Can Lying ever be Kind? episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 23, 2026 · 8 MIN

Can Lying ever be Kind?

from The School of Life · host tscol

Paradoxically, but also rather troublingly, there are certain lies that preserve the underlying truth about our feelings somewhat more effectively than the literal truth. An essay on the implications and background idea of the white lie. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/Kjqc1 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/RyZLq FURTHER READING “Truly good people are always ready and even, at times, highly enthusiastic about telling lies. This sounds odd only because we are in the grip of a heroic but indiscriminate and delusional addiction to truth-telling…” You can read more on this and other topics here: https://goo.gl/kpklsI MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on Self in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Alex Morris http://www.pinvin.com #TheSchoolOfLife ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paradoxically, but also rather troublingly, there are certain lies that preserve the underlying truth about our feelings somewhat more effectively than the literal truth. An essay on the implications and background idea of the white lie. Enjoying our Youtube videos? Get full access to all our audio content, videos, and thousands of thought-provoking articles, conversation cards and more with The School of Life Subscription: https://t.ly/Kjqc1 Be more mindful, present and inspired. Get the best of The School of Life delivered straight to your inbox: https://t.ly/RyZLq FURTHER READING “Truly good people are always ready and even, at times, highly enthusiastic about telling lies. This sounds odd only because we are in the grip of a heroic but indiscriminate and delusional addiction to truth-telling…” You can read more on this and other topics here: https://goo.gl/kpklsI MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on Self in our playlist: http://bit.ly/TSOLself SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theschooloflifelondon/ X: https://twitter.com/TheSchoolOfLife Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theschooloflifelondon/ CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Alex Morris http://www.pinvin.com #TheSchoolOfLife ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Can Lying ever be Kind?

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This episode was published on June 23, 2026.

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Paradoxically, but also rather troublingly, there are certain lies that preserve the underlying truth about our feelings somewhat more effectively than the literal truth. An essay on the implications and background idea of the white lie. Enjoying...

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