“Hypocrisy is anything whatever may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognizes it, and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it may be disguised.”

there are ways in which it is preferential to stay 3 years old...

Hypocrisy is perhaps the most egregious sin of all as it the shield in which the wicked and the greedy retreat behind – it is also the weapon of choice for the current political administration as there is no better shield than the White House. Hypocrisy is the bedfellow of the religious right and their political allies.

This describes my childhood exactly. You know something is very wrong, you just don't know what it is -- yet. Children are perfect bullshit meters. ;-)

Here's an example of hypocrisy in politics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRPxN7DGy5c ,And yep, kids see with eyes wide open don't they?

If only we kept the clarity, the honesty and the pure boldness of our childhood as that is what we were born to be until society willfully attempts to strip us of these, our most beautiful traits.

E Archer has it dead to rights - again.

E Archer is right on.

A child is the living embodiment of the hypocrite, a man slowly and assuredly corrects himself. A man evermore sheds himself of childishness and becomes more and more human.

The child is just a creature full of stories, never sincerely true and therefore never internalize, but the adult carries the truth to which our personalities and characters are shaped and destined.