The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1900-08-01
Telling tie Truth.

truth as may sometimes appear. The
average man does not tell an untruth
deliberately or maliciously, but he is
quite likely to tell untruths out Of his
good nature, his fear Of giving offense
or his vanity. 1t takes a man Of NOR
al courage to say II do not know"
Nine men out of ten (all Of them be-
ing accounted honest as the world
gocs) will pretend to know rather than
confess their Ignorance. Some of
them will do it with effrontery; others
will shirk the confession and by their
silence pretend to have knowledge
they do not posses. During politi-
cal campaign like that upon which VIC
are about to enter a vast amount of
this kind Of untruthfulness is dcyel-
oped. In the discussion of the issues
of the day questions arise respecting
constitutional provisions, the laws of
the country, the history Of parties,
and but few Of the disputants will
have the honesty to say 81 do not
know when cornered in a debate.
They will either evade the question or
invent reply to carry them over the
awkward place They do not lie mali
ciously, but they are insincere. So
also in social life men and women act
a part and deceive or try to deceive
sometimes out Of vanity, someties out
of good nature-because they do not
wish to give offense. 1t is quite COM
mon to meet otherwise honest men and
women who pretend to have family
connections or means or technical skill
that they do not really possess. They
are seeking to give themselves de-
gree Of Importance to which they are
not entitled, and while they may not
either tell or act in untruth they sug-
gest false impression and are abso-
lutely insincere. A more common
form Of insinceseity, because it is pre-
scribed by their ules of ordinary po-
likeness, is that which leads us to treat
with respect and apparent interest one
who is really despised There is in
sincerity in this, no doubt, but it is
to some extent BILE, because the
opposite course is more offensive. The
man is boorish who, being introduced
to one whom he does not like, says SO
in words.or manner. Such insincerity
as may be involved in polite behavior
is in such case excusable, but it
should not he extended beyond neces-
sary conventionalities. The soci4l
falsehoods that are to be reprobeted
are the ELUSIVE utterances that hsT
no basis or true feeling. Politene ss
does not require that one shall say
pleasant thing to a man for whom one
has no regard, and tAe insincerity is
absolute when one uses such express
sions for purposes of deception and
fey minutes afterwards Tecant5 them
to mutual friend. To be sincere
and truthful it is not necessary that
one should disclose to the world his
inmost thoughts. But he should not
conceal them by falsehoods. He may
remain silent if he chooses in cases
which DO cot require an expression Of
opinion; he may conceal his thoughts
or feelings under q conventional OBJ
servance Of the rules Of society with
out being justly accused Of insincer-
ity, provided he is careful not to give
positive expression to false sentiments
with an intention to deceive. It is
we'll, however, to keep close watch
on ones self to see that there is no
unconscious drifting away from the
habit Of telling the truth. The tests
ones own conscience, OF feeling Of
selfrespect. What the world may say
is matter OF small Importance COM
pared with what conscience says.
Have we dealt fairly and sincerely by
our fellow men, saying disagreeable
things only when duty required us to
do so? If so we have been sincere
even though we may not have told the
world everything we thought or gone
out of our way to tell the truth when
justified IN remaining silent.-BaHi-
more Sun.