Is it better to say things to make someone happy, or say the truth and hurt them?

Everyone tells lies. Sometime they’re small things, sometimes their big. Should it matter if it’s good intentioned? Or should it matter that it was still a lie?
Telling the truth isn’t always easy, especially when the person you’re telling it to is such a big part of your life. Sometimes a person enters your life and completely changes it—shakes the ground beneath your feet, and opens up an entirely different world. It happens, and we can’t stop it. People come into our lives who change us, mold us into who we are, and love us more than we could have asked. So is it so wrong to tell an occasional lie, just to see them happy, or to protect them from being hurt? Is it better to be honest, completely, faithfully honest, rather than smudge the truth?

Don’t get me wrong—I hate lying. I hate that people are capable of deceiving others. But are little white lies so bad? Sometimes it’s easier to edge around the truth in order to protect someone you care about. So here’s the overall question: When is it okay, and when is it not? Are there limitations, and is it up to each of us to decide?