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Lie quotes

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“He who cannot lie, doth not know what truth is.” Friedrich Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” - 1891

“One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.” Mark Twain, “Pudd'nhead Wilson” - 1894

“When a man really tells the truth, the first truth he tells is that he himself is a liar.” G. K. Chesterton, “What's Wrong with the World” - 1910

“The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the slow, eating agony of a lie is never lost.” John Steinbeck, “East of Eden” - 1952

“I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country whenever I choose.” Oscar Wilde, “The Importance of Being Earnest” - 1895

“My dear fellow, the truth isn't quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet, refined girl.” Oscar Wilde, “The Importance of Being Earnest” - 1895

“I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.” Oscar Wilde, “The Importance of Being Earnest” - 1895

“O mighty Caesar! dost thou lie so low? Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, shrunk to this little measure?” William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar” - 1623

“In short, the way to avoid misunderstanding is for everybody to lie and slander and insinuate and pretend as hard as they can. That is what obeying your mother comes to.” George Bernard Shaw, “Man and Superman” - 1903

“One of the great conditions of anger and hatred is, that you must tell and believe lies against the hated object, in order, as we said, to be consistent.” William Makepeace Thackeray, “Vanity Fair” - 1847

“It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.” Paulo Coelho, “The Alchemist” - 1988

“A lie by day, a lie by night, a lie in every touch and every look; a lie in every caress and every quarrel; a lie in every word and in every silence.” Edith Wharton, “The Age of Innocence” - 1920

“Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.” Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., “The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table” - 1858

“The public weal requires that men should betray, and lie, and massacre; let us leave this commission to men who are more obedient and more supple.” Michel de Montaigne, “The Essays of Michel de Montaigne” - 1580

“I do myself a greater injury in lying than I do him of whom I tell a lie.” Michel de Montaigne, “The Essays of Michel de Montaigne” - 1580

“When people tell a lie about something, they have to make up a bunch of lies to go with the first one. 'Mythomania' is the word for it.” Haruki Murakami, “Norwegian Wood” - 1987

“I think the difference between a lie and a story is that a story utilizes the trappings and appearance of truth for the interest of the listener as well as of the teller. A story has in it neither gain nor loss. But a lie is a device for profit...” John Steinbeck, “East of Eden” - 1952

“Folk songs are evasive — the truth about life, and life is more or less a lie, but then again that’s exactly the way we want it to be.” Bob Dylan, “Chronicles, Volume One” - 2004

“And Credulity, because men love to be hearkened unto in company, disposeth them to lying: so that Ignorance it selfe without Malice, is able to make a man bothe to believe lyes, and tell them; and sometimes also to invent them.” Thomas Hobbes, “Leviathan” - 1651

Related topics

truth life women ignorance knowledge fate destiny sin invention hypocrisy double life betrayal honesty world smallness silence hate pain lying story

Related authors

Oscar Wilde (3)
Michel de Montaigne (2)
John Steinbeck (2)
William Shakespeare (1)
William Makepeace Thackeray (1)
George Bernard Shaw (1)
Mark Twain (1)
G. K. Chesterton (1)
Paulo Coelho (1)
Edith Wharton (1)
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1)
Haruki Murakami (1)
Bob Dylan (1)
Thomas Hobbes (1)

Related sources

The Importance of Being Earnest (3)
The Essays of Michel de Montaigne (2)
East of Eden (2)
Julius Caesar (1)
Vanity Fair (1)
Man and Superman (1)
What's Wrong with the World (1)
The Alchemist (1)
The Age of Innocence (1)
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table (1)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1)
Norwegian Wood (1)
Chronicles, Volume One (1)
Leviathan (1)
Pudd'nhead Wilson (1)