I’ve learned through experience that people who say the following are not likely to be highly-authentic people.
- “To be honest…” or “To tell the truth…” Whenever I hear this, I always wonder why it is at that particular point in the conversation that this phrase comes out. Was the person lying before this point in the conversation? And if not, why is it important to affirm to me that he is not lying now? Has he suddenly become untrustworthy in the middle of a conversation? And if not to me, why to himself? Or is he just a cognitive miser who repeats this phrase because he has heard it from others, and without regard to whatever it is supposed to mean or what it might tend to convey (or to betray, even)? None of these possibilities speak well of his personal authenticity. Continue reading
