“ To lie a little is not possible: he who lies, lies the whole lie. ”
Victor Hugo, Les Misérables (1862). copy citation
Author | Victor Hugo |
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Source | Les Misérables |
Topic | lie moderation |
Date | 1862 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | Translation by Isabel F. Hapgood in 1887 |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/135/135-h/135-h.htm |
Context
“However pure and sincere we may be, we all bear upon our candor the crack of the little, innocent lie. She did not. Little lie, innocent lie—does such a thing exist? To lie is the absolute form of evil. To lie a little is not possible: he who lies, lies the whole lie. To lie is the very face of the demon. Satan has two names; he is called Satan and Lying. That is what she thought; and as she thought, so she did. The result was the whiteness which we have mentioned—a whiteness which covered even her lips and her eyes with radiance.”
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