Question

essay on benefits of telling truth

Answer 1

A famous coach once said this: "Telling the truth makes a problem a part of the past. Telling a lie makes something a problem that will have to be dealt with in the future."

I always tell the truth, even when it hurts because someday I might really need to lie and if I do, I will want everyone to believe what I say.

That is probably the biggest benefit of telling the truth -- that people believe you. You earn a reputation.  "When something important is happening, silence is a lie." This is also true. Half truths are really lies -- there are no degrees of honesty, either you are honest or you are not.

During World War 1 a journalist argued for the misinformation the US was feeding the press. He said, "There is nothing in our experience that tells us that the truth is always superior to a lie. There are dead truths and vital lies. Their value lies only in their power to inspire us to action." The problem is, the government got used to how well lying smoothed things over -- governments always get used to that. It's deceptively easy to tell an innocent lie to accomplish a greater good. The problem is that it becomes easier to lie bigger with each occurrence. Choose the hard truth over the easy lie, but remember that truth is fluid. Pontius Pilate sang in the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar", "And what is truth? Is truth a changing law? We both have truths. Are mine the same as yours?" Conviction, no matter how fervently held, does not create truth.  

On the other hand, honesty is not always the best policy. Honesty can hurt, no matter how well intentioned. Our lives are always paved smooth by a veil of innocent lies. Winston Churchill once said that the truth is so precious that it must be protected by a veil of lies, and there is something to this belief.  

The important thing is not so much the truth, it is consistency. I would call this integrity, that is, acting in a predictable way over time regardless of temptation, such that people learn to trust your actions. This is the ultimate honesty.