Page 174 - TruthAboutLyingFinal

The Truth About Lying
“You did not save them. You taught them to ignore the alarm. The power is on, yes. But you achieved it by committing the original sin: you decided which truth was too expensive for the public to bear.”
“I saw them,” Henry said. “The Quiet.
“They’re not brave. They’re paralyzed.
“Absolute truth doesn’t fix people. It shuts them down.”
“I watched a kid die because his parents were too afraid to speak,” Henry said.
“They couldn’t even tell him he’d be okay.” “I have a proposal,” Henry said.
“It’s not truth.”
“It’s survival.”
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a single, crumpled piece of paper.
“We regulate truth,” Henry said.
“We don’t eliminate it. We control the dosage.”
He unfolded the paper, his hands shaking slightly.
“I propose a Tiered Truth System built on functional, necessary fictions.
“Fiction One: Optimism.
“Every system must preserve a reason to act, even when failure is likely.
“Fiction Two: Social Grace.
“Not every truth needs to be spoken. “Fiction Three: Intimacy.
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