A Lie Never Justifiable

That there was need of a book on the subject, of which this treats, will be evidenced to those who examine its contents. Whether this book meets the need, it is for those to decide who its readers are. Because of the obvious gain in lying in times of extremity, and because of the manifest peril or cost of truth-telling in an emergency, attempts have been made, by interested or prejudiced persons, all along the ages, to reconcile the general duty of adhering to an absolute standard of right, with the special inducements, or temptations, to depart from that standard for the time being. It has been claimed by many that the results of a lie would, under certain circumstances, justify the use of a lie.