No, not true but honest

Francis Bacon went in pursuit of the truth. Socrates was less presumptuous. In fact, it seems to me that Bacon might not have really understood many of these ancient thinkers, though it is fascinating that even some of the idols (false images held by the mind that impede learning) were acknowledged by his predecessors. I still need to do a lot more reading before I figure out where all of these ideas stand in relation to each other, but today I am interested in how truth, along with other virtues or (and here I paraphrase Maxwell yet again) "good things", can be exaggerated - and become their opposite.
I think the best response to a truth zealot is to take the honest stance.
But now that I think about it, this is not what I originally wanted to write about.
I wanted to write about how rare it is to encounter honesty, and how liberating it is. Some people say that animals are more honest listeners than man. Well, this may be true, but sometimes it is important to hear someone share their honest view. A friend of mine said today: the difficult things that happen to us are necessary for us; if something difficult happens, we need to think of something positive. Then, she explained examples of the things that get her down - and lo and behold, these were things I could relate to. They had to do with how hard it can be if people around one want to provoke arguments or how to handle a situation when a misunderstanding arises, and as a result, one must bear someone else's anger - the point of this latter example being that there is often a lack of trust and good faith among people.
I think what I am writing here is that the truth is only liberating if it is honest. Because the honesty, if issued from man, will always bear some imperfection, as man is flawed. As for other truths - so many religions and many philosophies agree the "pure heart" has the best vision.
The story to illustrate this point is the one about the flies and the bees. In a room filled with rubbish and one flower, the bee flies straight for the flower. In a room filled with flowers, and a bit of rubbish, the fly goes straight for the rubbish, disregarding the flowers.