We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.
—Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Spanish Painter, Sculptor, Artist
A lie never lives to be old.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Each day a few more lies eat into the seed with which we are born, little institutional lies from the print of newspapers, the shock waves of television, and the sentimental cheats of the movie screen.
—Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American Novelist Essayist
The essence of repression lies simply in turning something away, and keeping it a distance from the conscious.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
Lies are essential to humanity. They are perhaps as important as the pursuit of pleasure and moreover are dictated by that pursuit.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
I am a lie who always speaks the truth.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Playwright, Film Director
Lying and stealing are next door neighbors.
—Arabic Proverb
Burning lies led to my silent cries Keeping it inside I’ve got everything to hide. lustful desire, a burning fire You are the flame, You are to blame. Beautiful light deliver me from fright dreams full of lust. Or is the dream dreaming us? PHYSICAL PAIN don’t call me insane. I don’t want to be dead but all beautiful colors bleed to red
—Unknown
Hearsay is half lies.
—Dutch Proverb
Mendacity is a system that we live in. Liquor is one way out an death’s the other.
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.
—James Thurber
I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
No man lies so boldly as the man who is indignant.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
No one can lie, no one can hide anything, when he looks directly into someone’s eyes.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
People do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to.
—Malcolm Muggeridge (1903–90) English Journalist, Author, Media Personality, Satirist
If you want to be thought a liar, always tell the truth.
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946) American-British Essayist, Bibliophile
Responsibility of any kind can seem intimidating and for this reason man may often be afraid of truly deep relationships with other human beings. A relationship suggests to him the most extreme of responsibilities. It implies a burden, a restriction of freedom, seldom the converse. A student in love class, for instance, commented, “I’ve always been afraid of deep relationship because of the responsibility it seemed to impose. I was afraid of the demands it would make of me and I worried I wouldn’t be able to meet those demands. I was amazed to find that when I did get the courage to form a relationship, I actually became stronger. I acquired two minds instead of one, four hands, four arms, four legs, and another’s world. In joining forces with someone, I got twice the strength to grow, with twice as many alternatives. Now it’s easier for me to love others. I am stronger and I am less afraid”. He had discovered an important insight.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
It is sometimes necessary to lie damnably in the interests of the nation.
—Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953) British Historian, Poet, Critic
Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.
—Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–81) Russian Novelist, Essayist, Writer
A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation.
—Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) (1870–1916) British Short Story Writer, Satirist, Historian
As hypocrisy is said to be the highest compliment to virtue, the art of lying is the strongest acknowledgment of the force of truth.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time till at length it becomes habitual.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
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
The end of an ox is beef, and the end of a lie is grief.
—African Proverb
Time passes, and little by little everything that we have spoken in falsehood becomes true.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
The lie is a condition of life.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies.
—Pietro Aretino (1492–1556) Italian Poet, Dramatist, Satirist
Whoever is detected in a shameful fraud is ever after not believed even if they speak the truth.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
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
Delusions, errors and lies are like huge, gaudy vessels, the rafters of which are rotten and worm-eaten, and those who embark in them are fated to be shipwrecked.
—Buddhist Teaching
Warriors of the light are not perfect. Their beauty lies in accepting this fact and still desiring to grow and to learn.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
He entered the territory of lies without a passport for return.
—Graham Greene (1904–91) British Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
Lie, but don’t overdo it.
—Russian Proverb
Lie detectors may have some limited uses, but for sure one of them isn’t in the corporate hiring process. For the CIA, the FBI, the military’s supersecret areas, lie detectors may have some psychological value. As proof positive, for sure they are not. According to a recent New York Times article, Leading academic critics contend that lie detectors are lucky to be right 70% of the time and are often no better than chance. Pentagon officials stress that “no machine can detect a lie”; lie detectors can only detect stress, may well reflect fear, surprise or anger at the interrogation rather than guilt. … .
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
Clever liars give details, but the cleverest don’t.
—Unknown
So near is falsehood to truth that a wise man would do well not to trust himself on the narrow edge.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The man who fears no truth has nothing to fear from lies.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Ask no questions and hear no lies.
—Common Proverb
You can’t pray a lie.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
A lie with a purpose is one of the worst kind, and the most profitable.
—Finley Peter Dunne (1867–1936) American Author, Writer, Humorist
Pain forces even the innocent to lie.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
What does the truth matter? Haven’t we mothers all given our sons a taste for lies, lies which from the cradle upwards lull them, reassure them, send them to sleep: lies as soft and warm as a breast!
—Georges Bernanos (1888–1948) French Author
It is easier to gather up a bag of loose feathers than to round up or head off a single lie.
—Indian Proverb
I should like to lie at your feet and die in your arms.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
The difference between a saint and a hypocrite is that one lies for his religion, the other by it.
—Minna Antrim (1861–1950) American Writer, Epigrammist
A fellow who says he has never told a lie has just told one.
—Unknown
It is easier to believe a lie that one has heard a thousand times than to believe a fact that no one has heard before.
—Unknown
The most common lie is that which one lies to himself; lying to others is relatively an exception.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Never chase a lie. Let it alone, and it will run itself to death. I can work out a good character much faster than any one can lie me out of it.
—Lyman Beecher (1775–1863) American Presbyterian Clergyman
Men hate those to whom they have to lie.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist