Honesty is known widely as one of the most important of moral
             virtues. Parents teach their children about the importance of honesty, and
             many of our movie heroes are described as honest. A basic definition of
             honesty is relatively simple, and is consistent with the common image of
             honesty. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines honesty as:
             "fairness and straightforwardness of conduct" and "adherence to the facts:
             Despite the apparent simplicity of the definition of honesty, a
             critical and thorough look at the concept of honesty is often more complex
             than it first appears. For example, the concept of a "white lie", is an
             interesting twist on the idea of honesty. A white lie is usually seen as
             an innocuous euphemism for an untruth that is often considered trivial,
             diplomatic, or well-intentioned. Most individuals who would otherwise
             consider themselves an honest person commonly tell white lies. White lies
             are most commonly told in order to spare a person's feelings.
             Perhaps a better understanding of honesty lies on an examination of
             why we are honest, and how white lies fit into this understanding. The
             easy answer, of course, is that honesty is an important part of creating a
             meaningful, truthful world, and an important part of forging worthwhile
             relationships with other people. We have all heard saying like "honesty is
             the best policy", that seem to indicate that telling a lie at any time is
             However, even the consideration of a simple example shows that
             honesty is a complex topic. For example, consider the situation where a
             close friend asks your opinion of a new shirt they clearly like very much,
             and you think that it makes them look a bit overweight. According to the
             simple definition of honesty, the "adherence to the facts", an honest
             person would have to tell the friend that the shirt made them look chunky.
             However, the result of this revel...