A lie is quite literally a statement with intent to deceive. If the time were 3:30PM and someone, knowing the actual time, claimed it was 4:30PM in an effort to deceive someone, this would be a lie. In this case not only is the subject matter false, but also the actor is proclaiming something the actor does not believe in order to make someone else believe what the actor himself does not believe.

This is different then a jest. If the actor does not want the other person to believe him, but to understand he is joking, this is not a lie. When asked the time, the actor might proclaim it was 127:40 in an effort to amuse and not deceive. In this case, the actor is positing a statement with the knowledge that the sentence is obviously false. No intent to deceive is present. If jesting is lying, then too would acting be. Actors pretend day in and day out to be other people, professing things they do not believe. The audience understands that the actor is projecting and is not to be taken literally. It is not a lie to recite a play.

Additionally, someone can actually lie when they are telling the truth. If the time was 3:30PM but the actor’s watch was off and the actor believed it to be 2:30PM but then said the time was 3:30PM in an effort to make another person believe something the actor did not believe, then this would be a lie.

Lying is all about intent. Where there is no intent, there is no lie. A lie is a statement with intent to deceive.