[October 31, 2025] On this Halloween Day (or night), I thought it most appropriate to bring up Dr. Jordan Peterson’s advice on how to live a life that goes well. He says that to increase the “probability that things will unfold for you properly, is to not lie.” Yes! Just stop lying.
Halloween is about showing an outer costume that does not, in any way, represent you, who you really are. And, while Halloween has evolved into a purely fanciful way for kids to get free candy and the thrill of running around their neighborhood, the takeaway remains simple: sometimes we want to show the world what we are not.
Why would anyone want to do this? The answer is to make things easier for ourselves. However, the real answer is not to make things easier. We want a better life. To do this is to stop lying, just stop saying things we know to be untrue. Stop doing things we know to be wrong. When we get closer to the truth, that becomes the true adventure of life. Just start with that and we will be on the proper path in our own life. Truth is the adventure of life. Now you have the world now on our side.
But obviously, if you’re lying about things then you’re opposing reality. Who are we to oppose reality? Certainly, when we lie, and we warp reality, then the results are largely predictable and we might temporarily bend that reality to some degree, but it will eventually whip back upon us. Then the pain and hurt will come out for everyone to see. The result is bitterness, shame, hatred, and disgust.
In the West, we often tolerate the lies of politicians, somewhat for entertainment value but also because it is expected and we play along. I don’t believe any of us really appreciate the long-term destruction lying harms our well being.
The reason that people lie and the reason they remain silent is because they think things will be easier for them and better, at least in the short term. But the psychological literature is clear and that is we avoid things that stand in our way that frighten us. If we turn away from the truth, for whatever reason, we violate the principle of our own strength, we become weak.
In weakness, there is no security. The lesson is to not lie.
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As a soon-to-retire high school teacher, this is one of the most disappointing failures of my long career. I could not get across to my students that lying is one of the worst things they can do when confronted by a problem. Lying ‘breaks the bonds’ we have between people and all our relationships are based on trust (bonds). They seem to revel in lies and pride themselves on the most intrigate of those lies. I will retire soon and I will be in contact with many of them, but only those who were honest and hard workers. But I still prefer those who tell the truth always over those who work hard and lie.
“Don’t lie, then you can look the whole world in the eye.” ~ Michael Peterson
Bernie, thanks for this wonderful and accurate quote on “don’t lie.” In the US Navy and I assume in all military services, lying is not tolerated. If asked if you did a certain task or job, and you answered yes but didn’t do it, lives could be lost and the ship/unit might be taken out of service. This is how NOT to be a good sailor/soldier/Marine/airman, etc. Let us not forget that although many in the civilian world consider it okay to lie, cheat, and steal, that is completely unacceptable in the military. Lie and Die.
We would think, if you are older than 3 years old, that the idea of lying just doesn’t seem to work out for us. We will eventually be caught in a lie. And that happened to me in the first grade when i told my friends that I had a sling shot that my brother had made and I had used it to bust out a window. I was figuring that I would show my friends how cool I was. Didn’t work out. When I got home, the news of my obvious lie had already reached my mom and wow what an “ass whipping” that I got for lying. Don’t lie. Simple.
“The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky
And another one that might of us heard.
“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
From azquotes.com, go there for great questions. But try to narrow the topic.
America is based on the truth. Communism is based on lies.
One would think, at least in my opinion, that people would start to realzie about the time they are 5 years old, or maybe 6, that lying simply doesn’t work out. You can gain an initial advantage in whatever realm you are in while making a lie/claim/argument but as soon as the next day comes, you will not be ready because your life is based on a lie. On a similar subject, read Dr. Jordan peterson who addresses this issue too. He is good and says it better than reading about it. But lying warps our minds and distorts what reality is about. Just don’t lie. It’s that simple. And don’t tolerate lies from others either. That is how you can become a good person.
It is too easy to give the advice to stop lying but in practice, our society is based on lies being told IMHO and thus it is hard to just tell the truth. I agree with Anya above that it is a good idea to read Dr. Peterson becaus3e he makes a great argument that our lives will have a greater adventure if we told the truth.
EXACTLY RIGHT
Advice easily said, easily given, but hard to follow.
👍 Stop lying is the way. 👍
Thanks Gen. Satterfield. Simple, sage, ancient but great advice. But, we do lie anyway.
Pastor Jim, yes, and so we lie. We learn much of this growing up and watching our peers get away with lying and getting rewarded. Then when we grow up, we see politicians who lie and grift off the people. And we see them rewarded too. That is why we lie because there is a payoff. But those who are good people living a good life, do not lie, or at least we do our best not to. That is how to ensure a better family life and living among our neighbors.
“Just stop lying,” ghee, who would have thought that this was the answer to a better life. Gen. Satterfield has done us well in bringing out those things that make our lives better. Be sure to read his book “55 rules for a better life” and learn those ways. 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️