Lying

As it was in Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Othello, so it is in life. Telling the truth can often be the simplest way to go about things. Most forms of private vice and public evil are kindled and sustained by lies. Acts of adultery and other personal betrayals, financial fraud, government corruption—even murder and genocide—generally require an additional moral defect: a willingness to lie. In lying, you can often save yourself or others from situations that might not have worked out as well otherwise.