Man is happiest when he is creating. In fact, the highest state of which man is capable lies in the creative act.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
As one knows the poet by his fine music, so one can recognize the liar by his rich rhythmic utterance, and in neither case will the casual inspiration of the moment suffice. Here, as elsewhere, practice must precede perfection.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
A liar is full of oaths.
—Pierre Corneille (1606–84) French Poet, Dramatist
Mendacity is a system that we live in. Liquor is one way out an death’s the other.
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one’s self on lies and fables.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Falsehood is invariably the child of fear in one form or another.
—Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) English Occultist, Mystic, Magician
Lying is a terrible vice, it testifies that one despises God, but fears men.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
The best ammunition against lies is the truth, there is no ammunition against gossip. It is like a fog and the clear wind blows it away and the sun burns it off.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
The end of an ox is beef, and the end of a lie is grief.
—African Proverb
Lie, but don’t overdo it.
—Russian Proverb
The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way.
—Samuel Butler
One falsehood spoils a thousand truths.
—African Proverb
In these words lies all his power: He chose the path along which he is walking and so has no complaints.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
Lying and stealing are next door neighbors.
—Arabic Proverb
Someday, in the moment of death, your whole life will pass before you. In a few fractions of a second—because time no longer applies—you will see many incidents from your life in order to learn. You will review your life with two questions in your consciousness: Could I have shown a little more courage in these moments? Could I have shown a little more love? You will see where you let fear stop you from expressing who you are, how you feel, or what you need. You will see whether you were able to expand into these moments, just a little, to show love, or whether you contracted.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
By a lie, a man…annihilates his dignity as a man.
—Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) Prussian German Philosopher, Logician
There is no sickness worse for me than words that to be kind must lie.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Playwright
Ask no questions and hear no lies.
—Common Proverb
Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie.
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-born British Philosopher
In plain truth, lying is an accursed vice. We are not men, nor have any other tie upon another, but by our word.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
I have discovered that I cannot enhance anybody’s performance without getting them not only to live with the butterflies that come with high-pressure jobs but to embrace that kind of physical response, enjoy it, get into it. That’s the first real ticket to being a performer who thinks exceptionally.
—John Eliot (b.1971) American Psychologist, Academic
One may sometimes tell a lie, but the grimace that accompanies it tells the truth.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Men hate those to whom they have to lie.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
They say is often a great liar.
—Common Proverb
The liar’s punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
A lie can run around the world six times while the truth is still trying to put on its pants.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
And, after all, what is a lie? ‘Tis but the truth in masquerade.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
The truth that survives is simply the lie that is pleasantest to believe.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Grow your tree of falsehood from a small grain of truth. Do not follow those who lie in contempt of reality. Let your lie be even more logical than the truth itself, so the weary travelers may find repose.
—Czeslaw Milosz (1911–2004) Polish-American Poet, Novelist, Polemicist