A work of fiction, like a novel or a movie, is not  exactly a lie because we’ve agreed with its premise of entertainment. A lie, however, can be a work of fiction.  There are only three types of lies. Falsification, denial and omission are those types. Every lie is one or more of those three meshed together.

While honesty is the best policy, it’s not always acceptable. That leaves the moral dilemma as to whether or not to tell the truth. If one takes a hard line on honesty, a simple “how are you” from a co-worker might turn into a litany of woes. 

One might temper their answer to suit the type of person asking. A doctor or someone we know very well who asks that question may very well mean what they ask. An acquaintance, however, is just giving us a salutation when they ask that question. 

Our response is expected to be brief and is primarily meaningless. Our response to that question should be in the negative only when we have a problem involving that person and for the purpose of opening negotiations for solving it with him or her.

Few people say what they really mean. Language is imprecise at best. Most of the common situations of omission, for example, aren’t true lies unless they are intentional. Honesty is most appropriate when it affects others in some way. 

The omission that a product is faulty by a sales person is a lie that affects the customer in a negative way. This omission may lead to denial and possibly falsification. 

It may be possible to not know about or to forget about some feature or problem. In that case, the seller needs to own up to it as soon as the fault is remembered or discovered prior to the completion of the sale. There is still some responsibility to amend the omission after the sale, as well, when the customer returns the item.

If a merchant gives us too much change back, we should say so. That teller might be too embarrassed to admit it. But, at least we tried. Politely pressing the point of the error more than 2 or 3 times makes it pointless honesty. Pay attention. Sometimes we have to walk away when we’ve failed to give back what doesn’t belong to us.

If the teller recognizes the error, that improves their opinion of you and may bring benefits to you at some later time. Those benefits might include extra large portions, free samples or coupons. Honesty opens ‘doors’ for opportunity.

Honesty is the best policy in most cases because it’s too much work to remember which lie is told to what person and because it improves ones standing in their community or work place. The driving force behind telling the truth is to keep the dynamics of social interaction balanced and healthy.