Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1889-08-27
THE HABIT or LYING.

Ealsshoeds That Are Really o CreAia Do
| Those Who Tell Them.
Have you ever noticed how general
the habit OF telling falsehoods Is among
your acquaintances and even with your.
self II not. just set apart one day TO
keep track OF your own sayings and
those OF others. and II you can not say
at the end OF the day that this world is
made up Of people who habitually tell
fibs and falsehoods then it can be safely
inferred that you have not talked with
any body and have been silent yourself,
or else that you have grown forgetful
and have not Tailed correctly. Do not
hold up your hands in holy horror at
this statement but read on and find out
the use and abuse OF untruths False
hoods, when used in the proper place,
are not, as many suppose. things to be
marked up against us In the records by
which we shall eventually be judged,
but on the contrary. according to my
ideas. will entitle us to a bright
sunny spot in the great Okla
homa Of the future. What can be
more noble than the words OF the
sick man who. although he feels that
his malady is growing worse, In order
TO save is friends anxiety declares that
he Is getting better. and while pains
rack his body declares that he 10 rest
ing comfortably What moro generous
than the words OF the child which will
give up Its sweets TO another and say
that 1t does not care for them, while
in reality its mouth is fairly water.
ing" for themp What can cause us to
respect n young lady more than to hear
her tell her parents. whom she knows are
aversed to her attending an opera or
some other amusement, that she does
not care to go. thus relieving the pa
rental minds OF the idea that possibly
they have caused pain by expressing
their wishesP Or who II more deserv.
ing Of kindness than the man who,
In order to help fellow-being, will
devote valuable time TO his assistance
and then declare that the act did not
inconvenience him In the least and that
the time he spent in doing It was value.
less? These are the kinds OF false
hoods and fibs that are credit
to those who tell them. There
are only two other kinds Of un.
truths and one of those, think, is
the kind which should cause us to
pity, not to blame, the one who tells
them. These are the malformations OF
truth which the genus yarn spinner"
gets OIL. which. although they may be
"whoppers," never harm anybody, and
you generally find that the man who
gets of yarns OF this sort is harmless
and will not tell a falsehood in order to
injure his neighbor. That which has
ruined the regulations OF Abs, false
hoods. untruths and yarns is the genu.
Inc 'lie." BY that word is meant that
which Is told by the scandal-monger, r
the sneak. and those who, although
they may bear the appearance and rep
utation OF honest people. have yet that
on their tongues which Is more dan
gerous than the venom OF the viper.
By all means encourage the production
Of the harmless but useful fib or white
lie. and don't discourage the man who
is fond OF telling yarns, as he derives a
pleasure from them himself, even II an
outsider does not, and he never harms;
but OF all things avoid vicious and j
deliberate liar. Chicago Journal z