Aboveall, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his ownlie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or aroundhim, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respecthe ceases to love... Fyodor DostoevskySelf-deception is common and universal, and the cause of most human tragedies.Of course, the science of self-deception can help us to live better and getmore out of life. But it can also cast a murky light on human nature and thehuman condition, for example, on such exclusively human phenomena as anger,depression, fear, pity, pride, dream making, love making, and god making, notto forget age-old philosophical problems such as selfhood, virtue, happiness,and the good life. Nothing, in the end, could possibly be more important.