When is it okay to lie? When is it not? Sam has opinions which he'll gladly tell you. But they seem a bit arbitrary to me.On top of that, the writing is incredibly dry. I do think the subject could be interesting (especially if approached by an author with a less simplistic but more internally consistent view), but Sam's take didn't do it for me. There's no sense of humor, there's no exploration, there's just simple and dry utterance of what amounts to moralism.But let's take an example he gives...

"But what could be wrong with truly “white” lies? First, they are still lies. And in telling them, we incur all the problems of being less than straightforward in our dealings with other people. Sincerity, authenticity, integrity, mutual understanding—these and other sources of moral wealth are destroyed the moment we deliberately misrepresent our beliefs, whether or not our lies are ever discovered."

A short booklet about lying it'll probably take less than an hour to finish, highly recommended "Honesty is a gift we can give to others"

I liked this essay. I read its majority while at a cafe with my wife, and it stirred very interesting discussions. Even while reading it alone, I remember constantly stopping and thinking about the insightful ideas and examples that Harris demonstrated. Harris shows how lies, even those (conveniently?) called "white" do more harm than good. He proposes living a life without a single lie, even at the cost of much discomfort. Of course, situations where telling the truth will undoubtedly cause har...

Despite its pithy title and sparse number of pages, "Lying" packs a wallop! This is perhaps one of the most important books I've ever read and it's clear once reading it that the world would be a sorely better one if everyone followed the precepts written within.This thin volume has received some criticism of the "oh well, it's just what grandma says and everyone already knows it" variety. Clearly these people didn't take away much from this book, but that likely has more to do with themselves t...

This is less of a book than a long essay, one that is currently available in free downloadable PDF form from Harris' website.Throughout the piece, Harris makes the argument that there are significant benefits to be gained both personally and societally by rejecting lying in both large and small forms.Most of us think of ourselves as honest people, yet may still frequently engage in the "white lie," an act of dishonesty designed to spare both ourselves and another discomfort. Harris offers some c...

A short and quick read! Interesting book telling straightforwardly why one should not lie. What are the disadvantage of lying, the psychology behind it and what consequences it can land you to.

This is a short essay about lying and its implications. The book has many short comings in my opinion and it could have been written much better and I wish it was longer; I wish it could have been developed into a proper book. There are so many things left unexplained and premises unproven, yet the subject is interesting. The writer basically argues that is is almost always bad to lie, except in very very rare cases that would probably never happen in the course of the lifetime of the average in...

More so food for thought instead of learning something. This is more like an essay or small script about the philosophies of lying, it's not really a book.Food for thought:- Whatever our purpose in telling them, lies can be gross or subtle. Some entail elaborate ruses or forged documents. Others consist merely of euphemisms or tactical silences. But it is in believing one thing while intending to communicate another that every lie is born. -Ethical transgressions are generally divided into two c...

This book - or booklet, with its couple dozen pages - is an attempt of Sam Harris to describe and justify his personal philosophy of honesty and avoiding lies if at all possible. The author does not shy away from the classical "but what if an axe-murderer asks me about a child hiding in my house" dilemma, and from providing a scathing critique of white lies and lies that spare someone's feelings, and in this, I found the essay interesting. It is well-written, too, interesting, not a word too lon...

Harris' writing here is so clear and elegant that it might be easy for one to mistake his ideas as simple. However, while 'Lying' can be read in a sitting, it can be mulled over for a very long time. The ideas that linger are of the power of honest speech. Of his lie-related proposals, however, the most compelling is the destructive nature of the white lie; the one we tell out of compassion or embarrassment. I'm equally moved by his portrayal of plain truth-telling as a "source of power and an e...

An intriguing volume, if not entirely convincing. I may post a full review on my website.

Sloppy and philosophically bad quality arguments. Which one would expect from an existentialist philosopher. But not a scientist. Sam Harris fails to abandon intuition and descriptive ethics as a prescriptive. This method of reasoning is what I call lazy argumentation in which one would try to justify (very quickly) their already made decisions. My ratings:Flow: 4/5Style of writing: 5/5 Consistency: 1/5Content: 2/5

Lying is royal road to chaos. A short book that tells you about the consequences of lying, an act we think harmless and small.

This is a very neat little book about lying. It's not out to flesh out the subject in all its glory, but instead to give you enough information and insight that you can make an informed decision on the subject and feel you know what it's about (and that's in 58 pages, *slow clap*). It can also work as a bit of an eye opener. We're quite used to lying in our every day life - so much so it becomes habit, we don't even think about it. The great thing about Sam Harris is that he doesn't just tell yo...

As someone who finds it incredibly difficult and unnatural to lie, and who, as a result, knows full well the pitfalls of being constantly honest, I was curious to read this book. It had very good reviews - but after reading it I wasn't really sure why. It's not a terrible book, but what it says is either blatantly obvious (to me, at any rate), or else not entirely true. While of course there are many kinds of untruth that cause all kinds of problem, the author goes as far as to argue that any ki...

On the whole, this little novella (long essay) was really fantastic. Sam Harris makes a really strong case for never lying. And I think the case he makes transcends his commitment to utilitarianism (which he doesn't even mention in this essay), and resonates strongly with this virtue ethicist. I have two problems with his prescription. 1) Harris would be committed to the argument that even lying to someone to keep a surprise party you are throwing for them a secret is wrong. Examples along those...

"Lying is, almost by definition, a refusal to cooperate with others. It condenses a lack of trust and trustworthiness into a single act. It is both a failure of understanding and an unwillingness to be understood. To lie is to recoil from relationship.  By lying, we deny others a view of the world as it is. Our dishonesty not only influences the choices they make, it often determines the choices they can make—and in ways we cannot always predict. Every lie is a direct assault upon the autonomy o...

Sam Harris' podcast is one of the more enjoyable ones out there. He's got a great clarity of speaking, and his method is to take the listener through the issue at hand in a thoughtful and considered way. His writing shows the same method: everything is clear and precise and deliberate.His background in neuroscience puts his approach towards the issue of belief and disbelief on a different level than other famed atheists such as Christopher Hitchens (snarky, acerbic and entertaining) and Richard

Fantastic - should be required reading for everyone, especially because it's so short. This book will make you think twice about telling lies—even the most subtle, well-intentioned white lies. The key things I took away from this book are:1. "To lie is to recoil from relationship."2. Lies, even white lies, are indicators of a poor quality relationship.3. To offer insincere praise is to treat someone like a child when everyone else will judge them as adults. We do them no favors by sparing their