Lie

• A barefaced, bald-faced or bold-faced lie is an impudent, brazen, shameless, flagrant, or audacious lie that is sometimes but not always undisguised and that it is even then not always obvious to those hearing it.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bal2.htm |title=Worldwidewords.org |publisher=Worldwidewords.org |date=13 June 2009 |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007072137/http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bal2.htm |archive-date=7 October 2010 |url-status=live }}
• A big lie is one that attempts to trick the victim into believing something major, which will likely be contradicted by some information the victim already possesses, or by their common sense. When the lie is of sufficient magnitude it may succeed, due to the victim's reluctance to believe that an untruth on such a grand scale would indeed be concocted.[http://www.dictionary.com/ Dictionary.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421010305/http://www.dictionary.com/ |date=21 April 2018 }}. 7 December 2017.
• A black lie is about simple and callous selfishness. They are usually told when others gain nothing, and the sole purpose is either to get oneself out of trouble (reducing harm against oneself), or to gain something one desires (increasing benefits for oneself). [http://www.changingminds.org/ ChangingMinds.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109000829/http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/lying/four_lies.htm}}. 9 November 2020.{{Better source needed|reason=Term created by changingminds.org author?|date=April 2021}}
• A blue lie is a form of lying that is told purportedly to benefit a collective or "in the name of the collective good". The origin of the term "blue lie" is possibly from cases where police officers made false statements to protect the police force, or to ensure the success of a legal case against an accused.{{cite journal |last1=Fu |first1=Genyue |last2=Evans |first2=Angela D. |last3=Wang |first3=Lingfeng |last4=Lee |first4=Kang |title=Lying in the name of the collective good: a developmental study |journal=Developmental Science |date=July 2008 |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=495–503 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00695.x|pmid=18576957 |pmc=2570108 }}
• An April fool is a lie or hoax told/performed on April Fools' Day.
• To bluff is to pretend to have a capability or intention one does not possess. Bluffing is an act of deception that is rarely seen as immoral when it takes place in the context of a game, such as poker, where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. For instance, gamblers who deceive other players into thinking they have different cards to those they really hold, or athletes who hint that they will move left and then dodge right are not considered to be lying (also known as a feint or juke). In these situations, deception is acceptable and is commonly expected as a tactic.{{fact|date=April 2023}}
• Bullshit (also B.S., bullcrap, bull) does not necessarily have to be a complete fabrication. While a lie is related by a speaker who believes what is said is false, bullshit is offered by a speaker who does not care whether what is said is true because the speaker is more concerned with giving the hearer some impression. Thus, bullshit may be either true or false, but demonstrates a lack of concern for the truth that is likely to lead to falsehoods.{{cite book|title=On Bullshit |last=Frankfurt |first=Harry |location= Princeton, N.J. |publisher=Princeton University Press |orig-year=2005 |isbn=978-0691122946|year=2013 }}
• File:"An ostrich only thinks he "covers up." - NARA - 513846.jpg only thinks he 'covers up'"]] A cover-up may be used to deny, defend, or obfuscate a lie, errors, embarrassing actions, or lifestyle, and/or lie(s) made previously. One may deny a lie made on a previous occasion, or alternatively, one may claim that a previous lie was not as egregious as it was. For example, to claim that a premeditated lie was really "only" an emergency lie, or to claim that a self-serving lie was really "only" a white lie or noble lie. This should not be confused with confirmation bias in which the deceiver is deceiving themselves.{{fact|date=April 2023}}
• Defamation is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual person, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation.
• To deflect is to avoid the subject that the lie is about, not giving attention to the lie. When attention is given to the subject the lie is based around, deflectors ignore or refuse to respond. Skillful deflectors are passive-aggressive, who when confronted with the subject choose to ignore and not respond.{{cite book |last1=Ericsson |first1=Stephanie |title=Patterns for College Writing |date=2010 |publisher=Bedford |location=St. Wartins |isbn=978-0312601522|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312535513/page/487 487] |edition=11th|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312535513/page/487 }}
• Disinformation is intentionally false or misleading information that is spread in a calculated way to deceive target audiences.
• An exaggeration occurs when the most fundamental aspects of a statement are true, but only to a certain degree. It also is seen as "stretching the truth" or making something appear more powerful, meaningful, or real than it is. Saying that someone devoured most of something when they only ate half is considered an exaggeration. An exaggeration might be easily found to be a hyperbole where a person's statement (i.e. in informal speech, such as "He did this one million times already!") is meant not to be understood literally.
• File:How to Spot Fake News.pdf]] Fake news is supposed to be a type of yellow journalism that consists of deliberate misinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media.AllCott, Hunt and Matthew Gentzkow. [https://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/fakenews.pdf "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018172144/https://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/fakenews.pdf |date=18 October 2017 }} Stanford University. Spring 2017. 7 December 2017. Sometimes the term is applied as a deceptive device to deflect attention from uncomfortable truths and facts.{{fact|date=April 2023}}
• A fib is a lie that is easy to forgive due to its subject being a trivial matter; for example, a child may tell a fib by claiming that the family dog broke a household vase, when the child was the one who broke it.
• Fraud refers to the act of inducing another person or people to believe a lie in order to secure material or financial gain for the liar. Depending on the context, fraud may subject the liar to civil or criminal penalties.{{Cite journal|last=Druzin|first=Bryan|title=The Criminalization of Lying: Under what Circumstances, if any, should Lies be made Criminal?|url=https://works.bepress.com/bryan_druzin/6/|journal=Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology|volume=101|pages=548–550|year=2011|access-date=5 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005131735/https://works.bepress.com/bryan_druzin/6/|archive-date=5 October 2016|url-status=live}}
• A gray lie is told partly to help others and partly to help ourselves. It may vary in the shade of gray, depending on the balance of help and harm. Gray lies are, almost by definition, hard to clarify. For example you can lie to help a friend out of trouble but then gain the reciprocal benefit of them lying for you while those they have harmed in some way lose out.{{Better source needed|reason=Term created by changingminds.org author?|date=April 2021}}
• A half-truth or partial truth is a deceptive statement that includes some element of truth. The statement might be partly true, the statement may be totally true, but only part of the whole truth, or it may employ some deceptive element, such as improper punctuation or double meaning, especially if the intent is to deceive, evade, blame, or misrepresent the truth.{{cite web |url=http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Half-truth |title=Merriam Webster Definition of Half-truth, August 1, 2007 |publisher=M-w.com |date=31 August 2012 |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223143222/http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/half-truth |archive-date=23 December 2007 |url-status=live }} Partial truths are characterized by malicious intent, and therefore, honest people should not excuse them as containing a "rational kernel."Julius, Anthony, Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England, Oxford, Oxford UP, 2010. p. 117.
• Confabulation (or honest lie) may be identified by verbal statements or actions that inaccurately describe the history, background, and present situations. There is generally no intent to misinform and the individual is unaware that their information is false. Because of this, it is not technically a lie at all since, by definition, there must be an intent to deceive for the statement to be considered a lie.{{fact|date=April 2023}}
• Jocose lies are lies meant in jest, intended to be understood as such by all present parties. Teasing and irony are examples. A more elaborate instance is seen in some storytelling traditions, where the storyteller's insistence that the story is the absolute truth, despite all evidence to the contrary (i.e., tall tale), is considered humorous. There is debate about whether these are "real" lies, and different philosophers hold different views. The Crick Crack Club in London arranges a yearly "Grand Lying Contest" with the winner being awarded the coveted "Hodja Cup" (named for the Mulla Nasreddin: "The truth is something I have never spoken."). The winner in 2010 was Hugh Lupton. In the United States, the Burlington Liars' Club awards an annual title to the "World Champion Liar."{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vp7jJrocxcYC&pg=PA104 |page=104|title=The Indiana Book of Records, Firsts, and Fascinating Facts|isbn=0253283205|last1=Cavinder|first1=Fred D.|year=1985|publisher=Indiana University Press }}
• Lie-to-children is a phrase that describes a simplified explanation of technical or complex subjects as a teaching method for children and laypeople. While lies-to-children are useful in teaching complex subjects to people who are new to the concepts discussed, they can promote the creation of misconceptions among the people who listen to them. The phrase has been incorporated by academics within the fields of biology, evolution, bioinformatics, and the social sciences. Media use of the term has extended to publications including The Conversation and Forbes.{{fact|date=April 2023}}
• Lying by omission{{Anchor|Lying by omission}}, also known as a continuing misrepresentation or quote mining, occurs when an important fact is left out in order to foster a misconception. Lying by omission includes the failure to correct pre-existing misconceptions. For example, when the seller of a car declares it has been serviced regularly, but does not mention that a fault was reported during the last service, the seller lies by omission. It may be compared to dissimulation. An omission is when a person tells most of the truth, but leaves out a few key facts that therefore, completely obscures the truth.
• File:CDCA auto repair notice.jpg shops in California.]] Lying in trade occurs when the seller of a product or service may advertise untrue facts about the product or service in order to gain sales, especially by competitive advantage. Many countries and states have enacted consumer protection laws intended to combat such fraud.
• A memory hole is a mechanism for the alteration or disappearance of inconvenient or embarrassing documents, photographs, transcripts, or other records, such as from a website or other archive, particularly as part of an attempt to give the impression that something never happened.[http://firedoglake.com/2010/05/31/memorial-day-memory-hole-after-israel-forgets-exodus-white-house-forgets-shores-of-tripoli-will-obama-remember-nato/ Murphy, Kirk, Memorial Day Memory Hole: After Israel Forgets “Exodus”, White House Forgets “Shores of Tripoli”. Will Obama Remember NATO?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101092344/http://firedoglake.com/2010/05/31/memorial-day-memory-hole-after-israel-forgets-exodus-white-house-forgets-shores-of-tripoli-will-obama-remember-nato/ |date=1 November 2014 }} 31 May 2010 Firedoglake.com[http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/06/nevada-tea-partier-memory-hole-website-sharron-angle-harry-reid-senate Weinstein, Adam, Nevada Tea Partier's Memory Hole, 9 June 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131222424/http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2010/06/nevada-tea-partier-memory-hole-website-sharron-angle-harry-reid-senate |date=31 January 2017 }}. Mother Jones.
• Mutual deceit is a situation wherein lying is both accepted and expected{{Cite book|last=Minkler|first=Alanson|title=Integrity and Agreement: Economics When Principles Also Matter|date=2011|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0472116430|location=Ann Arbor|pages=78, 128}} or that the parties mutually accept the deceit in question. This can be demonstrated in the case of a poker game wherein the strategies rely on deception and bluffing to win.{{Cite book|last=Arp|first=Robert|title=Psych and Philosophy|date=2013|publisher=Open Court Publishing|isbn=978-0812698251|location=Chicago|pages=140}}
• File:Plato Silanion Musei Capitolini MC1377.jpg presented arguments to justify the use of noble lies in his Republic.Aruffo, Madeline. [https://www.bu.edu/av/core/journal/xxiii/Aruffo.pdf "Problems with the Noble Lie."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517023931/http://www.bu.edu/av/core/journal/xxiii/Aruffo.pdf |date=17 May 2017 }} Boston University. Accessed 4 December 2017.]] A noble lie, which also could be called a strategic untruth, is one that normally would cause discord if uncovered, but offers some benefit to the liar and assists in an orderly society, therefore, potentially being beneficial to others. It is often told to maintain law, order, and safety.
• Paltering is the active use of selective truthful statements to mislead.{{Cite web|last=Gerdeman|first=Dina|date=2016-12-05|title=How To Deceive Others With Truthful Statements (It's Called 'Paltering,' And It's Risky)|url=http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/why-one-must-not-palter-when-negotiating|access-date=2021-11-18|website=HBS Working Knowledge|language=en}}
• Paternalistic deception is a lie told because it is believed (possibly incorrectly) that the deceived person will benefit.
• In psychiatry, pathological lying (also called compulsive lying, pseudologia fantastica, and mythomania) is a behavior of habitual or compulsive lying.{{cite journal |vauthors=Dike CC, Baranoski M, Griffith EE |title=Pathological lying revisited |journal=The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=342–349 |year=2005 |pmid=16186198 |url=http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=16186198 |access-date=6 July 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130113031731/http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=16186198 |archive-date=13 January 2013 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |first=Charles C. |last=Dike |date=1 June 2008 |title=Pathological Lying: Symptom or Disease? |url=http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/1162950 |volume=25 |issue=7 |access-date=6 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308102757/http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/1162950 |archive-date=8 March 2011 |url-status=dead |work=Psychiatric Times }} It was first described in the medical literature in 1891 by Anton Delbrueck. Although it is a controversial topic, pathological lying has been defined as "falsification entirely disproportionate to any discernible end in view, may be extensive and very complicated, and may manifest over a period of years or even a lifetime". The individual may be aware they are lying, or may believe they are telling the truth, being unaware that they are relating fantasies.{{fact|date=April 2023}}
• Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in court, or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime, because the witness has sworn to tell the truth, and for the credibility of the court to remain intact, witness testimony must be relied on as truthful.
• A {{vanchor|polite lie}} is a lie that a politeness standard requires, and that usually is known to be untrue by both parties. Whether such lies are acceptable is heavily dependent on culture. A common polite lie in international etiquette may be to decline invitations because of "scheduling difficulties", or due to "diplomatic illness". Similarly, the butler lie is a small lie that usually is sent electronically and is used to terminate conversations or to save face.{{cite web |url=http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Dec10/WhiteLiesTech.html |title=Butler Lie term coined at Cornell University |publisher=News.cornell.edu |date=20 December 2010 |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028034002/http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Dec10/WhiteLiesTech.html |archive-date=28 October 2012 |url-status=live }}
• Puffery is an exaggerated claim typically found in advertising and publicity announcements, such as "the highest quality at the lowest price", or "always votes in the best interest of all the people". Such statements are unlikely to be true – but cannot be proven false and so, do not violate trade laws, especially as the consumer is expected to be able to determine that it is not the absolute truth.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aj8-fMhlzUMC&pg=PA293 |page=293 |title=Cengage Advantage Books: Essentials of Business Law |isbn=978-0324537123 |last1=Beatty |first1=Jeffrey |last2=Samuelson |first2=Susan |year=2007 |publisher=Cengage Learning }}
• A red lie is about spite and revenge. It is driven by the motive to harm others even at the expense of harming oneself, out of an angry desire for retribution.{{Better source needed|reason=Term created by changingminds.org author?|date=April 2021}}
• The phrase "speaking with a forked tongue" means to deliberately say one thing and mean another or, to be hypocritical, or act in a duplicitous manner. This phrase was adopted by Americans around the time of the Revolution, and may be found in abundant references from the early nineteenth century – often reporting on American officers who sought to convince the Indigenous peoples of the Americas with whom they negotiated that they "spoke with a straight and not with a forked tongue" (as for example, President Andrew Jackson told members of the Creek Nation in 1829).Niles' Register, 13 June 1829 According to one 1859 account, the proverb that the "white man spoke with a forked tongue" originated in the 1690s, in the descriptions by the indigenous peoples of French colonials in America inviting members of the Iroquois Confederacy to attend a peace conference, but when the Iroquois arrived, the French had set an ambush and proceeded to slaughter and capture the Iroquois.Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society, Vol 19, 1859, p. 230.
• A therapeutic fib is lying, or bending the truth, in order to avoid increased agitation from a person with dementia.{{Cite web |title=Theraputic Fibs: What they are and why they are OK |date=6 February 2018 |url=https://iona.org/therapeutic-fibs-ok/ |access-date=2024-05-14 |language=en}} The intent is not to deceive the patient, but rather to help them feel safe and secure in facing an otherwise upsetting situation or fact.
• Weasel word is an informal termMicrosoft Encarta, "[http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861711798 weasel words] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604112456/http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861711798 |date=4 June 2011 }}" for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that a specific or meaningful statement has been made, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated, enabling the specific meaning to be denied if the statement is challenged. A more formal term is equivocation.{{fact|date=April 2023}}
• {{anchor|White lie}}A white lie is a harmless or trivial lie, especially one told in order to be polite or to avoid hurting someone's feelings or stopping them from being upset by the truth.{{Cite web |url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/white_lie |title=Definition of 'white lie' |access-date=12 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418025741/https://www.lexico.com/definition/white_lie |website=Lexico |archive-date=18 April 2020 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/white-lie |title=White lie |access-date=12 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905072153/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/white-lie |website=Cambridge Dictionary|archive-date=5 September 2019 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/white-lie?s=t |title=Definition of 'white lie' |access-date=12 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028150420/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/white-lie?s=t |archive-date=28 October 2019 |url-status=live |website=dictionary.com }} A white lie also is considered a lie to be used for greater good (pro-social behavior). It sometimes is used to shield someone from a hurtful or emotionally-damaging truth, especially when not knowing the truth is deemed by the liar as completely harmless. However, white lies can still be harmful as they can foster distrust when used in inappropriate situations.{{Cite web |title=Be honest: little white lies are more harmful than you think {{!}} Psyche Ideas |url=https://psyche.co/ideas/be-honest-little-white-lies-are-more-harmful-than-you-think |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=Psyche |language=en}}
• Vranyo expresses white lies or half-lies in Russian culture, told without the intention of (maliciously) deceiving, but as a fantasy, suppressing unpleasant parts of the truth.{{fact|date=April 2023}}

The potential consequences of lying are manifold; some in particular are worth considering. Typically lies aim to deceive, so the hearer may acquire a false belief (or at least something that the speaker believes to be false). When deception is unsuccessful, a lie may be discovered. The discovery of a lie may discredit other statements by the same speaker, thereby staining that speaker's reputation. In some circumstances, it may also negatively affect the social or legal standing of the speaker. Lying in a court of law, for instance, is a criminal offense (perjury).Timasheff, Nicholas Sergeyevitch. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4R4uDwAAQBAJ&dq=lie+legal+sanctions&pg=PT213 "An Introduction to the Sociology of Law."] Google Books. 7 December 2017.

Hannah Arendt spoke about extraordinary cases in which an entire society is being lied to consistently. She said that the consequences of such lying are "not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. This is because lies, by their very nature, have to be changed, and a lying government has constantly to rewrite its own history. On the receiving end you get not only one lie{{snd}}a lie which you could go on for the rest of your days{{snd}}but you get a great number of lies, depending on how the political wind blows."Arendt, Hannah. [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1978/10/26/hannah-arendt-from-an-interview/ "Hannah Arendt: From an Interview."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201054920/http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1978/10/26/hannah-arendt-from-an-interview/ |date=1 December 2017 }} The New York Review of Books. 26 October 1978 issue. 30 November 2017.

{{Main|Lie detection}}

The question of whether lies can be detected reliably through nonverbal behavior has been the subject of frequent study. While people in many cultures believe that deception can be indicated by behaviors such as looking away, fidgeting, or stammering, this is not supported by research.{{cite journal |last1=Zimmerman |first1=Laura |title=Deception detection |journal=Monitor on Psychology |publisher=American Psychological Association |date=2016 |volume=47 |issue=3 |page=46 |url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/03/deception.aspx |access-date=8 December 2021}} A 2019 review of research on deception and its detection through nonverbal behavior concludes that people tend to overestimate both the reliability of nonverbal behavior as an indicator of deception, and their ability to make accurate judgements about deception based on nonverbal behavior.{{cite journal |last1=Vrij |first1=Aldert |last2=Hartwig |first2=Maria |last3=Granhag |first3=Pär Anders |title=Reading Lies: Nonverbal Communication and Deception |journal=Annual Review of Psychology |date=4 January 2019 |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=295–317 |doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103135 |pmid=30609913 |s2cid=58562467 |issn=0066-4308|doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Seigel |first1=Jessica |title=The truth about lying |journal=Knowable Magazine |date=25 March 2021 |doi=10.1146/knowable-032421-1 |s2cid=235563235 |url=https://knowablemagazine.org/article/mind/2021/the-truth-about-lying |access-date=8 December 2021 |doi-access=free}}

Polygraph "lie detector" machines measure the physiological stress a subject endures in a number of measures while giving statements or answering questions. Spikes in stress indicators are purported to reveal lying. The accuracy of this method is widely disputed. In several well-known cases, application of the technique has been shown to have given incorrect results.{{Example needed|s|date=December 2021}} Nonetheless, it remains in use in many areas, primarily as a method for eliciting confessions or employment screening. The unreliability of polygraph results is the basis of the exclusion of such evaluations as admissible evidence in many courts, and the technique is generally perceived to be an example of pseudoscience.Conti, Alli. [https://www.vice.com/en/article/are-lie-detector-tests-complete-bullshit-1117/ "Are Lie Detector Tests Complete Bullshit?"] VICE. 17 November 2014. 7 December 2017.

A recent study found that composing a lie takes longer than telling the truth and thus, the time taken to answer a question may be used as a method of lie detection.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0060713 |pmid=23573277

|pmc=3616109

|title=Telling Lies: The Irrepressible Truth?

|journal=PLOS ONE

|volume=8

|issue=4

|pages=e60713

|first=Emma J. |last=Williams |author2=Lewis A. Bott |author3=John Patrick |author4=Michael B. Lewis | date=3 April 2013|bibcode=2013PLoSO...860713W

|doi-access=free

}} Instant answers with a lie may be proof of a prepared lie. A recommendation provided to resolve that contradiction is to try to surprise the subject and find a midway answer, not too quick, nor too long.

{{see also|Christian views on lying}}

File:Aristoteles Louvre.jpg of Aristotle made by Lysippos]]

Utilitarian philosophers have supported lies that achieve good outcomes – white lies. In his 2008 book, How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time, Iain King suggested a credible rule on lying was possible, and he defined it as: "Deceive only if you can change behaviour in a way worth more than the trust you would lose, were the deception discovered (whether the deception actually is exposed or not)."How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time, (2008), Iain King, p. 148.

Stanford law professor Deborah L. Rhode articulated three rules she says ethicists generally agree distinguish "white lies" from harmful lies or cheating:{{cite podcast |url=https://think.kera.org/2017/11/13/why-we-cheat/ |title=Why We Cheat |date=17 Nov 2021 |work=Think! |publisher=KERA}} (around 5:00)

• A disinterested observer would conclude that the benefits outweigh the harms
• There is no alternative
• If everyone in similar circumstances acted similarly, society would be no worse off

Aristotle believed no general rule on lying was possible, because anyone who advocated lying could never be believed, he said.How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time, (2008), Iain King, p. 147. The philosophers St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant, condemned all lying.{{cite news|url=https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2012/02/05/imp06.asp |title=To lead a life of lies |access-date=10 July 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211154019/http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2012/02/05/imp06.asp |archive-date=11 February 2012 |work=Can we talk? by T. Arjuna |last=Arjuna |first=T. |publisher=Sunday Observer }} | Sri Lanka's Sunday Observer article on lying, Feb 2012 According to all three, there are no circumstances in which, ethically, one may lie. Even if the only way to protect oneself is to lie, it is never ethically permissible to lie even in the face of murder, torture, or any other hardship. Each of these philosophers gave several arguments for the ethical basis against lying, all compatible with each other. Among the more important arguments are:

• Lying is a perversion of the natural faculty of speech, the natural end of which is to communicate the thoughts of the speaker.
• When one lies, one undermines trust in society.

In Lying, neuroscientist Sam Harris argues that lying is negative for the liar and the person who is being lied to. To tell lies is to deny others access to reality, and the harm of lying often cannot be anticipated. The ones lied to may fail to solve problems they could have solved only on a basis of good information. To lie also harms oneself, making the liar distrust the person who is being lied to.[http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01461672982411004 "Deceiver's Distrust: Denigration as a Consequence of Undiscovered Deception"], (1998), Brad J. Sagarin, Kelton v. L. Rhoads, Robert B. Cialdini. Liars generally feel badly about their lies and sense a loss of sincerity, authenticity, and integrity. Harris asserts that honesty allows one to have deeper relationships and to bring all dysfunction in one's life to the surface.

In Human, All Too Human, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche suggested that those who refrain from lying may do so only because of the difficulty involved in maintaining lies. This is consistent with his general philosophy that divides (or ranks) people according to strength and ability; thus, some people tell the truth only out of weakness.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

A study was conducted by the University of Nottingham, released in 2016, which utilized a dice roll test where participants could easily lie to get a bigger payout. The study found that in countries with high prevalence of rule breaking, dishonesty in people in their early 20s was more prevalent.{{cite journal | pmc=4817241 | year=2016 | last1=Gächter | first1=S. | last2=Schulz | first2=J. F. | title=Intrinsic Honesty and the Prevalence of Rule Violations across Societies | journal=Nature | volume=531 | issue=7595 | pages=496–499 | doi=10.1038/nature17160 | pmid=26958830 | bibcode=2016Natur.531..496G }}

Possession of the capacity to lie among non-humans has been asserted during language studies with great apes. In one instance, the gorilla Koko, when asked who tore a sink from the wall, pointed to one of her handlers and then laughed.{{cite journal |last1=Hanley |first1=Elizabeth |title=Listening to Koko |journal=Commonweal Magazine |date=4 July 2004 |page=16 |url=http://www.elizabethhanly.com/clips/prfiles/10.%20Commonweal%20Magazine%20--Interview%20with%20Dr.%20Penny%20Patterson,who%20taught%20Koko%20the%20gorilla%20to%20use%20sign%20languag.pdf |access-date=7 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714152429/http://www.elizabethhanly.com/clips/prfiles/10.%20Commonweal%20Magazine%20--Interview%20with%20Dr.%20Penny%20Patterson,who%20taught%20Koko%20the%20gorilla%20to%20use%20sign%20languag.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=live }}

Deceptive body language, such as feints that mislead as to the intended direction of attack or flight, is observed in many species. A mother bird deceives when she pretends to have a broken wing to divert the attention of a perceived predator – including unwitting humans – from the eggs in her nest, instead to her, as she draws the predator away from the location of the nest, most notably a trait of the killdeer.[http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/killdeer/tabid/6879/Default.aspx "Killdeer"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628163003/https://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/killdeer/tabid/6879/Default.aspx |date=28 June 2011 }}. Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 1 March 2011.

File:Scap - Pinocchio.jpg, a symbol of untruthfulness]]

• Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio is a wooden puppet character often led into trouble by his propensity to lie; his nose grows with every one. Hence, long noses have become a caricature of liars.
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a fable attributed to Aesop about a boy who continually lies that a wolf is coming. When a wolf does appear, nobody believes him anymore.
• A famous anecdote by Parson Weems claims that George Washington once cut at a cherry tree with a hatchet when he was a small child. His father asked him who cut the cherry tree and Washington confessed his crime with the words: "I'm sorry, father, I cannot tell a lie."
• To Tell the Truth was the originator of a genre of game shows with three contestants claiming to be a person only one of them is.
• Glenn Kessler, a journalist at The Washington Post, awards one to four Pinocchios to politicians in his Washington Post Fact Checker blog.{{cite news |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2011/01/welcome_to_the_new_fact_checke.html |title=Guide to Washington Post Fact Checker Rating Scale |publisher=Voices.washingtonpost.com |date=29 December 2011 |access-date=3 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130154007/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2011/01/welcome_to_the_new_fact_checke.html |archive-date=30 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}
• Sun Tzu declared that "All warfare is based on deception."
• Machiavelli advised in The Prince that a prince must become a "great feigner and dissembler."Machiavelli, Niccolo, The Prince, Chap. 18
• Thomas Hobbes wrote in Leviathan: "In war, force and fraud are the two cardinal virtues."
• The concept of a memory hole was first popularized by George Orwell's dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, where the Party's Ministry of Truth systematically re-created all potential historical documents, in effect re-writing all of history to match the often-changing state propaganda. These changes were complete and undetectable.
• In the film Big Fat Liar, the story producer Marty Wolf (a notorious and proud liar) steals a story from student Jason Shepard, telling of a character whose lies become out of control to the point where each lie he tells causes him to grow in size.
• In the film Liar Liar, the lawyer Fletcher Reede (Jim Carrey) cannot lie for 24 hours, due to a wish of his son that magically came true.
• In the 1985 film Max Headroom, the title character comments that one can always tell when a politician lies because "their lips move". The joke has been widely repeated and rephrased.
• Larry-Boy! And the Fib from Outer Space! is a VeggieTales story about a crime-fighting superhero with super-suction ears having to stop an alien calling himself "Fib" from destroying the town of Bumblyburg due to the lies that cause Fib to grow. Telling the truth is the moral of this story.
• A similar premise can be found in The Powerpuff Girls episode "Lying Around the House", in which a monster wreaks havoc around the house and grows in size every time a lie is told.
• Lie to Me is a television series based on behavior analysts who read lies through facial expressions and body language.
• The Invention of Lying is a 2009 movie depicting the fictitious invention of the first lie, starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Tina Fey.
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen tell the story about an eighteenth-century baron who tells outrageous, unbelievable stories, all of which he claims are true.
• In Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V, there is an agency called FIB (a parody of the FBI) which is known to cover up stories, cooperate with criminals, and extract information by lying.

It is asserted that the capacity to lie is a talent human beings possess universally.Bhattacharjee, Yudhijit. [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/06/lying-hoax-false-fibs-science/ "Why We Lie: The Science Behind Our Deceptive Ways."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207083602/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/06/lying-hoax-false-fibs-science/ |date=7 December 2017 }} National Geographic.

The evolutionary theory proposed by Darwin states that only the fittest will survive and by lying, we aim to improve other's perception of our social image and status, capability, and desirability in general.{{Cite web|title = What is Darwin's Theory of Evolution?|url = http://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html|website = LiveScience.com|access-date = 12 October 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151002222719/http://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html|archive-date = 2 October 2015|url-status = live}} Studies have shown that humans begin lying at a mere age of six months, through crying and laughing, to gain attention.{{Cite web|title = Why Do We Lie?|url = https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-dolphin-divide/201309/why-do-we-lie|website = Psychology Today|access-date = 12 October 2015}}

Scientific studies have shown differences in forms of lying across gender. Although men and women lie at equal frequencies, men are more likely to lie in order to please themselves while women are more likely to lie to please others.{{Cite news|url = http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/command/detail?vid=8&sid=4dd695cd-dc13-473a-97ad-ba17c6daa97a%40sessionmgr4004&hid=4114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=17092526&db=f5h|title = Natural-Born Liars|last = Smith|first = David Livingstone}} The presumption is that humans are individuals living in a world of competition and strict social norms, where they are able to use lies and deception to enhance chances of survival and reproduction.

Stereotypically speaking, David Livingstone Smith asserts that men like to exaggerate about their sexual expertise, but shy away from topics that degrade them while women understate their sexual expertise to make themselves more respectable and loyal in the eyes of men and avoid being labelled as a ‘scarlet woman’.

Those with Parkinson's disease show difficulties in deceiving others, difficulties that link to prefrontal hypometabolism. This suggests a link between the capacity for dishonesty and integrity of prefrontal functioning.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Abe | first1 = N.

| last2 = Fujii | first2 = T.

| last3 = Hirayama | first3 = K.

| last4 = Takeda | first4 = A.

| last5 = Hosokai | first5 = Y.

| last6 = Ishioka | first6 = T.

| last7 = Nishio | first7 = Y.

| last8 = Suzuki | first8 = K.

| last9 = Itoyama | first9 = Y.

| last10 = Takahashi

| doi = 10.1093/brain/awp052 | first10 = S.

| last11 = Fukuda | first11 = H.

| last12 = Mori | first12 = E.

| title = Do parkinsonian patients have trouble telling lies? The neurobiological basis of deceptive behaviour

| journal = Brain

| volume = 132

| issue = 5

| pages = 1386–1395

| year = 2009

| pmid = 19339257

| pmc = 2677797

}}

Pseudologia fantastica is a term applied by psychiatrists to the behavior of habitual or compulsive lying. Mythomania is the condition where there is an excessive or abnormal propensity for lying and exaggerating.{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mythomania |title=Merriam–Webster.com |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |date=31 August 2012 |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219202321/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mythomania |archive-date=19 February 2010 |url-status=live }}

A recent study found that composing a lie takes longer than telling the truth.Roy Britt, "Lies Take Longer Than Truths," LiveScience.com, 26 January 2009, found at [http://www.livescience.com/7654-lies-longer-truths.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120703015446/http://www.livescience.com/7654-lies-longer-truths.html|date=3 July 2012}}. Accessed 27 November 2011. Or, as Chief Joseph succinctly put it, "It does not require many words to speak the truth."{{cite web |url=http://people.tribe.net/dancepanther/blog/93a51179-7ff3-4089-9818-8a2a47f81b45 |title=People.tribe.net |publisher=People.tribe.net |date=19 August 2007 |access-date=10 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530060832/http://people.tribe.net/dancepanther/blog/93a51179-7ff3-4089-9818-8a2a47f81b45 |archive-date=30 May 2013 }}

Some people who are not convincing liars truly believe they are.{{Cite journal

| last1 = Grieve

| first1 = Rachel

| last2 = Hayes

| first2 = Jordana

| date = 1 January 2013

| title = Does perceived ability to deceive = ability to deceive? Predictive validity of the perceived ability to deceive (PATD) scale

| journal = Personality and Individual Differences

| volume = 54

| issue = 2

| pages = 311–314

| doi = 10.1016/j.paid.2012.09.001

| doi-access = free

}}

File:Köln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG recovered from Glockengasse Synagogue in Cologne]]

The Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible both contain statements that God cannot lie and that lying is immoral (Num. 23:19,{{cite web |url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+23%3A19-20&version=KJV |title=Num. 23:19 |publisher=Biblegateway.com |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711162710/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+23%3A19-20&version=KJV |archive-date=11 July 2019 |url-status=live }} Hab. 2:3,{{cite web |url=http://bible.cc/habakkuk/2-3.htm |title=Hab. 2:3 |publisher=Bible.cc |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814081712/http://bible.cc/habakkuk/2-3.htm |archive-date=14 August 2011 |url-status=live }} Heb. 6:13–18).{{cite web |url=http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper96/11-10-96.htm |title=Heb 6:13–18 |publisher=Soundofgrace.com |date=10 November 1996 |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017052336/http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper96/11-10-96.htm |archive-date=17 October 2010 |url-status=live }} Nevertheless, there are examples of God deliberately causing enemies to become disorientated and confused, in order to provide victory (2 Thess. 2:11;{{cite web |url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+2%3A11&version=NIV |title=2 Thess. 2:11 |publisher=Biblegateway.com |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123154123/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+2%3A11&version=NIV |archive-date=23 November 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Thessalonians%202:11&version=MSG |title=2 Thess. 2:11 |publisher=Biblegateway.com |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123154134/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Thessalonians%202:11&version=MSG |archive-date=23 November 2018 |url-status=live }} 1 Kings 22:23;{{cite web |url=http://bible.cc/1_kings/22-23.htm |title=1 Kings 22:23 |publisher=Bible.cc |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515041203/http://bible.cc/1_kings/22-23.htm |archive-date=15 May 2011 |url-status=live }} Ezek. 14:9).{{cite web |url=http://bible.cc/ezekiel/14-9.htm |title=Ezek. 14:9 |publisher=Bible.cc |access-date=10 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122192502/http://bible.cc/ezekiel/14-9.htm |archive-date=22 November 2011 |url-status=live }}

Various passages of the Bible feature exchanges that assert lying is immoral and wrong (Prov. 6:16–19; Ps. 5:6), (Lev. 19:11; Prov. 14:5; Prov. 30:6; Zeph. 3:13), (Isa. 28:15; Dan. 11:27), most famously, in the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not bear false witness" (Ex. {{bibleverse-nb|Exodus||20:2–17|HE}}; Deut. {{bibleverse-nb|Deuteronomy||5:6–21|HE}}); Ex. 23:1; Matt. 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20 a specific reference to perjury.

Other passages feature descriptive (not prescriptive) exchanges where lying was committed in extreme circumstances involving life and death. Most Christian philosophers might argue that lying is never acceptable, but that even those who are righteous in God's eyes sin sometimes. Old Testament accounts of lying include:See also: O'Neill, Barry. (2003). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080228070349/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/boneill/bibjer5.pdf "A Formal System for Understanding Lies and Deceit."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228070349/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/boneill/bibjer5.pdf |date=28 February 2008 }} Revision of a talk for the Jerusalem Conference on Biblical Economics, June 2000.

• The midwives lied about their inability to kill the Israelite children. (Ex. 1:15–21).
• Rahab lied to the king of Jericho about hiding the Hebrew spies (Josh. 2:4–5) and was not killed with those who were disobedient because of her faith (Heb. 11:31).
• Abraham instructed his wife, Sarah, to mislead the Egyptians and say that she is his sister (Gen. 12:10). Abraham's story was strictly true – Sarah was his half sister – but intentionally misleading because it was designed to lead the Egyptians to believe that Sarah was not Abraham's wife for Abraham feared that they would kill him in order to take her, for she was very beautiful.{{cite web |url=http://www.esvbible.org/search/genesis+12%3A11/ |title=Genesis 12:11 – "When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, 'I know that you are a woman'" |publisher=ESVBible.org |access-date=10 July 2013}}

In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the Devil as the father of lies (John 8:44) and Paul commands Christians "Do not lie to one another" (Col. 3:9; cf. Lev. 19:11). In the Day of Judgement, unrepentant liars will be punished in the lake of fire. (Rev. 21:8; 21:27).

File:Carlo Crivelli - St. Augustine - Google Art Project.jpg]]

Augustine of Hippo wrote two books about lying: On Lying (De Mendacio) and Against Lying (Contra Mendacio).{{cite book |last=Saint Augustine |others=Translated by Mary Sarah Muldowney |editor-last=Deferrari |editor-first=Roy J. |title=Treatises on various subjects |year=2002 |publisher=Catholic University of America Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0813213200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IlBj6Kyadd0C |edition=1st pbk. reprint |access-date=3 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203033131/https://books.google.com/books?id=IlBj6Kyadd0C |archive-date=3 February 2017 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Schaff |first=Philip |title=A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church: St. Augustin: On the Holy Trinity. Doctrinal treatises. Moral treatises |year=1887 |publisher=The Christian Literature Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwoNAAAAIAAJ&q=lying%20retractations}} He describes each book in his later work, Retractationes. Based on the location of De Mendacio in Retractationes, it appears to have been written about AD 395. The first work, On Lying, begins: "Magna quæstio est de Mendacio" ("There is a great question about Lying"). From his text, it can be derived that St. Augustine divided lies into eight categories, listed in order of descending severity:

• Lies in religious teaching
• Lies that harm others and help no one
• Lies that harm others and help someone
• Lies told for the pleasure of lying
• Lies told to "please others in smooth discourse"
• Lies that harm no one and that help someone materially
• Lies that harm no one and that help someone spiritually
• Lies that harm no one and that protect someone from "bodily defilement"

Despite distinguishing between lies according to their external severity, Augustine maintains in both treatises that all lies, defined precisely as the external communication of what one does not hold to be internally true, are categorically sinful and therefore, ethically impermissible.{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1312.htm|title=Church Fathers: On Lying (St. Augustine)|access-date=30 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926192115/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1312.htm|archive-date=26 September 2010|url-status=live}}

Augustine wrote that lies told in jest, or by someone who believes or opines the lie to be true are not, in fact, lies.{{cite book |last=Imre |first=Robert |title=Responding to terrorism: political, philosophical and legal perspectives |year=2008 |publisher=Ashgate |location=Aldershot, Hampshire, England |isbn=978-0754672777 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WpOVPCNd2VwC&pg=PA75 |edition=[Online-Ausg.] |author2=Mooney, T. Brian |author3=Clarke, Benjamin |access-date=3 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203042930/https://books.google.com/books?id=WpOVPCNd2VwC&pg=PA75 |archive-date=3 February 2017 |url-status=live }}

The fourth of the five Buddhist precepts involves falsehood spoken or committed to by action.{{cite book |last1=Leaman |first1=Oliver |title=Eastern Philosophy: Key Readings |date=2000 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-17357-5 |url=http://www.spiritual-minds.com/religion/philosophy/Key%20Concepts%20in%20Eastern%20Philosophy%20-%20Oliver%20Leaman.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808145834/http://www.spiritual-minds.com/religion/philosophy/Key%20Concepts%20in%20Eastern%20Philosophy%20-%20Oliver%20Leaman.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2017 |url-status=live |page=140}} Avoiding other forms of wrong speech are also considered part of this precept, consisting of malicious speech, harsh speech, and gossip.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Psychotherapy Practice as Buddhist Practice|encyclopedia=Encountering Buddhism: Western Psychology and Buddhist Teachings|publisher=State University of New York Press|date=2003|editor1-last=Segall|editor1-first=Seth Robert|page=169|isbn=978-0-7914-8679-5|last1=Segall|first1=Seth Robert}}{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |pp=74, 76}} A breach of the precept is considered more serious if the falsehood is motivated by an ulterior motive (rather than, for example, "a small white lie").{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |p=75}} The accompanying virtue is being honest and dependable,{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Cozort |first1=Daniel |editor1-last=Powers |editor1-first=John |title=Ethics |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |encyclopedia=The Buddhist World |isbn=978-1-317-42016-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XeuoCgAAQBAJ}}{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |p=68}} and involves honesty in work, truthfulness to others, loyalty to superiors, and gratitude to benefactors.{{sfn |Wai |2002 |p=3}} In Buddhist texts, this precept is considered most important next to the first precept, because a lying person is regarded to have no shame, and therefore capable of many wrongs.{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |p=74}} Lying is not only to be avoided because it harms others, but also because it goes against the Buddhist ideal of finding the truth.{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |p=75}}{{sfn |Wai |2002|p=295}}

The fourth precept includes avoidance of lying and harmful speech.{{cite book|last1=Powers |first1=John |author-link=John Powers (academic) |title=A Concise Encyclopedia of Buddhism |date=2013 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |isbn=978-1-78074-476-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZycAwAAQBAJ}} Some modern Buddhist teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh interpret this to include avoiding spreading false news and uncertain information.{{sfn |Harvey |2000 |p=74}} Work that involves data manipulation, false advertising, or online scams can also be regarded as violations.{{cite journal |last1=Johansen |first1=Barry-Craig P. |last2=Gopalakrishna |first2=D. |title=A Buddhist View of Adult Learning in the Workplace |journal=Advances in Developing Human Resources |date=21 July 2016 |volume=8 |issue=3 |doi=10.1177/1523422306288426 |page=342|s2cid=145131162 }} Anthropologist {{ill |Barend Terwiel|de|Barend Jan Terwiel}} reports that among Thai Buddhists, the fourth precept also is seen to be broken when people insinuate, exaggerate, or speak abusively or deceitfully.{{cite book |last1=Terwiel |first1=Barend Jan |title=Monks and Magic: Revisiting a Classic Study of Religious Ceremonies in Thailand |date=2012 |publisher=Nordic Institute of Asian Studies |isbn=978-8776941017 |url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:867441/FULLTEXT01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819011419/http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:867441/FULLTEXT01.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2018 |url-status=live |page=183}}

In Gestaþáttr, one of the sections within the Eddaic poem Hávamál, Odin states that it is advisable, when dealing with "a false foe who lies", to tell lies also.{{cite web|url=http://vta.gamall-steinn.org/havamal.htm |title=VTA.gamall-steinn.org |publisher=VTA.gamall-steinn.org |access-date=10 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050912100548/http://vta.gamall-steinn.org/havamal.htm |archive-date=12 September 2005 }}

File:Darius-Vase.jpg

Zoroaster teaches that there are two powers in the universe; Asha, which is truth, order, and that which is real, and Druj, which is "the Lie". Later on, the Lie became personified as Angra Mainyu, a figure similar to the Christian Devil, who was portrayed as the eternal opponent of Ahura Mazda (God).

Herodotus, in his mid-fifth-century BC account of Persian residents of the Pontus, reports that Persian youths, from their fifth year to their twentieth year, were instructed in three things – "to ride a horse, to draw a bow, and to speak the Truth".{{cite book| author = Herodotus| others = Translated by George Rawlinson| title = The Histories| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YTCrx1KB3HQC| year = 2009| orig-year = | publisher = Digireads.Com| isbn = 978-1420933055| pages = 43–44}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He further notes that: "The most disgraceful thing in the world [the Persians] think, is to tell a lie; the next worst, to owe a debt: because, among other reasons, the debtor is obliged to tell lies."

In Achaemenid Persia, the lie, drauga (in Avestan: druj), is considered to be a cardinal sin and it was punishable by death in some extreme cases. Tablets discovered by archaeologists in the 1930s {{cite book|author1=Garrison, Mark B. |author2=Root, Margaret C. |url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/PUB/SRC/OIP/117/OIP117.html |title=Seals on the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, Volume 1. Images of Heroic Encounter (OIP 117) |publisher=Online Oriental Institute Publications |location=Chicago |year=2001 |access-date=9 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105203909/http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/DEPT/PUB/SRC/OIP/117/OIP117.html |archive-date= 5 January 2007 |url-status=dead }} at the site of Persepolis give us adequate evidence about the love and veneration for the culture of truth during the Achaemenian period. These tablets contain the names of ordinary Persians, mainly traders and warehouse-keepers.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Persepolis Elamite Tablets|last=Dandamayev|first=Muhammad|year=2002|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Iranica|url=http://www.iranica.com/articles/persepolis-elamite-tablets|access-date=1 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121213704/http://www.iranica.com/articles/persepolis-elamite-tablets|archive-date=21 January 2012|url-status=usurped}} According to Stanley Insler of Yale University, as many as 72 names of officials and petty clerks found on these tablets contain the word truth.{{cite web|last=Insler|first=Stanley|title=The Love of Truth in Ancient Iran|author-link=Stanley Insler|url=http://www.vohuman.org/Article/The%20Love%20of%20Truth%20in%20Ancient%20Iran.htm|year=1975|access-date=9 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505064033/http://www.vohuman.org/Article/The%20Love%20of%20Truth%20in%20Ancient%20Iran.htm|archive-date=5 May 2007|url-status=dead}} In {{cite book|editor1=Insler, Stanley |editor2=Duchesne-Guillemin, J.|title=The Gāthās of Zarathustra (Acta Iranica 8)|year=1975|publisher=Brill|location=Liege}} Thus, says Insler, we have Artapana, protector of truth, Artakama, lover of truth, Artamanah, truth-minded, Artafarnah, possessing splendour of truth, Artazusta, delighting in truth, Artastuna, pillar of truth, Artafrida, prospering the truth, and Artahunara, having nobility of truth.

It was Darius the Great who laid down the "ordinance of good regulations" during his reign. Darius' testimony about his constant battle against the Lie is found in the Behistun Inscription. He testifies:{{cite book| author = Brian Carr|author2=Brian Carr|author3=Indira Mahalingam| title = Companinon Encyclopedia of Asian philosophy| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=osxPipnXeN0C| year = 1997| publisher = Taylor & Francis| isbn = 978-0415035354 }} "I was not a lie-follower, I was not a doer of wrong ... According to righteousness I conducted myself. Neither to the weak or to the powerful did I do wrong. The man who cooperated with my house, him I rewarded well; who so did injury, him I punished well."

He asks Ahuramazda, God, to protect the country from "a (hostile) army, from famine, from the Lie".DPd inscription, lines 12–24: "Darius the King says: May Ahuramazda bear me aid, with the gods of the royal house; and may Ahuramazda protect this country from a (hostile) army, from famine, from the Lie! Upon this country may there not come an army, nor famine, nor the Lie; this I pray as a boon from Ahuramazda together with the gods of the royal house. This boon may Ahuramazda together with the gods of the royal house give to me! "

Darius had his hands full dealing with large-scale rebellion which broke out throughout the empire. After fighting successfully with nine traitors in a year, Darius records his battles against them for posterity and tells us how it was the Lie that made them rebel against the empire. At the Behistun inscription, Darius says: "I smote them and took prisoner nine kings. One was Gaumata by name, a Magian; he lied; thus he said: I am Smerdis, the son of Cyrus ... One, Acina by name, an Elamite; he lied; thus he said: I am king in Elam ... One, Nidintu-Bel by name, a Babylonian; he lied; thus he said: I am Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus. ... The Lie made them rebellious, so that these men deceived the people."{{cite web|title=Darius, Behishtan (DB), Column 1|url=http://www.avesta.org/op/op.htm#db1|access-date=27 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719155757/http://avesta.org/op/op.htm#db1|archive-date=19 July 2017|url-status=live}} From {{cite book|last=Kent|first=Roland G.|year=1953|title=Old Persian: Grammar, texts, lexicon|location=New Haven|publisher=American Oriental Society}} Then advice to his son Xerxes, who is to succeed him as the great king: "Thou who shalt be king hereafter, protect yourself vigorously from the Lie; the man who shall be a lie-follower, him do thou punish well, if thus thou shall think. May my country be secure!"{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• Appeal to emotion
• Black propaganda
• Ethics
• Fabrication (science)
• False analogy
• False equivalence
• Falsifiability
• Knowledge falsification
• Mental reservation
• Plausible deniability
• Post-truth politics
• Preference falsification
• Prisoner's dilemma
• Psychological manipulation
• Sophistry
• Spin (public relations)

{{div col end}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite book |last1=Harvey |first1=Peter |title=An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-511-07584-1 |url=http://elibrary.ibc.ac.th/files/public/Peter%20Harvey%20-%20An%20Introduction%20to%20Buddhist%20Ethics~%20Foundations%2C%20Values%20and%20Issues.pdf |access-date=24 August 2018 |archive-date=12 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412011839/http://elibrary.ibc.ac.th/files/public/Peter%20Harvey%20-%20An%20Introduction%20to%20Buddhist%20Ethics~%20Foundations%2C%20Values%20and%20Issues.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• {{Cite book |last1=Wai |first1=Maurice Nyunt |date=2002 |title=Pañcasila and Catholic Moral Teaching: Moral Principles as Expression of Spiritual Experience in Theravada Buddhism and Christianity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZDn1azVJWKgC |publisher=Gregorian Biblical BookShop |isbn=978-8876529207 }}

{{refend}}

• Adler, J. E. "Lying, deceiving, or falsely implicating," Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 94 (1997), 435–452.
• Aquinas, St. T. "Question 110: Lying," in Summa Theologiae (II.II), Vol. 41, Virtues of Justice in the Human Community (London, 1972).
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• {{Cite journal |doi=10.2307/2025605 |last1=Chisholm |first1=R.M. |last2=Feehan |first2=T.D. |year=1977 |title=The intent to deceive |jstor=2025605 |journal=Journal of Philosophy |volume=74 |issue=3 |pages=143–159}}
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• {{Cite journal |last=Fallis |first=Don |year=2009 |title=What is Lying? |ssrn=1601034 |journal=Journal of Philosophy |volume=106 |issue=1 |pages=29–56|doi=10.5840/jphil200910612 }}
• Frankfurt, H.G. "The Faintest Passion," in Necessity, Volition and Love (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).
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• Mahon, J.E., "[https://www.academia.edu/221399/Lying_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy_ Lying]," Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd ed., Vol. 5 (Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference, 2006), 618–619.
• Mahon, J.E. "[https://www.academia.edu/221405/Kant_and_the_Perfect_Duty_to_Others_Not_to_Lie Kant and the Perfect Duty to Others Not to Lie]," British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Vol. 14, No. 4 (2006), 653–685.
• Mahon, J.E. "[https://www.academia.edu/221405/Kant_and_the_Perfect_Duty_to_Others_Not_to_Lie Kant and Maria von Herbert: Reticence vs. Deception]," Philosophy, Vol. 81, No. 3 (2006), 417–444.
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• {{cite news|ref=none|last=Maugh II|first=Thomas H.|date=1 April 1991|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-01-me-1174-story.html|title=Science / Medicine : The Lies That Bind: Nearly All Species Deceive : Life: Deception is not only useful, experts say, it is often a necessity that allows organisms to survive.|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=11 March 2021}}
• Mount, Ferdinand, "Ruthless and Truthless" (review of Peter Oborne, The Assault on Truth: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism, Simon and Schuster, 2021, {{ISBN|978-1398501003}}, 192 pp.; and Colin Kidd and Jacqueline Rose, eds., Political Advice: Past, Present and Future, I.B. Tauris, 2021, {{ISBN|978-1838600044}}, 240 pp.), London Review of Books, vol. 43, no. 9 (6 May 2021), pp. 3, 5–8.
• Siegler, F.A. "Lying," American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 3 (1966), 128–136.
• {{Cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0114.2007.00290.x |last=Sorensen |first=Roy |year=2007 |title=Bald-Faced Lies! Lying Without the Intent to Deceive |journal=Pacific Philosophical Quarterly |volume=88 |pages=251–264 |issue=2}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Stokke |first=Andreas |year=2013 |title=Lying and Asserting |ssrn=1601034 |journal=Journal of Philosophy |volume=110 |issue=1 |pages=33–60|doi=10.5840/jphil2013110144 }}
• Margaret Talbot (2007). [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/07/02/070702fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=1 "Duped. Can brain scans uncover lies?"]. The New Yorker, 2 July 2007.

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• {{Cite Americana|wstitle=Lie}}

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Category:Deception

Category:Human behavior

Category:Islamic jurisprudence rulings