Lying has always been regarded as sinful in different cultures, as little fibs lead to bigger lies. As the American Baptist minister and activist Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “No lie can live forever.” However, at some point in life, everyone has either lied or been lied to. Some even trust lies for a long time, leading them to change their thoughts and even their beliefs. To learn more about the lies people have told and were once fooled by, The Granite Tower (GT) asked four Korea University (KU) students to share their experiences of falling or making others fall hook, line, and sinker into deception.

Question: What is the biggest lie you have ever told someone that they only found out was not true later on in their life? Similarly, what is the biggest lie you have been told that took you a long time to realize it was false?

Oh Sungjoon (‘21, Classical Chinese)

I do not lie often, or deceive anyone, so the biggest lie I have recently told someone is when I lied to my parents that I came home late because of the student council meeting. The truth was, there was no meeting that day, and the real reason I was late was because I attended an after-party, one that I have longed to go but could not, due to my busy schedule. I had a great time, so I just told my parents a white lie: that I was back home late because of a student council meeting, just to keep things from getting bigger.

Florence Gilda (‘22, Political Science and International Relations)

I was once so stressed out that I wanted to cancel that day’s tuition. I managed to come up with an excuse; I told my mother that I got in a car accident. I was able to miss the tutoring session thanks to my lie, and that was the biggest lie I have ever told someone. The biggest lie I believed was that I thought that if you pray to God and behave well, God will make you pregnant. It seems like a funny story now, but I was quite serious at that time.

Hong Hyunju (‘23, Chemistry)

I often say “I do not mind. It is okay,” and it is the biggest lie I tell others. I am a people-pleaser, and it is difficult for me to say no to others. Since numerous people believed this lie, I think it is the biggest one I have ever told. As for me, the biggest lie I believed was that Santa existed. I am a gullible person, so it was shocking for me as a child to realize the truth after everyone did.

Lee Jong Been (‘23, Business Administration)

The biggest lie I have ever told was when my younger cousin bragged about his Christmas gift from Santa on the day all his relatives gathered. Everyone there, including me, kept their childhood innocence and acted as if Santa existed. As far as I remember, I also believed it until I entered elementary school. The biggest lie I was tricked into believing was when I was managing my students’ self-study sessions at a hagwon. One of the students who didn’t look well insisted that he had a chronic disease and was having a hard time, so I told him to go home and study next time out of pity. One of the teachers told me afterward that he was a recidivist, tricking new managers like me who did not know better. I was devastated after that incident..