We've all lied, or been lied to at least once in our lives.
Some lies are easy to spot, right from the get-go, while others might have you fooled for years, if not your entire life.
Then there are the lies that made international headlines, and had the world fooled for years.
From Anna Anderson fooling the world that she was the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanoff, to Mill Vanilli (need I say more?), some people were so convincing with their deception, that we are still kicking ourselves for being fooled.
Indeed, there are some who may have died peacefully knowing they had everyone fooled till the end of their life.
Redditor clueless-game was eager to hear what the Reddit community considered the greatest lie ever told, leading them to ask:
"What is the most successful lie in the history?"
"Honesty Is The Best Policy"... Or Is It?
"If you tell the truth you won't be in trouble'."
"Yeah mom, I fell for that a few times and learned that lesson quickly."- glucoseintolerant
Always One Step Ahead...
"During WW2 the British put faked documents on a corpse and dropped the body in the waters to be found by the Axis."
"It detailed an attack that never happened."
"Here’s the best part."
"The plans for D-Day were found in a similar manner."
"The actual plans."
"But they were ignored cause the nazi leaders thought it was just another ruse."- Happy-Personality-23
We Can All See More Clearly Now...
"One of the most impressive ones was when Great Britain convinced everyone during WWII that carrots were the reason why their vision was great when it was really the recently discovered airborne interception radar technologies."
"I still know people that are convinced eating carrots as kids will ensure 20/20 vision for life."- KickArseDuke·
hamster GIFGiphyThe King Of All Lies
"The lie that made a man the ruler of a third or quarter of humankind."
"Darius the Great (r. 522–486 BC) governed the Achaemenid Empire at its peak."
"His rule extended from the Indus valley to mainland Greece and from the Scythian steppes to Egypt."
"A remarkably high and possibly unparalleled percentage of the world population were his subjects."
"Darius reorganized the satrapies, which made the administrative system of his empire more efficient, and introduced major financial reforms as well."
"It was never a secret that Darius became the King of Kings after a successful coup."
"He and a small group of other aristocrats (primary sources refer to seven men in total) infiltrated the residence of the previous ruler and killed him after a brief clash with his guards."
"Shortly afterwards, Darius, who was also a member of the royal house, emerged as the leader of the conspirators and assumed full power."
"So far so good."
"Things become strange when it comes to the identity of Darius’ predecessor."
"As far as the primary sources are concerned, Cyrus the Great (r. 559–530 BC) had two sons: Cambyses (r. 530–522 BC) and Bardiya."
"The former succeeded him as King of Kings, while the latter was given governorship over the eastern provinces."
"Fearful of opposition, Cambyses had his brother assassinated, but kept it a secret."
"Then he undertook the campaign that ended up bringing Egypt into the Persian fold."
"While Cambyses was in Egypt, he started acting cruelly and erratically: suspected everyone, disrespected the local traditions and the sort."
"Then a rebellion broke out back in Persia led by a magus (Zoroastrian priest) named Gaumata."
"The man claimed to be Bardiya, and the people, ignorant of the latter’s death, flocked to his banner."
"It also helped that he took short-term populist measures such as tax cuts."
"Cambyses rushed home to quell the revolt, but died on the journey."
"His death was listed as an accident or even a suicide out of desperation for the usurpation."
"Gaumata got to rule as Bardiya and even took over the latter’s harem."
"Almost nobody suspected he was an impostor, because on top of everything else he also bore an uncanny physical resemblance to the dead prince."
"The first man to suspect something was off was a nobleman named Otanes, who would later become one of Darius’ six companions."
"Otanes knew about Gaumata’s existence and was also aware that at some point his ears had been cut off as a punishment."
"So he asked his daughter, who was Bardiya’s (and now Gaumata’s) wife, to check his ears while he slept."
"The truth was brought to the light."
"Needless to say, the story was very convenient for Darius."
"By killing Gaumata, he saved the empire from a fraudulent, cunning and ruthless liar who had gone as far as to assume a dead man’s identity and risk civil war in order to take the throne for himself."
"Darius simply punished him for his crimes and reinstated the royal office to the house it belonged to: the Achaemenid dynasty."
"But what if the whole story was a lie?"
"What if there was no Gaumata, and the man Darius killed was the real Bardiya?"
"Indeed, scholars have noticed a lot of problems with the traditional narrative, apart from its convenience."
"How could the real Bardiya’s death be kept secret for so long from everyone except a simple magus — and what for?"
"How likely is it that Bardiya had a doppelganger who had also the knowledge, courage and brains necessary to take his place at the right moment?"
"And how is it possible that not even Bardiya’s wives and inner circle were able to see through Gaumata’s lies?"
'Some scholars go as far as to suspect that Cambyses’ madness might have been the product of Darius’ propaganda."
"Herodotus, for example, narrates that the King looted Egyptian temples, insulted the local gods and even killed the sacred bull Apis."
"The problem is, none of that appears in any contemporary Egyptian source — in fact, there are inscriptions showing that Cambyses honored the bull that died in 524 BC with a rich sarcophagus."
"If things were so, it cannot be excluded that Cambyses was also assassinated by Darius, who we know served as his spear-bearer."
"His death might have prompted his brother Bardiya to take power, since Cambyses was childless."
"Darius proceeded to eliminate him too and then created the lie about Gaumata."
"Of course, it cannot be excluded that Bardiya did indeed rebel against Cambyses — that doesn’t change the crux of the matter, which is the story about Gaumata."
"So there you have it."
"One of the most powerful monarchs of antiquity and a possible lie that went unquestioned for millennia by almost everyone."- bradlux01
Gold Crown King GIF by SureYeahGiphyOr The Fact That Wrestling Is Scripted Entertainment...
"Maybe in the old days, but there was a time I used to believe without a doubt, that Undertaker and Kane were brothers, and Kane wore a mask because Undertaker threw acid on his face out of animosity."- ufc_007
Added To Prolong Your Agony...
“'Please listen carefully as our menu items have recently changed'.”- Raspberries-Are-Evil
All In Moderation
"'Fat will make you fat'."
'Eating that full of sugar premade meal won't'."- Rhaenelys
No Doubt Some Actually Do
"'I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the above Terms and Conditions'."- K333N4N
It's An Ongoing Search
"We don't know the most successful lie because it's a lie we don't know of yet."- lolhappypoo
Strange How This Was Also The Case Yesterday...
“'We are experiencing higher than normal call volume'."
"'Your call is very important to us'.”
"Every. single. customer service line."- depikT
Name Brand Isn't Everything...
"Just get good marks in high school."
"Once you go to a top tier college, your life is practically set and sorted."- from_my_future
Beauty Does, Indeed, Come From Within...
"'You are not beautiful'."
"'But you could be with this product'." Reddit
Skin Care Pink GIF by Mary Kay, Inc.GiphyIt's highly debatable whether or not there is, in fact, such a thing as a "good lie".
Even so, a lie that has the whole world fooled for any stretch of time deserves a commendation of some sort or another.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.