White lies, polite lies [ Reading & Writing / Communication ]
… ‘social happiness’ itself, though he, too, excepted lies that were not meant to deceive anyone, such as ‘fables’ and ‘novels’, and, curiously, ‘a servant denying his master’, arguing that ‘in such instances no confidence is destroyed, … truthfulness as ‘bien anglaise’ or value the ‘French’ art of conversational politeness. 14 . Maria Edgeworth, Tales and Novels, 10 vols. (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1859), vol. 10 (Helen), p. 7. Edgeworth’s book can hardly be read as a …
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