A short essay on why truthfulness is a supreme virtue


Why must you tell the truth? Building good relationships in society is always important and to do that you need to gain the trust of others. The analysis presented here will help you to understand why trust is essential. This short essay describes the importance of remaining truthful and tips to remain truthful.

Introduction

We all expect others to tell the truth and likewise, we must speak the truth under all circumstances. There is a concern everywhere about the particular aspect of spreading false and fabricated news and somehow we need to look at ourselves about this peculiar habit of fabricating things. Spreading of false news is just an example and the person who spreads it has not done it instantly to gain fame rather it's a habit that started long ago and remained unchecked.

What is truth

Truth is as simple as saying the fact that has occurred in reality. Truth has no colours added to it so it looks very simple and at times not much attractive too. But it has all the powers to guide another person in the right direction.

Why some are prone to tell a lie

During childhood, children at times enjoy misguiding others by not telling the truth. They tend to think that if people are misguided they will surely take the help of the particular child who told a lie to unearth the truth and in return, she/he may be praised for that. Hiding an important thing and then denying the whereabouts of that thing is one such example and in the beginning, it may be fun also. Children do this to show their importance which is quite natural. But at the same time, it is the responsibility of the parents and elders to tell the children why this is annoying and the importance of telling the truth rather than telling a lie to misguide others.

Another form of lying is denying the facts to prove one is innocent. This also has some roots during the formative years of the children. It is the fear of humiliation in front of others or punishment that gives rise to denying the facts. Often parents and teachers unnecessarily punish or misbehave with the children for insignificant errors. Humans are prone to make mistakes and it is the responsibility of elders to correct the mistakes rather than admonishing the children for small mistakes. Children need to understand that if it's a mistake it has to be corrected. If they begin to fear mistakes because of punishment they will find various ways to prove their innocence. Ultimately, the mistakes will remain mistakes and the habit of denying after making a mistake will be predominant.

Importance of truthfulness

You must speak the truth not only to avoid further confusion but also to gain trust among people. Human beings are social and cannot stay alone. Now, to live in society your trustworthiness is always important, and depending on it you will be able to develop a good relationship with others. On the other hand, if others cannot trust you, you will be avoided and you will find it difficult to move ahead.

Telling the truth is effortless. There is no need to put an extra effort to tell others what you have observed. But to tell a lie, you need to cook up a story to tell others about things that have not happened. It may be your imagination but you need to remember that when people seek information they need guidance in the right direction. If you misguide them by telling a lie, they will never seek your help in the future and possibly will start avoiding you. Realization is important here. Place yourself in the shoes of the person to whom you told a lie and think how would you feel if you are to face a number of lies. The interesting part is when you are telling the truth you do not have to remember anything extra other than the truth but when you are telling a lie you need to remember accurately a few other things. You need to remember the fabricated story each time you meet the person to whom you told a lie. If you cook up different stories for different people to cover up only a particular incident then you will be overburdened to remember each one of them and undoubtedly you will find it quite difficult.

Tips to remain truthful

Avoid contact with people who tell lies. If you remain closely associated with such persons, you can become confused many times and ultimately will be induced to speak lies. Do not enjoy lies. If you have the habit of enjoying reading fabricated stories, you need to stop it immediately. This habit will make you prone to think that telling a fabricated story is quite normal and you will start cooking up your own stories to see how they fare. Apply your sense and verify the information before you use it for future reference. Lastly, if you ever tell a lie, do acknowledge it and resolve not to lie again.


Article by Sankalan Bhattacharya
Sankalan "Life is easier when you enjoy what you do"

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Comments

Author: Umesh13 Aug 2021 Member Level: Diamond   Points : 2

A nice essay on the power of truthfulness. In this world, many people resort to telling lies due to various vested interests or evil plans but they always remain stressed, thinking that if it is found out then some implications and consequences would arise, and then they remain busy in covering it in one way or other. They may get some advantage in their lives by doing so but that would be limited to some materialistic gain only and in a nutshell, they would be a loser as they would lose their mental piece. To remain happy and contented is one of the prime aims of our lives and I strongly feel that a truthful person can attain it by simply speaking the truth and remain free of any such stress. What is the harm in telling truth when it is the best way to deal and talk with people? Further, the reputation of a truthful person is far more higher than the counterparts and the dignity with which he lives in the world is enviable.

Author: DR.N.V. Srinivasa Rao20 Aug 2021 Member Level: Platinum   Points : 2

Telling lies is easy but standing on the facts and truths is a real virtue. Come what may, some people may not like to tell lies. It may be difficult. But that will give us peace of mind and there will not be any tension or anxiety in our minds. We may be trying to misguide others by telling lies. But the moment others know that we are telling lies, what value they will have for us? By telling lies we may be running away from difficult situations but later we may get into much more difficult situations. Instead of that, if we face the consequences by accepting the truth, then we can control further damage, and thus we will be free from tensions and anxieties.

Author: Dr Deepali Gangwar29 Aug 2021 Member Level: Gold   Points : 3

Telling truth is effortless. But it is also true that telling the truth is a little bit difficult because when you want to tell the truth you need more courage and more patience at that time. It might be possible when anyone is telling the truth or disclosing the truth it may make some people angry or jealous or make them your enemy. People sometimes tell a lie or hide the truth because they do not want to create distances hence tells the people what they want to hear. Sometimes people also hide a truth that is painful or shameful and to cover these kinds of truth they lied repeatedly. But the truth is a thing that can not be hidden for long and one day it reveals definitely. But a person with truthfulness does not worry about these things. By telling truth, confidence is developed that helps a person to meet further challenges.

Author: Swati Sharma31 Aug 2021 Member Level: Gold   Points : 4

Telling the truth is not only a habit but also a good value, which probably lives in every person since childhood, but gradually society or some experience slowly leads a person to the path of falsehood. In the beginning, it starts with small lies which sometimes we ourselves keep promoting. And at one point in time, such a person starts taking the help of lies on every matter. It is like some people do not like to speak the truth and lies naturally come out of them. In this way, by telling lies, they create a mountain for themselves and later repent. The truth seems a bit difficult because it definitely takes courage, but once you tell the truth, you feel lighter and there is no blame or burden in your thoughts.

Author: Reena Upadhya04 Apr 2023 Member Level: Gold   Points : 4

A child is pure in his heart. He does not know how to lie. He does not know how to manipulate. It is the elders who lay the stone of lie in front of him. He is so unaware of it until he slowly starts learning it. Initially, he will mess up. While lying he will be caught red-handed. Later, he masters it and uses this trait as often as possible to get things done for him.

When parents do not want their kids to get hurt, they lie to them. They tell them that there is a ghost in the darkness. There is a monster waiting for them in the basement or outside the door. Their intention is not wrong. They want their kids to remain safe in front of their eyes. Whatever their intention is but it is fabricated on a lie.

Truthfulness is the easiest of all traits. We don't have to do much in it. All we have to do is be who we are and say what we want to say. In short, we just have to express our honesty to the outside world. We don't have to alter it in any manner.

Author: Sheo Shankar Jha04 Apr 2023 Member Level: Diamond   Points : 4

Truthfulness within the child can be nurtured within the family environment where the parents would have to play crucial roles in strengthening this virtue. The child would pick up different traits as practiced in the families. If either of the partner in the family is not honest enough in the dealings or manners, twisting the facts very often thinking that such alterations would not impact the child, it could be a misleading idea. Lies cannot be suppressed for long from the child and the child would learn the reality sooner or later but by the time parents realize their mistakes of distorting the facts before the child, the child would have learned this trait very cleverly- more so with the association of his friends.
So the starting point is the family for picking up both worst and best virtues and the parents should take a note of this fact. They should always encourage their kids to be honest in their behavior and at the same time be bold enough to represent the facts correctly without diluting the same. This will go a long way in the development of the personality of the child.



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