You can speak the truth with the intention to deceive and succeed in deceiving. It is an old lawyer’s dodge.
I don’t want to flog a dead horse. I have already written many articles about my being victimised and its aftereffects. I am getting tired of it myself.
But this is another aspect of my experiences that you may find instructive. I hope this will help you, the reader, to navigate the tricky path of politics in day to day life and in the corporate world.
It is this – people frequently communicate through hints. And this can be with or without malicious motives.
Frequently a person with malicious intentions will not want to disclose to you his motives and forthcoming actions although he may be duty bound to do inform you. So he will communicate to you in hints and tell himself that he has done what he should have done – that is to make the necessary disclosures. But this is – as I said earlier – telling the truth in a way that deceives and with the intention to deceive.
Be on your guard against this.
Another point is that you must use your judgment and form an opinion about the nature of a person and his motives towards you. This is in fact the first duty of a Chartered Accountant when he is auditing the accounts of a business. He needs to form an opinion of the willingness and ability of the management to keep accurate records and prepare a Balance Sheet that presents a true and fair view of the finances of the business.
So doing what is stated in the first sentence of the above paragraph (making a judgment call) is key whenever you have important dealings with somebody.
Ok so that deals with that.
But at the same time communicating though hints is an essential part of social life and life in the corporate world. So you need to be able to interpret them. I had a reputation of being mentally retarded in some circles. A major reason for that was my inability to interpret hints. In fact I didn’t even know that I needed to interpret hints in my relationships.
If you cannot communicate and understand and make yourself understood by a person then what sort of a relationship do you think you can have with him? Such situations are best avoided.
I’ll end this article with a quote from the classic book The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracian
Know how to take a Hint.
‘Twas once the art of arts to be able to discourse; now ‘tis no longer sufficient. We must know how to take a hint, especially in disabusing ourselves. He cannot make himself understood who does not himself easily understand. But on the other hand there are pretended diviners of the heart and lynxes of the intentions. The very truths which concern us most can only be half spoken, but with attention we can grasp the whole meaning. When you hear anything favourable keep a tight rein on your credulity; if unfavourable, give it the spur.
Hinting is here to stay. We cannot disclose our innermost thoughts to anybody and everybody. The people we meet are in a similar situation. So it is essential to be able to interpret hints. If you cannot communicate with somebody and understand as well as be understood in your dealings with him then what sort of relationship do you think you can have with him or her?
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