It's hard to watch someone fall from grace due to a badly told lie. At first it was news anchorman Brian Williams and now, in a worse-case scenario, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte. Brian Williams faced consequences when his lie spun out of control and likewise, so should Ryan Lochte, but had a young Ryan Lochte read Mark Twain, he might have told a different sort of lie or fashioned a judicious one.
Clearly, there is an art to lying, but according to writer and humorist, Mark Twain aka Samuel Clemens, lying is an art that needs to be developed and effectively utilized. In an essay written for the Historian and Antiquarian Club of Hartford, Connecticut (published 1882), Mark Twain wrote:
My complaint simply concerns the decay of the art of
lying. No high-minded man, no man of right feeling,
can contemplate the lumbering and slovenly lying of
the present day without grieving to see a noble art
so prostituted.
As children, we are taught that lying is akin to a criminal act; yet we do it often and without remorse because we must. Consistently, we face dilemmas of whether to "bear false witness" (lie) or opt to say something positive or nothing at all. In society, such rules are reinforced. Yet, we are expected to express opinions, if only for the sake of discussion.
But what happens if it isn't the right opinion? How long would someone last in a classroom or workplace expressing unacceptable views? When remaining silent is not an option and the truth would prove unacceptable, a well-told lie is not exactly a lie; it's a maneuver--and what could be more respectable than that?
When I was a child, I rarely spoke and when I did speak, I instinctively lied. I even strengthened this skill into early adulthood because I found it difficult to determine the best response. Truth be told, I could have used some technical advice or training on the art of the lie. I also could have used some encouragement regarding the advantages and rewards of telling a great lie.
In his brief essay, Mark Twain insists that lying is an art that must be cultivated. He writes,
No fact is more firmly established than that lying is a necessity of our
circumstances...therefore, it goes without saying that this one ought
to be taught in the public schools--even in the newspapers. What
chance has the ignorant uncultivated liar against the educated expert?
...An awkward, unscientific lie is often as ineffectual as the truth...
Children and fools _always_ speak the truth. The deduction
is plain--adults and wise persons _never_speak it...Everybody lies--
every day; every hour; awake; asleep; in his dreams; in his joy;
in his mourning; if he keeps his tongue still, his hands, his feet,
his eyes, his attitude, will convey deception--and purposely.
Even in sermons--
