Always Honest or Okay to Hold Back?

Beautifully put, Anna. 

ROFL means rolling on floor laughing.

Ruth, thanks..and everyone ..

 now, do I look fat in these pants? 

LOL, Anna! 

That's definitely a question I avoid asking because I don't want to hear the brutal truth. 

Ok, so why , may I ask is the phrase 'brutal truth' used..often to announce ? why not, another, loving term..? because we as a society have some kind of baseline fear of facing facts...consequences...of our actions...creating a muffled, idiotic story-tale that serves as a hiding place...for a while...depending on the brilliant intelligence of the faker & the level of loss if the truth came out.

this adherence to failure to take responsibility  for one's actions keeps lawyors busy & wealthy, and the courts overflowing~

we've ( society ) organised ourselves into a baby-food version of life... where denial  & dodging sharp arrows of truth seem to have been a preoccupation to the degree, that co-dependence to dysfunctional behaviour is a mantra...and a downward spiral of lying although keeping the wolf of truth from the door, eventually erodes self esteem and beauty of humanity.

how about this one.."the camera does not lie", but Picasa or Photo-Shop will!

It's unfortunate, but that's the way it is, Anna.  Going back to the original premise of the thread, I think "brutal honesty," is delivering bad news, that, yes, we want to remain in blissful denial about, while "truth" is an absolute.  But truth can also be used to hurt, to control, to confuse and if delivered in a way that will cause more damage, it's best to discern when and how and if to speak it.  If a person asks, by all means, be brutally honest, but again, it's a timng thing.  And it definitely does not mean lie about it.  But sometimes, it's just best to keep one's mouth shut.  The person who's in denial about a situation or even ignorant about a situation may have a lesson to learn from the experience.  Sometimes a bad situation will blow over, given the time.  It all depends on the situation and the people involved - their relationship, their level of emotional maturity, the consequences, etc.

from Shakespeare's  The Merchant of Venice~    Truth will out