Its Not Lying if you Believe It to be True

My poor children get so frustrated sometimes when they pose what they think is a simple question to me, and I don't give them a simple answer. I usually approach the answer from a couple of different angles, usually starting with why they're asking - explaining intent could potentially spawn answers which may appear opposite one another. Even my remote co-workers know any answer I give them on anything philosophical isn't going to be a short conversation, oftentimes to their chagrin. I've been accused over and over of over-complicating everything, all the time. In fact, its been brought to my attention that many of my current woes are a cumulative effect of over-complicating too many things, too often, i.e. thinking too much. My tombstone will likely read, "HE NEVER GAVE A SIMPLE ANSWER."

Despite the fact I know emotion colors memory (what *actually* took place may vary greatly if committed to memory under duress) and the fact that there are those who experience clusters of emotional reactions to random, otherwise innocuous events no matter how minor or unrelated, when someone remembers me making a simplistic, dichotomous, absolute declarative statement?

Yeah, that's when my empathy kicks in, because I know they really, really believe it to be true, despite all the "suddenly confusing" evidence to the contrary.