Being honest is the best way to keep good relationship?

My answer to this question is no. As proverb goes, the end justifies the means. Honest is not always the best way to keep good relationship. On the contrary, honest can make the matter worse. I’ll talk about why I think so.

First, to avoid moody atmosphere. Let’s take my wife and my self’s case for example. One day, I was just 30 minutes late for the appointment. I honestly told the excuse to her. But she was so upset. Afterwards, we had been in moody atmosphere for a week. Since then, I make a rule to impute to minor traffic accident for my delay. Dishonest scheme is effective for peace keeping in my family.

Second, good motivation. To my surprise, lie could be a diving force to survive. For example, my aunt case. She passed away due to cancer. All family members knew that her finish was close. She was not told that she had cancer. She had desire to visit her home town – Takayama city in Gifu prefecture. It’s one of the most traditional and beautiful city in Japan. I used to vitalize her by saying like this. Let’s visit Takayama again with me. I’ll take you there with my showing some brochures. This might not be direct cause, but she could live longer than Doctor predicted. I believe that lying can be more or less effective in some cases. We could keep relationship through her survive.

In conclusion, honest is not always panacea to keep good relationship.