"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not be false to any man." (Shakespeare.)
"Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies...." (Emily Dickinson)
"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth." Buddha
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." (Marcus Aurelius.)
I like to think I'm a stickler for the truth, but being disingenuous comes naturally, too. I can lie to myself, first of all. I can spin or finesse the facts or withhold a detail that changes everything. In "The Ways We Lie," Stephanie Ericsson categories a few type of lies:
http://campuses.fortbendisd.com/campuses/documents/Teacher/2012%5Cteacher_20120124_1612.pdf
When we were girls, my friends and I had "truth sessions." We all wanted to hear and tell the truths people don't ordinarily tell, but the way we did it usually devolved into unhelpful criticism of each other. But the impulse was the same impulse I've had all my life--to tell the truth as best I can and to be able to hear other people's, even if I don't agree with them.
I prefer "truth" without "the" in front of it. Few truths are singular, rock-solid, and static; truth is more like a river, always moving and changing. As I mature, reality becomes more slippery, nuanced and complex.
This morning, I've had three illuminating conversations about truth--with Freda, Pam, and Mike. What does it mean to live an honest life without hurting other people? And what do we do with their truths that hurt us? How do we decide when to tell the unvarnished truth, and to whom?
Mike said, "A person has to create an environment for another person to tell the truth." To create such a space means throwing out outdated stuff in the mind and getting some new mental furniture and lamps.
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