The things that fascinate me about this chapter are the parts pertaining to hyperbole. Maybe it's the Irish in me that's drawn to this sort of thing, and the English that counteracts it by striving for a more sober/accurate view of the world. (Not to imply that the British have a monopoly on reality. See Eddie Izzard's performances for further thoughts on this subject. Particularly "Cake or Death?," particularly on the logic of empire.)

On page 65, the Poulakoses examine "Excess and Exaggeration."

"Through hyperbolic language, epideictic rhetoric can make the customary appear exceptional and the ordinary extraordinary."

This is how I've always understood my own use of hyperbole - not as lying per se, but as stage dressing. The stories get better in the telling. Somehow this splices right in with my intense sense of honor, and I don't see any contradiction between the two. I mean what I say and I say what I mean, especially when it comes to interpersonal discourse, but I do tend to dress up my casual conversation. And it's rarely for any devious reason - it's just to make things a little more extraordinary.
It's part of of the bundle of contradictions magic that is me.

Maybe that's why Business Development fascinated me for those years. Competitive sales is a lot like the argument between Vice and Virtue in The Choice of Heracles. Justice and truth have nothing to do with it; what really matters is persuasion. Does anyone's choice of shipping carrier really make a difference? Sometimes, if the bid is right, there is an economic reason. But more often than not, it comes down to effective argument. It becomes a game, one that appealed to my love of language and sense of wickedness for a long time. Funny how easily that translates to scholarship in some cases.