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
I have always considered it as treason against the great republic of human nature, to make any man’s virtues the means of deceiving him.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
When lying, be emphatic and indignant, thus behaving like your children.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
Whatever deceives men seems to produce a magical enchantment.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
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
A half truth is a whole lie.
—Yiddish Proverb
The certain way to be cheated is to fancy one’s self more cunning than others.
—Pierre Charron (1541–1603) French Preacher, Philosopher
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
Lying is a terrible vice, it testifies that one despises God, but fears men.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902) British Victorian Novelist, Essayist, Critic
By the time you swear you’re his,
Shivering and sighing,
And he vows his passion is
Infinite, undying –
Lady, make a note of this:
One of you is lying.
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American Humorist, Journalist
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 great advantages of simulation and dissimulation are three. First to lay asleep opposition and to surprise. For where a man’s intentions are published, it is an alarum to call up all that are against them. The second is to reserve a man’s self a fair retreat: for if a man engage himself, by a manifest declaration, he must go through, or take a fall. The third is, the better to discover the mind of another. For to him that opens himself, men will hardly show themselves adverse; but will fair let him go on, and turn their freedom of speech to freedom of thought.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the word seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses.
—Taylor Caldwell (1900–85) American Novelist
Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity, do not easily resume life.
—George Steiner (1929–2020) American Critic, Scholar
Truth will lose its credit, if delivered by a person that has none.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.
—Sun Tzu (fl.c.544–496 BCE) Chinese General, Military Theorist
The art of using deceit and cunning grow continually weaker and less effective to the user.
—John Tillotson
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
Mendacity is a system that we live in. Liquor is one way out an death’s the other.
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
The easiest person to deceive is one’s own self.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.
—Otto von Bismarck (1815–98) German Chancellor, Prime Minister
Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie.
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-born British Philosopher
Lying increases the creative faculties, expands the ego, lessens the friction of social contacts. It is only in lies, wholeheartedly and bravely told, that human nature attains through words and speech the forbearance, the nobility, the romance, the idealism, that—being what it is—it falls so short of in fact and in deed.
—Clare Boothe Luce (1903–87) American Playwright, Diplomat, Journalist
I should like to lie at your feet and die in your arms.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
The middle of the road is where the white line is—and that’s the worst place to drive.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
If all mankind were suddenly to practice honesty, many thousands of people would be sure to starve.
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
If one is to be called a liar, one may as well make an effort to deserve the name.
—A. A. Milne (1882–1956) British Humorist, Playwright, Children’s Writer
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