Lying (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

show spoilers

Characters/People edit see section history

• Sita: Add a description of this character.
• Stephanie
• Gina
• Derek
• Ronald A. Howard

Quotes edit see section history

• “Once one commits to telling the truth, one begins to notice how unusual it is to meet someone who shares this commitment. Honest people are a refuge: You know they mean what they say; you know they will not say one thing to your face and another behind your back; you know they will tell you when they think you have failed - and for this reason their praise cannot be mistaken for mere flattery.”

• “Lying is the lifeblood of addiction.”

• “I have learned that I would rather be maladroit, or even rude, than dishonest.”

• “Familiarity breeds credence.”

• “Every lie is a direct assault on the autonomy of those we lie to.”

• “Research suggests that all forms of lying—including white lies meant to spare the feelings of others—are associated with poorer-quality relationships.”

  Sam Harris

• ““The Ethical Analyst” affected me in ways that college courses seldom do: It made me a better person.”

  Sam Harris

• “The intent to communicate honestly is the measure of truthfulness.”

  Sam Harris

• “But it is in believing one thing while intending to communicate another that every lie is born.”

  Sam Harris

• “Honesty is a gift we can give to others. It is also a source of power and an engine of simplicity.”

  Sam Harris

• “We can simply be ourselves.”

  Sam Harris

• “Ethical transgressions are generally divided into two categories: the bad things we do (acts of commission) and the good things we fail to do (acts of omission).”

  Sam Harris

• “One of the greatest problems for the liar is that he must keep track of his lies. Some people are better at this than others.”

  Sam Harris

• “Lies are the social equivalent of toxic waste—everyone is potentially harmed by their spread”

• “Tell enough lies, however, and the effort required to keep your audience in the dark quickly becomes unsustainable”

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• To lie is to intentionally mislead others when they expect honest communication.

  Highlighted by 665 Kindle customers

• False encouragement is a kind of theft: it steals time, energy, and motivation a person could put toward some other purpose.

  Highlighted by 514 Kindle customers

• The intent to communicate honestly is the measure of truthfulness.

  Highlighted by 479 Kindle customers

• Lying is, almost by definition, a refusal to cooperate with others. It condenses a lack of trust and trustworthiness into a single act. It is both a failure of understanding and an unwillingness to be understood. To lie is to recoil from relationship.  

  Highlighted by 398 Kindle customers

• People lie so that others will form beliefs that are not true. The more consequential the beliefs—that is, the more a person’s well-being depends upon a correct understanding of the world—the more consequential the lie.

  Highlighted by 317 Kindle customers

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Sam Harris (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Business & Investing › Business Life › Ethics
• Books › Nonfiction › Philosophy