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
It is easier to gather up a bag of loose feathers than to round up or head off a single lie.
—Indian Proverb
Women believe the strangest of lies as long as they are wrapped up in praise.
—French Proverb
We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
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 Novelist, Polemicist
Great talker, great liar.
—French Proverb
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.
—Unknown
A mind conscious of innocence laughs at the lies of rumor.
—Latin Proverb
Those who foretell the future lies, even if he tells the truth.
—Arabic Proverb
They never tell a lie, not a small fabrication, not a partial truth, nor any gross unreal statement. No lies at all, so they have nothing to hide. They are a group of people who are not afraid to have their minds open.
—Marlo Morgan (1937–98) American Novelist, Author
A lie with a purpose is one of the worst kind, and the most profitable.
—Finley Peter Dunne (1867–1936) American Humorist, Journalist, Creator of “Mr. Dooley”
Every violation of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar, but is a stab at the health of human society.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
No lying knight or lying priest ever prospered in any age, but especially not in the dark ones. Men prospered then only in following an openly declared purpose, and preaching candidly beloved and trusted creeds.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
When you rationalize, you do just that. You make rational lies.
—Unknown
The man who fears no truth has nothing to fear from lies.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
When the world has once got hold of a lie, it is astonishing how hard it is to get it out of the world. You beat it about the head, till it seems to have given up the ghost, and lo! the next day it is as healthy as ever.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
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
You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.
—James Thurber
Liars are the cause of all the sins and crimes in the world.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
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 is not only excusable; it is not only innocent; it is, above all, necessary and unavoidable. Without the ameliorations that it offers, life would become a mere syllogism and hence too metallic to be borne.
—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
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
Lying rides upon debt’s back.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
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
Whoever is detected in a shameful fraud is ever after not believed even if they speak the truth.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
Mendacity is a system that we live in. Liquor is one way out an death’s the other.
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
Lie, but don’t overdo it.
—Russian Proverb
I do myself a greater injury in lying that I do him of whom I tell a lie.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Telling lies is a fault in a boy, an art in a lover, an accomplishment in a bachelor, and second-nature in a married man.
—Helen Rowland (1875–1950) American Journalist, Humorist
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