The value of a 'white lie'

 "A white lie is always pardonable. But he who tells the truth without compulsion merits no leniency." ~ Karl Kraus

A white lie revealed?  
[Watercolour revealing white wax on paper]

...but I don't listen

 “My momma talkin' to me tryin' to tell me how to live 

But I don't listen to her 'cause my head is like a sieve....”

~Earache My Eye,  Cheech and Chong with Alice Bowie

Listen: https://youtu.be/tkFx3RyIZhY

the price paid for wisdom

 “He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.”

~Aeschylus, "Seven Against Thebes"