Is 'Honesty the best policy' is a debatable question which some people might agree with and others may disagree with. There is no right or wrong answer to this question it all depends on your opinion.

People who believe that this statement is not true will believe that being honest is not always the best option. For example they will not always tell the truth although this may not always be bad. They could be telling someone they look good when they don’t so they don’t upset them. Little white lies are told on a daily basis. There is no way to get around it. Although honesty can important, some people think telling a three-year-old that the painting of which she is so proud looks more like a plate of spaghetti than a dog would undermine her self-confidence. Also if someone would except a painting they were given although it would look better on the bottom of a birdcage than in her living room.  This would be relative morality. Most atheists would be considered relative moralists. The guideline of "lying when necessary" is best seen as an example of the "rule" that "there are no rules." Essentially, this comes down to the idea that "the ends justify the means." If what we want is important enough, then we should do whatever is required to reach that end. A relative moralist may lie to people to actually save other people. For example if a Nazi came into your house during WWII wanted Jews and you told them there were none staying at your house when there were, you would be lying for a good cause

When it comes to honesty then, the proper principle can be stated like this: "You must always be honest when trying to obtain values from other people, but you can and should lie when someone is trying to take values from you against your wishes or when you are trying to retrieve stolen values.

"For example, it would be wrong to lie: to a date in order to obtain her admiration or love; to a prospective employer to obtain a job; to a customer to get him to buy a product from you.

On the other hand, it would be right to lie: to a thief demanding to know the location of your safe; to a Nazi asking if you are harbouring any Jews; to a con man to regain money he swindled you out of. I there fore believe that being honest is good and bad. I think it is good to be honest for matters like stealing and that it can be good for telling to people to higher there self confidence. The problem with being a relative moralist is that sometimes it can get you in more trouble that you were originally in, in some cases. If this ever happens it is always better to just tell the truth and get it off your conscience.