I'd say it depends on the person and situation. I suppose when Colonel Sartoris lied to Miss Emily is because she was utterly hopeless. Without a job, without a family, without friends, she basically had nothing. If she was not lied about the tax thing, she will probably be broke and end up in jail for not paying.
White lie is, although we should all be truthful, acceptable. If you don't know how to white lie, you might end up without friend. You always need to lie in some degree to save some dignity for the person instead of just saying " you are god dam ugly" That is just kind of too much for a person. When someone asks you a obvious question that is probably a negative answer, you will want to say what they want to hear. I admit, this might be something that is in the asian culture and not in the american or whatever world. This is in some degree a social skill in out history to be all humble and stuff to avoid getting people mad.
I white lie to people too, its a process that is inevitable that you will do it to maintain your social position.
I think white lie is okay on the degree of respecting people. You should think if you would want to hear the same thing from other people. If not, then the white lie is probably justifiable.
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