प्रियं च सत्यं च ब्रूयात्

सत्यं ब्रूयात् प्रियं ब्रूयात् न ब्रूयात् सत्यमप्रियम्।
प्रियं च नानृतं ब्रूयात् एष धर्म: सनातन:॥

Speak truth. Speak pleasant words. Do not speak the truth that is unpleasant and also those pleasant words that are untrue. This itself is the eternal Dharma (the duty of a person)

There is an apparent contradiction here. Truth is mostly not pleasant.Pleasant words are mostly not true. So if the unpleasant true words and pleasant true words are only to be spoken, a person will hardly have any thing to speak.

The solution to this contradiction emerged in my mind from what I observed in reality. Truth is never bitter or sweet. Truth is just what it is. It is we who label it as pleasant or bitter.

So, whether a person feels that the truth is bitter or sweet depends both upon the speaker and the listener. On the speaker's side, what is important is the intention with witch it is spoken. If the intention is to heart some one with a truth and berak down his moral, then that truth sounds bitter. If the same truth is said with compassion and genuine will to bring something to the notice of the listener so that it can benefit him/her in some way then it never sounds bitter. At the listener's end, it depends upon how he/she receives it. A person can insult you with a bare truth about your darker side and you can still choose not to take it that way and take it as an opportunity to learn.

The verse merely appeals us to speak pleasant truth- the truth spoken politely and sloely for the betterment of the listener