Stretching the Story

There are always those who want to appear better than what they are capable of being and so they embellish their achievements maybe a little while innocently telling a good story, or at other times perhaps with intent to deceive. Since most of the latter are sooner or later busted, it is difficult to fathom why people exaggerate with the intent to deceive because such dishonesty invariably cheats the storyteller more than those listening to the story. A cheat never wins because he, at least, can never lose sight of the fact that he has not been good enough to succeed by fair means. Not only has he cheated himself, but the lie in his story is nearly impossible to undo. Ultimately, the admission of guilt involves a loss of face, and more significantly a loss of trust. Honesty is still the best policy, as lying and cheating are inevitably seen through and exposed... even if the story loses a bit of luster in the telling!