What a tangled web we weave....

....when first we practise to deceive. Sir Walter Scott's wry observation is often quoted. It doesn't justify our efforts to deceive others. Indeed, often conscious, deliberate deceptions stay surprisingly straightforward because all involved in keeping them up are so careful.

The real complications arise when we attempt to deceive ourselves, when we go into denial or rewrite reality to suit our fantasy.

You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.  

(Christopher Columbus)