The lies people tell to hurt people are the worst lies.

Here’s what to do about them.

I’ve watched people have their lives wrecked by lies. I’ve heard too many of them. I’ve heard them in the boardrooms of big multi-national corporations. I’ve heard them on the local cable channel. I’ve heard them sitting round the family dinner table.

People justify lies in all sorts of ways:

There’s lying to a person who has a different set of values. That’s almost a get out-of- jail free card. If you cast a person as morally wrong, a lie about them is irrelevant to you.

There’s the righteous lie. You know you’re lying but you feel the person being lied to earned the lie in some way.

Then there’s competitive lying, my work is better than his work, so I’m going to lie about him so a customer buys my product instead of his. I’m doing the customer a favor by lying to him!

Sit in the back row of family court and you’ll hear an entire sub-set of lies — lawyer lies, ex-spouse lies, all couched in perfectly sharp and reasoned language, but serving a single purpose — to hurt. Put your hand up, swear to tell the truth, and lie your head off.

The lie sets you free, not the truth. The truth roots you to the ground. The truth makes you stand up and be seen. The…