Lying is defined as to speak falsely or utter untruth knowingly, as with intent to deceive.  A big question many people ponder is "Is it every okay to lie?"  Many people believe that lying is acceptable if used in a good and correct moral manner.  For example, people may find it acceptable to lie if you are lying to protect yourself from any type of dangerous matter, wether it is emotionally or physically.  For example, you may not want to open up your feelings to someone you believe does not have your best interest at heart but continues to pry to hear about your personal feelings.  It can be hard deciding wether to lie or not to protect someones feelings.  While most people who lie to protect feelings have the other persons best interest at heart, this could be the opposite of what the other person wants.  They may be more offended if they found out you were lying and sometimes people rather just hear the truth no matter how hard it may be to hear or even tell it.

In The Necklace, Mathilde believes that wealth is the key to making herself desirable to all the high class people at the ball and that happiness is linked with wealth, therefore refuses to attend the ball without wearing exorbitant jewelry and a dress.  She seeks help from her "friend" Madame Forestier.  Mathilde borrows what she thinks is the most expensive and costly necklace Madame Forestier owns.  After wearing it to the party and misplacing it,  Mathilde lies to Madame Forestier saying she broke the clasp and has taken it to get fixed.  In this situation,  Mathilde panics, lies, and then lies once again by omission of not telling Madame Forestier that the necklace she has returned to her is not her original.  In this case,  Mathilde was selfish and lied to protect herself from the consequences of her misplacing the necklace.  In this case, it was wrong for her to lie because her lie did not protect anyone except herself, and it did not protect her from any life-threatening danger.  If Mathilde had told the truth she would have saved herself from lots of stress, poverty, and debt. In the end, by lying, Mathilde thought she was doing the best thing for herself at the time, but in the long-run, it just ruined her even more and put her further into poverty- more than she already thought she was.

The following video discusses if lying is good or not, when it is okay to lie, and the statistics of on average how often the common person lies.  Please watch to discover the consequences and the effects lying can have on the person.