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lies quotes

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“O, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!” Walter Scott, Marmion
“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
“Political language — and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” George Orwell, Politics and the English Language
“Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth.” Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game
“Ask us no questions and we’ll tell you no lies, Hermione.” J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
“Sometimes it is easier to see clearly into the liar than into the man who tells the truth. Truth, like light, blinds. Falsehood, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object.” Albert Camus, The Fall
“The man who lies to himself can be more easily offended than any one.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
“The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head.” Terry Pratchett, Hogfather
“In wartime . . . truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” Winston Churchill, The Second World War
“you guys are going to have to come up with a lot of wonderful new lies, or people just aren't going to want to go on living.” Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
“And Justice will overtake fabricators of lies and false witnesses.” Heraclitus, On Nature
“Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies.” J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
“It is Homer who has chiefly taught other poets the art of telling lies skilfully.” Aristotle, Poetics
“Only lies offend me, never honest counsel.” George R. R. Martin, A Storm of Swords
“All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies.” Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle
“But he that sows lies in the end shall not lack of a harvest, and soon he may rest from toil indeed while others reap and sow in his stead.” J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
“Some truths did not bear saying, and some lies were necessary.” George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
“A liar only lies when he hopes to be believed.” Rudyard Kipling, The Second Jungle Book
“I wanted to ask a thousand questions, but there was no one to ask. Besides I knew that people only told lies to children—lies about everything from soup to Santa Claus.” Marilyn Monroe, My Story
“Whose tongue soe'er speaks false, not truly speaks; who speaks not truly, lies.” William Shakespeare, King John
“When one fib becomes due as it were, you must forge another to take up the old acceptance; and so the stock of your lies in circulation inevitably multiplies, and the danger of detection increases every day.” William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair
“You have nice manners for a thief and a liar” J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
“The most common sort of lie is that by which a man deceives himself: the deception of others is a relatively rare offence.” Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist
“And having no respect he ceases to love, and in order to occupy and distract himself without love he gives way to passions and coarse pleasures, and sinks to bestiality in his vices, all from continual lying to other men and to himself.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
“Let there be gall enough in thy ink; though thou write with a goose-pen, no matter.” William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
“magic! I try to give that to people. I misrepresent things to them. I don't tell truth, I tell what ought to be truth. And if that is sinful, then let me be damned for it!” Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire
“You know I hate, detest, and can't bear a lie, not because I am straighter than the rest of us, but simply because it appalls me.” Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
“O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!” William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
“He drew the dagger and laid it on the table between them; a length of dragonbone and Valyrian steel, as sharp as the difference between right and wrong, between true and false, between life and death.” George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Related topics

truth honesty self respect deception questions falsehood life death fear war writing living politics art justice greatness light poetry children

Related authors

William Shakespeare (3)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (3)
George R. R. Martin (3)
J. R. R. Tolkien (2)
J. K. Rowling (2)
Kurt Vonnegut (2)
Aristotle (1)
George Orwell (1)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1)
Marilyn Monroe (1)
Albert Camus (1)
Terry Pratchett (1)
Winston Churchill (1)
Orson Scott Card (1)
Joseph Conrad (1)
Tennessee Williams (1)
Heraclitus (1)
Rudyard Kipling (1)
William Makepeace Thackeray (1)
Walter Scott (1)

Related sources

The Brothers Karamazov (3)
A Game of Thrones (2)
Marmion (1)
King John (1)
On Nature (1)
The Merchant of Venice (1)
The Fall (1)
Twelfth Night (1)
The Hobbit (1)
Vanity Fair (1)
A Storm of Swords (1)
My Story (1)
Slaughterhouse-Five (1)
Heart of Darkness (1)
Hogfather (1)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (1)
The Second World War (1)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (1)
The Second Jungle Book (1)
Poetics (1)