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Lies and Deceit Videos 48 videos
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Number the Stars 7560 Views
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Description:
Under what circumstances should people be allowed to lie? Is Annemarie's situation dire enough? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Transcript
- 00:07
Number the Stars, a la Shmoop. From the minute we’re born . . .
- 00:16
. . . we’re hounded about telling the truth. We’re told that “honesty is the best policy”
- 00:22
. . . . . . and that “the truth will set us free”.
- 00:25
Sounds good . . . . . . but is there ever a time when lying
- 00:28
is okay? In Number the Stars, our heroine Annemarie
Full Transcript
- 00:33
doesn’t always tell the truth. But, c’mon, cut her some slack.
- 00:38
Annemarie was dealing with matters of life or death.
- 00:43
So is that it? Should you be given a green light to lie if you have a really, really
- 00:48
good reason? Or is it more important to tell the truth,
- 00:52
no matter what? Well, some people would say that honesty is
- 00:55
non-negotiable . . . . . . that trying to justify a lie for any
- 01:00
reason opens up a complicated can of worms. As Mark Twain said, “If you tell the truth,
- 01:07
you don’t have anything to remember.” Others would say that telling a fib once in
- 01:11
a while is totally acceptable . . . . . . especially when it avoids hurt feelings
- 01:17
. . . . . . or gets you out of a jam.
- 01:21
Then there are the guys who think it’s okay to lie wherever and whenever you please . . .
- 01:25
. . . the compulsive liars who wouldn’t know the truth if it bit them in the . . . well,
- 01:31
you know. So whom should you believe?
- 01:35
We have to admit, it’s a tough one. If our leaders lie . . .
- 01:39
. . . and our heroes lie . . . . . . doesn’t that give us the go-ahead
- 01:45
to bend the truth, too? Not necessarily.
- 01:48
So, how do you know if or when it’s okay to fudge the facts?
- 01:54
Since most of us will never have to face anything close to what Annemarie experienced . . .
- 01:57
. . . our choices should be easier. We can value the truth above all else . . .
- 02:03
. . . or come to the conclusion that honesty is highly over-rated.
- 02:09
But we might have to take it case by case… and take our cues from this guy.
- 02:13
Shmoop amongst yourselves.
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