Happiness Depends on Basing Your Life on the Truth

Like many such unpleasant realities of humanity, the origins of deception probably arose from a strategy for survival: in this case, the need to trick one's adversaries or constituents; to gain an advantage regarding the possession of property, the acquisition of resources or political control.

MachiavelliNiccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527 AD), in his famous treatise on human nature "The Prince", postulated that being virtuous only sets one up to be victimized by the majority of the populace which lacks virtue. Instead, he said it is necessary to deceive the public in order to maintain control over their minds and actions. To be fair, Machiavelli arrived at his views during a period in Italian history when social unrest, corruption and disorganization threatened to tear apart his nation.