The Truth

  • Chris Ellis Ptivate Practitioner
Keywords: truth

Abstract

“It takes two to speak the truth, one to speak and another to hear.” Henry David Thoreau

On occasions my friend Henry and I meet for lunch at the Sagewood Café and have deep discussions on nefarious subjects over toasted sandwiches. Today was a debate on whether one should rather tell a lie that softens or the truth that hurts. We also turned it the other way around with the proposition that it was better to be hurt by the truth than comforted by a lie. This arose from a patient I was looking after in an old age home who suffers from pre-dementia. I get asked the same question by this patient, “will my husband be coming today?” Her husband has been dead for several years. 

Published
2019-05-09
Section
Peripheralia