Let’s be honest here folks, we are all liars and hypocrites. It’s just a matter of degree and circumstance. I find it humorous and often laughable at the indignation displayed by someone when they are called a “liar.”
Everybody lies all the time, however, the untruths are usually unimportant and meaningless. You will most likely tell a lie today. “Hey Pete, how you doin,’ you ask.” “Doin’ great,” I respond. But I’m not doing great. I’m tired, bored and my calf hurts. Why did I lie? Because saying, “Well, I’m really exhausted, I hurt my leg running and I’m bored with everything right now” is too much info and is irrelevant and tedious.
Of course this response is also a downer and chances are that guy will never ask again how I am doing, and most likely he will try to avoid me if he sees me coming his way.
Also, he doesn’t really give a fig how I’m doing, right? So I lie to him, we both save a little time, and nobody is injured in the process.
Society has developed such an aversion to the tiny little word “lie” that we’ve created myriad euphemisms for the term. My favorites include exaggeration, embellishment, fib, tall story, whopper, rhetoric, hyperbole, misstatement, fabrication and untruth. There’s also a softening of the word itself—a little white lie.
Of course politicians and lawyers are masters of the art of lying, however never seem to use the word when referring to their peers. It’s sort of an “honor among thieves” thing that they do.
And again my friends, let’s be honest here. There are no other professions that lie with a straight face like lawyers and politicians do regularly. In fact, it’s pretty much a qualification for the jobs. The very old joke — how can you tell when a (politician, lawyer-insert one) is lying to you? When his lips are moving — it’s really not a joke at all.
I would say that all hypocrites are liars, and most liars are hypocrites. And lo and behold, who do we find nesting atop of the professional hypocrite ladder? Yep, lawyers and politicians.
Hypocrisy is another “misdemeanor” most of us are often guilty of. Frankly, it’s almost impossible not to be a hypocrite at times. When discussing an issue with a family member, friend or in a group, it’s often safer and easier to agree with a statement than to begin an argument that you know will not end well. At its core, hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing another.
A good example is when Hollywood elites lecture us on conserving energy or global warming (Oh yeah, it’s climate change now), then board their private jets and fly to the other side of the world to witness a solar eclipse or the migration of the African wildebeest.
As you are well aware, there’s a severe water shortage in California, however, I’m willing to bet that the plush, sprawling gardens and lawns of the Hollywood “A” listers are lush and green. And as I sit here today sweating from the humidity, I assume the air conditioners of the “chosen few” are firing on all cylinders in their Bel Aire and Brentwood mansions.
So, along with the pompous legislators and arrogant attorneys, let’s also chuck phony thespians under the hypocritical bus. Here are a few old sayings that demonstrate my points.
“Politicians were mostly people who’d had too little morals and ethics to stay lawyers.” — George R.R. Martin, Ace in the Hole
“The best lies about me are the ones I told.” — Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
“History is a set of lies agreed upon.” — Napoléon Bonaparte.
“The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy.” — Hazlitt
“A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.” — Adlai E. Stevenson
“The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that’s also a hypocrite! — Tennessee Williams
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Tags” Liar Liar pants on fire: Are you a lying hypocrite or a hypocritical liar?: To tell you the truth, I’m a liar.
