There are plenty of people who don’t feel that they ever really lie. For them, their belief is that when they leave out certain relevant information germane to the subject matter, this isn’t really a form of lying, while additionally they believe that when it comes to “little white lies” that isn’t lying, either. In other words, from their perspective, they are truthful, and if they have to fudge a little bit, they do that, not because they are a liar, but rather as a supposed courtesy to the other, so as to not hurt their feelings, or create discord.
In a court of law, we are told to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Indeed, when it comes to the truth and the telling of the whole truth, this is where those who leave out important information, are thereby lying by omission. The thing about lying by omission is those who do this, consciously or not, are thereby deceiving the other, for the impression that the other will receive when pertinent information has been withheld, is going to invariably be different than what it would have been if they were informed of everything in regards to the subject matter.
People lie for all sorts of reasons, such as to protect themselves, to save themselves from embarrassment, to save another, or to not suffer the personal consequences of an action that was wrong, and they believe that when omitting important information—it really isn’t their concern when the person so hearing this, is not able to successfully to read between the lines. The thing is though, is that lying by omission has not only a way of catching up with us, but those others who surmise that the whole truth has not been told, are not going to perceive us as being authentic, which thereby hurts our trust one to another.
Those then that lie by omission, believing that even though they didn’t tell the whole truth, but tellingly have not mouthed actual lying words, often believe that this makes them honest, though that belief is fundamentally wrong. Look, there are a multitude of ways to lie, and omission is one of them, so is misdirection, so is pretended ignorance, so is changing the subject, and so on and so forth. Those who for whatever reason, somewhat justified or not, won’t willingly face the music, are not people of integrity, which makes for relationships that are going to be damaged, because of that lack of candor.
So too, our lies by omission, that we impart to others, surely will have consequences for us, in the future, for what is good enough for the goose is good enough for the gander. Those who lie by omission, believing it produces no harm, or stealthily shows their ingenuity or creativeness, have got to realize the same games that they play will be played upon them. This would indicate that those who suffer the effects of those same types of lies of omission by being on the receiving end are not going to appreciate how clever and deceptive the other is but rather are going to see them as being those that lack integrity, as well as the courage to do the right thing when obligated to do so.