In Lying by Sam Harris, he details the countless wrongs that go along with any single lie we tell one another in our daily lives. From casual white lies, we swear that do no wrong, to massively impactful lies that can change the course of our relationships forever.
Honesty can force any dysfunction in your life to the surface. Are you in an abusive relationship? A refusal to lie to others – How did you get that bruise? – would oblige you to come to grips with this situation very quickly. Do you have a problem with drugs or alcohol? Lying is the lifeblood of addiction. If we have no recourse to lies, our lives can unravel only as far without other’s noticing, (p.10).
Although this quotation is almost at the very beginning of this book, I believe it is very impactful, to say the least. Sam Harris throughout the whole of this book makes it very clear there is no room in a happy life for excuses which if you do not know I very much agree with. Lying and excuses we give ourselves allow us to deprive our relationships of full honesty, which depletes us from creating more genuine connections. While many might disagree with mine and Sam Harris’s statement on how there is no room for lying in a life living the happiest it can be, I loved reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone who has ever told a single lie in their life!