Is "the truth" really the best policy?

Hi, I'm Vincent, and my blog is going to pretty much be about the ways that people think and act these days, and I'll also be giving my opinion on these topics. Sometimes, I'll also be comparing two different topics, such as the one I'm about do do now. And that topic is whether the truth is better, no matter how mean it is, or whether being "nice" and hiding the truth is.

So, first of all, I'm pretty sure that  most of us have heard from our parents, teachers, and generally people around us that the truth is always better than lying. And this is shown a lot in everyday scenarios too, such as telling the truth about your opinion on something. If you were to be completely honest, no matter what the outcome is, then you won't have anything to hide and you won't have to live a lie. But if you were to lie, then you would worry about what would happen next, hoping that an unexpected outcome doesn't occur. However, it is also possible that the truth can be harsh at some times, and that it can hurt people's emotions and feelings. At this point, people try to be nice and hide the truth, but is that really better than telling the truth?I agree that the truth is a really good thing, and telling it instead of a lie will make your life easier, but is it really better than "being nice" and hiding the truth?

Now, being nice is also something that yet again, parents, teachers, and  people around us also say. Being nice is something that a lot of us are able to do, and most of us like nice people to be our friends. But is it possible that we're "too nice", and that we end up lying to someone so we don't hurt their feelings? Yes, it is possible, and this pretty much happens every day, whether you may be aware of it or not. It can be as easy as saying "good job" to someone when they aren't even trying, or as hard as explaining why you like a book just to be nice to the author, but you hate it. And being nice sometimes also hides the truth too, just like for the two examples that I gave you, it was nice to say "good job" and say positive things about a book, but saying those positive things really hide your true opinion and stop you from what you really want to say. Being nice is definitely a good thing, but you shouldn't let it take over to you to the point where the truth doesn't come first.

My Opinion:
To be honest, I would say that the truth is more important than being nice, especially when you are asked for the truth, or rather your opinion. The truth may hurt, but it can be better to know the truth at times than to have it hidden from you when you should know it, no matter how mean it is. Hiding the truth sometimes will make your life harder, since you are keeping the truth inside of yourself when the truth should be revealed, and if the people that you're hiding the truth from find out about it when you didn't tell it to them, it can hurt you even more. But just because the truth is more important than being nice doesn't mean that you shouldn't be nice at all. Being nice is still important, and if the truth that you're going to say is harsh or mean, you should try to make it sound as nice as possible. If the truth is a nice thing that is a compliment, then obviously you don't need to make it sound any nicer. But if the truth that you have to reveal can't be made into something nice easily, then saying the mean and harsh truth, no matter how hurtful it is, should be the right thing to do. Overall, the truth and honesty should come before being nice to others, as experiences with this will tell you, just like me.


Here is an opinion of someone's thoughts on how being a good person is not enough, and how you should always speak the truth. The video/opinion also relates this to Christianity, and I found this video/opinion quite interesting, since I do not know a lot about what the truth and being nice has to do with Christianity.