I have a problem with truth, and it is that I am not sure that it exists. We refer to it all the time, extol it as a virtue, imagining it perhaps as a path we can follow, one of moral exactitude that will lead us to sainthood. But do any of us really tread this path? Think for a moment of all those occasions when we stray from the truth.

We stray when we exaggerate, when we make excuses, when we offer an insincere compliment or remain silent when we ought to really speak out. We stray when we misinform children about Father Christmas, or even when we pretend to be well and happy when we are not. All these