Is it all hunky-dorky to tell a whooper?

Is it OK to tell a tall story? To deceive someone? To fudge the truth? To slander? To exaggerate? To bluff? To mislead someone? Or to just plain lie?

This question is most often in the "Grey zone" for people. It's not just black and white. There are many factors that people look at to see if it is right.

For example, most people  seem to lie when:

The lie is small and the truth would hurt more than a lie.

When the lie is covering up a special surprise of happy secret. 

When the lie helps save you in a dangerous situation for example if your house gets broken into.

As well most people seem to agree that lieing is bad when:

The lie hurts or harms someone.

When it breaks the trust in a relationship.

When you to lie to save yourself from taking responsibility for your actions.

For me personally I would not lie. I would always try to tell the truth. However there are times when I stretch the truth. For example if a meal is not that great and the cook asks me if I like it, I would always say that it is great or that I love some aspect of of the meal instead of saying it was boarder line gross. 

I think this topic is very interesting. It tests peoples ethics and beliefs.