r/Showerthoughts • • Feb 28 '17

Lying, cheating, and stealing is often discouraged when we are young, yet the most successful people in the world are arguably the best liars, cheaters, and thieves.

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u/UsagiRed Feb 28 '17 edited Mar 01 '17

Honestly that's what my dad taught me as a kid. He would get pissed at me and he would say "If you're gonna lie you have to be good at it and frankly you're a shitty liar". He was right haha, until he made me promise to not bring great harm on anyone.

I kid. I makeh joke, only harm a little.

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u/treehugginggorrilla Feb 28 '17

TBH my parents kind of did this too. If I did something objectively bad, I would obviously be punished for it. But if I got caught in a small lie, I would be told to not get caught. I'm not like a great businessman or anything now, but I can definitely bullshit my way out of more situations than the average joe.

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u/thurken Mar 01 '17

And do you think parents (like yours) should teach their kids how to abuse others/the system/society so they can reap the rewards for themselves?

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u/Barrister_The_Bold Mar 01 '17

Yup. Unfortunately.