generally considered a less than wholesome act in Buddhism. However, in your case it's not because telling the truth would lead to more suffering for both you and your parents, while not providing any tangible benefit to anyone in the long run. So lying in that case is OK.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.