I know this topic can always be argued down the wire more especially from the religious point of view. But in reality, i dont think that honesty is always the best policy. There are lies that need to be told in other to avert a greater danger ahead, in other words these are necessary evils. A clear example of what i mean is this Assuming you have a friend who cheats on his wife, and you know fully well that your friend sees other women, If your friend's wife comes to you as the husband's best friend to actually confirm if her husband cheats on her, peradventure she has been hearing the rumour but just wanted to confirm from you as the husband's right hand man What would you tell her? putting in mind that if you tell her the truth outrightly(i.e being honest) you might end up breaking up thier home and remember that you shouldnt put as under what god has joined together. In this kind of scenario i strongly suggest that you desist from telling her the truth instead you should go and caution your friend, but you would end up being dishonest by lying to her. Please follow nairalanders whats your take on this one.

You have to specify if you're talking about one's life policy or relationship wise.
Life policy well a lie sometime wont hurt but only when need be like the scenario above
But Relationship -wise if its a serious relationship of course it should be lies-free but if its a do-me-i-do-you(Sexmate) kinda thing then who cares? once you aint lieing about your hiv status

I believe that in some situations in all areas of life(life policy or relationship wise),diplomacy(neither yes nor no) is the best policy! in that way,you are neither honest nor dishonest.

oui, l'honnêteté est la meilleure ligne de conduite.

epi:

oui, l'honnêteté est la meilleure ligne de conduite.

c'est speakee zeee englizzhhh?

@poster, well it depends you know. sometimes you wanna act right and tell alie onl at the end of the day it only lands you in bigger trouble. take for exampple in a relationship you tell small lies to protect the one you love only it comes a round and bites u in the ass.
for me thereis no hard and fast rule.
its not true tha if you lie you'd get caught sometimes it just works out, but don't take liberty for license. i believe if its for a good cause, why not.

just be smart about it.

vodka:

c'est speakee zeee englizzhhh?

oops sorry. sometimes i forget wher i am

@ poster

Yes, honesty is the best policy. Why? Karma is a B*tch

@Vodka
The topic is 'is honesty always the best policy?' i am by no means suggesting that dishonesty is the best policy. Its very true that when you tell a lie, you would need to tell eleven other lies to prevent the previous ones from leaking. Its just like risk taking, whenever you want to take a risk you would have to ensure that its worth it and as well necessary, i think same should be applied to 'honesty' and 'dishonesty'.
@stephen4nja
The topic covers both personal life policy and romance infact the topic applies to life in general. I placed it in this section cos i couldnt find a suitable section.

Honesty - yes, but don't give out all the information.
I prefer not to tell than to tall a lie
It has worked for yrs

I admire you

@iice
Diplomacy
When you answer someone "i dont know" or "i am not so sure" where as you actually know and at thesame time very sure, are you being honest with the person? I would want to know what you guys actually mean by diplomacy.

Personally, I don’t embrace the whole tell the truth no matter what. If it is a situation where it could potentially cause irreversible damage, then eff the truth I say.

Sometimes people use the  truth to be spiteful and that’s just as bad as telling lies to make yourself look good.

Anyhoo on a light note, here is a funny video on Honesty at its best

http://www.runawaybox.com/video.php?vid=396

Let’s be honest, can anyone really be like that?

@ iice
behind you all the way or is it above you??
@ zaragoza
diplomacy doesn't have to be "i don't know" or "i'm not sure" it could be
woman: is my husband cheating?
Answer: i'll check,i can't really say or do you think he is?,maybe.
Infact,you can even say yes and make the person think you mean no.Diplomacy is just not spoon-feeding the person but making the person think it could be yes but it could also be no!

@Moneyrule
What is the difference btw "i can't really say" and "i am not sure". When u reply the woman "i'll check" when the woman comes back again would u keep on replying her "i would check"? When u answer her "maybe" maybe what? Maybe that he's not cheating on her? are u being honest with her? When u actually answer her "yes" and make her beleive it to be "no" u've just ended up telling her no. In other words u are not being sincere with her, u are deceiving her into believing what is not the truth. Mind u honesty encompasses truthfulness and sincerity, and to be sincere means avoidance of deceit and pretence. The mistake u are making including iice is that you guys are seeing honesty as being just telling the truth, it comprises of a lot more.

Some people can't handle the truth.

<If your friend's wife comes to you as the husband's best friend to actually confirm if her husband cheats on her, peradventure she has been hearing the rumour but just wanted to confirm from you as the husband's right hand man What would you tell her? putting in mind that if you tell her the truth outrightly(i.e being honest) you might end up breaking up thier home and remember that you shouldnt put as under what god has joined together. In this kind of scenario i strongly suggest that you desist from telling her the truth instead you should go and caution your friend, but you would end up being dishonest by lying to her. Please follow nairalanders whats your take on this one. >

Honesty is still the best policy. But telling on others is called snitching. Honesty does not require you to confess on behalf of other pple.
But to be honest about your own actions or deeds is very important cus nature will still reveal the hidden stuff anyway.

Taken:

<If your friend's wife comes to you as the husband's best friend to actually confirm if her husband cheats on her, peradventure she has been hearing the rumour but just wanted to confirm from you as the husband's right hand man What would you tell her? putting in mind that if you tell her the truth outrightly(i.e being honest) you might end up breaking up thier home and remember that you shouldnt put as under what god has joined together. In this kind of scenario i strongly suggest that you desist from telling her the truth instead you should go and caution your friend, but you would end up being dishonest by lying to her. Please follow nairalanders whats your take on this one. >

Honesty is still the best policy. But telling on others is called snitching. Honesty does not require you to confess on behalf of other pple.
But to be honest about your own actions or deeds is very important cus nature will still reveal the hidden stuff anyway.

That is why there is no exclusivity in life,virtually everything in life is relative.
In life,if you can not tell a truth that can be believed,tell a believable lie

Yes, it is.

Reminds me of my pry school pledge: 'Honesty is the best policy and therefore I must be honest'

Just like, 'Silence is (not always) golden, so also 'Honesty is (not always) d best policy.
I wonda y most of us lyk hanging on d fence. Lie when necessary!
Bleep Diplomacy & all dat crap, I tell ppl what they want to hear (lies or truth). . .
Avn't u told d truth & ppl stil didn't believe u?
Wel, it's bin said, 'Karma is a bitch'! So Bleep it!

Honesty can cost you your life!

To this i say always go wid ur gut feelings. . . .let ur instincts direct you!!!

Ahhhhh!!!!

Bro wetin do u naa??

Abeg i too dey quiet and gentle this night oo!!

Anyways how have u been sha??

Nothing oooo I just dey watch inauguration since morning

Raymond88:

Honesty can cost you your life!

So what is a life of dishonesty worth? Is it better to live dishonestly than to die honest?

Honesty.

I think this is wht jst proves the imperfection of man and the world itself, Once in  a while in life we are been faced with such  difficult situations which the example u gave is jst one of it. In that case telling ur frens wife of his infidelity might be seens as betrayal and an act of breaking up a home. Religious apart I have always believed in life that there secrets better remained uncovered and there are things better to be left unsaid.
But you made a gud point there, in such a situation your Honesty and truthfulness comes into play when u call your fren boldly and let him know tht wht his doing is very wrong and he need to change or else, U can go to the lenght of threatening him to make him desist from such act.
For me i think telling his wife is causing more damages but ur effort on stoping ur fren from cheating is honesty.

"Why don't you ask your hubby?"
Simple

@Mr moderator
The poll you created is just a deviation from the actual topic. Please i suggest u correct it. The actual topic is "is honesty always the best policy?" and not "is honesty the best policy?" these two have different meaning.
Back to the actual topic, the example i gave above is just a case of having to make a choice btw two "evils" the best approach to tackle this kind of scenario is just opting for the lesser evil.

@ayobase
I totally agree with u. But how can you be diplomatic without being dishonest? Remember a direct question was put to you by your friend's wife, also remember that if your diplomacy is void of sincerity and truth you are not being honest, moreso, your sincerity should be void of deceit and pretence otherwise you are not being sincere cos those are what honesty entails.