Truthfulness is attained if one's speech is such that it harms no being in
the world: Truth is not truth if it is spoken to further some wrong. The standard test for
right conduct including truthfulness is harmlessness. This does not mean that truth is
underrated. Truth is subjected to a further test, namely, that of harmlessness.
If one could speak an untruth, which brought good without the least
blemish of evil, it might be classed with truth. This is possible in cases like that of a
doctor who says something hopeful for the patient which he knows is not accurate but which
he believes may possibly do him good and which hurts no one, good without any concealed
defect or blemish.
