Motivational Quotes

Lies and lying

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.

- Mencken, H. L.

Best Quotes about Lies and lying

One of the striking differences between a cat and a lie is that the cat has only nine lives.

Twain, Mark

Liars are the cause of all the sins and crimes in the world.

Epictetus

Good lies need a leavening of truth to make them palatable.

Mcilvanney, William

To the rulers of the state then, if to any, it belongs of right to use falsehood, to deceive either enemies or their own citizens, for the good of the state: and no one else may meddle with this privilege.

Plato

And, after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but the truth in masquerade.

Byron, Lord

If one cannot invent a really convincing lie, it is often better to stick to the truth.

Thirkell, Angela

I do myself a greater injury in lying that I do him of whom I tell a lie.

Montaigne, Michel Eyquem De

There is no lie that a man will not believe; and there is no man who does not believe many lies; and there is no man who believes only lies.

Sterling, John

It is easier to gather up a bag of loose feathers than to round up or head off a single lie.

10.

A liar is full of oaths.

Corneille, Pierre

11.

Who does not in some sort live to others, does not live much to himself.

Montaigne, Michel Eyquem De

12.

When you rationalize, you do just that. You make rational lies.

13.

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.

Luce, Clare Boothe

14.

Never chase a lie. Let it alone, and it will run itself to death. I can work out a good character much faster than anyone can lie me out of it

Beecher, Lyman

15.

I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can, but I won t.

Twain, Mark

16.

The cruelest lies are often told in silence. A man may have sat in a room for hours and not opened his mouth, and yet come out of that room a disloyal friend or a vile calumniator.

Stevenson, Robert Louis

17.

Where lies are easily admitted, the father of lies is not easily kept out. Source unknown A great leader molds public opinion, a wise leader listens to it.

18.

All lies and jests, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

Simon, Paul

19.

He entered the territory of lies without a passport for return.

Greene, Graham

20.

A lie can run around the world six times while the truth is still trying to put on its pants.

Twain, Mark

21.

So near is falsehood to truth that a wise man would do well not to trust himself on the narrow edge.

Cicero, Marcus T.

22.

One may sometimes tell a lie, but the grimace that accompanies it tells the truth.

Nietzsche, Friedrich

23.

Whoever is detected in a shameful fraud is ever after not believed even if they speak the truth.

Phaedrus

24.

We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.

Hoffer, Eric

25.

Lying is an indispensable part of making life tolerable.

Evans

26.

That's not a lie, it's a terminological inexactitude. Also, a tactical misrepresentation.

Haig, Alexander

27.

It contains a misleading impression, not a lie. It was being economical with the truth.

Armstrong, Robert

28.

Mendacity is a system that we live in. Liquor is one way out an death's the other.

Williams, Tennessee

29.

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.

Ruskin, John

30.

Lies are essential to humanity. They are perhaps as important as the pursuit of pleasure and moreover are dictated by that pursuit.

Proust, Marcel

31.

Someone who always has to lie discovers that every one of his lies is true.

Canetti, Elias

32.

The truth that survives is simply the lie that is pleasantest to believe.

Mencken, H. L.

33.

The difference between a saint and a hypocrite is that one lies for his religion, the other by it.

Antrim, Minna

34.

If you want to be thought a liar, always tell the truth.

Smith, Logan Pearsall

35.

A lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on.

Watt, James

36.

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.

Wilde, Oscar

37.

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.

Jefferson, Thomas

38.

I detest the man who hides one thing in the depth of his heart and speaks forth another.

Homer

39.

Don't lie if you don't have to.

Szilard, Leo

40.

Mencken, H. L.

41.

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.

Milosz, Ceslaw

42.

When lying, be emphatic and indignant, thus behaving like your children.

Feather, William

43.

The lie is a condition of life.

Nietzsche, Friedrich

44.

It is Homer who has chiefly taught other poets the art of telling lies skillfully.

Aristotle

45.

A lie with a purpose is one of the worst kind, and the most profitable.