what does ponyboy mean when he says,"i lie to myself all the time?" do you ever lie to yourself? why

Sure, I think we all lie to ourselves.

Pony lies to himself trying to convince himself that he doesn't care about Derry when he really does. We all lie to ourselves when we have a conflict within or are trying to convince ourselves of something.

He means that if you tell yourself something that you know isn't true, all you're really doing is lying to yourself, but that sometimes, lying to youself can get you through something you'd otherwise not be able to face. It can be a good thing or a bad thing, and yes, I think everyone has done this at one time or another.

Pony lies to himself trying to convince himself that he doesn't care about Derry when he really does , but we all lie to ourselves to boost confidence or to just make ourselve feel better.