There was a good segment on one of my favorite books in elementary school, Harriet the Spy. I think even at the time I realized that it was slightly subversive:

But then Harriet gets a letter from Ole Golly, the wise nanny who moved away, who tells Harriet something that all children need to learn: Sometimes, you have to lie. Otherwise you’ll lose a friend.

“Little lies that make people feel better are not bad, like thanking someone for a meal they made even if you hated it. But to yourself, you must always tell the truth,” writes Ole Golly.

Side note: Archives by date are down right now, because teb-super-archives was not playing well with the latest version of Wordpress and the move from below10host. I’ll try to install its successor. I know it will be tough, but I think you guys will live.