Lies and Lying Quotes
Husband a lie, and trump it up in some extraordinary emergency.Lies and Lying
Addison, Joseph
1672-1719 British Essayist Poet Statesman
Liars are always ready to take oaths.
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Alfieri, Vittorio, Conte Di
1749-1803 Italian Poet Playwright
The difference between a saint and a hypocrite is that one lies for his religion, the other by it.
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Antrim, Minna
1861-18 American Epigrammist
It is Homer who has chiefly taught other poets the art of telling lies skillfully.
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Aristotle
BC 384-322 Greek Philosopher
It contains a misleading impression, not a lie. It was being economical with the truth.
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Armstrong, Robert
Lies are sufficient to breed opinion, and opinion brings on substance.
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Bacon, Francis
1561-1626 British Philosopher Essayist Statesman
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
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Beecher, Lyman
1775-1863 American Presbyterian Minister Revivalist
It is sometimes necessary to lie damnably in the interests of the nation.
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Belloc, Hilaire
1870-1953 British Author
What does the truth matter? Haven t we mothers all given our sons a taste for lies, lies which from the cradle upwards lull them, reassure them, send them to sleep: lies as soft and warm as a breast!
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Bernanos, Georges
1888-1948 French Novelist Political Writer
Nobody speaks the truth when there s something they must have.
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Bowen, Elizabeth
1899-1973 Anglo-Irish Novelist
Never to lie is to have no lock to your door, you are never wholly alone.
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Bowen, Elizabeth
1899-1973 Anglo-Irish Novelist
When the world has got hold of a lie, it is astonishing how hard it is to kill it. You beat it over the head, till it seems to have given up the ghost, and behold! the next day it is as healthy as ever.
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Bulwer-Lytton, Edward G.
1803-1873 British Novelist Poet
Any fool can tell the truth, but it requires a man of some sense to know how to lie well.
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Butler, Samuel
1612-1680 British Poet Satirist
The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way.
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Butler, Samuel
1612-1680 British Poet Satirist
I do not mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy.
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Butler, Samuel
1612-1680 British Poet Satirist
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.
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Butler, Samuel
1612-1680 British Poet Satirist
And, after all, what is a lie? Tis but the truth in masquerade.
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Byron, Lord
1788-1824 British Poet
Someone who always has to lie discovers that every one of his lies is true.
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Canetti, Elias
1905 Austrian Novelist Philosopher
There are a terrible lot of lies going about the world, and the worst of it is that half of them are true.
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Churchill, Winston
1874-1965 British Statesman Prime Minister
So near is falsehood to truth that a wise man would do well not to trust himself on the narrow edge.
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Cicero, Marcus T.
c 106-43 BC Great Roman Orator Politician
I am a lie who always speaks the truth.
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Cocteau, Jean
1889-1963 French Author Filmmaker
A liar is full of oaths.
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Corneille, Pierre
1606-1684 French Dramatist
Of course I lie to people. But I lie altruistically -- for our mutual good. The lie is the basic building block of good manners. That may seem mildly shocking to a moralist -- but then what isn t?
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Crisp, Quentin
1908 British Author
Falsehood is invariably the child of fear in one form or another.
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Crowley, Aleister
1875-1947 British Occultist
Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.
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Dostoevski, Fyodor
1821-1881 Russian Novelist
It takes a wise man to handle a lie, a fool had better remain honest.
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Douglas, Norman
1868-1952 British Author
A lie with a purpose is one of the worst kind, and the most profitable.
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Dunne, Finley Peter
1867-1936 American Journalist Humorist
Don t join the book burners. Do not think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed.
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Eisenhower, Dwight D.
1890-1969 Thirty-fourth President of the USA
Every violation of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar, but is a stab at the health of human society.
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Emerson, Ralph Waldo
1803-1882 American Poet Essayist
Liars are the cause of all the sins and crimes in the world.
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Epictetus
50-120 Stoic Philosopher
Lying is an indispensable part of making life tolerable.
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Evans
When lying, be emphatic and indignant, thus behaving like your children.
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Feather, William
1888-18 American Writer Businessman
Without lies humanity would perish of despair and boredom.
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France, Anatole
1844-1924 French Writer
Lying rides upon debt s back.
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Franklin, Benjamin
1706-1790 American Scientist Publisher Diplomat
If a lie is repeated often enough all the dumb jackasses in the world not only get to believe it, they even swear by it.
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Franklin, Billy Boy
The middle of the road is where the white line is -- and that s the worst place to drive.
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Frost, Robert
1875-1963 American Poet
There is nothing in the world more shameful than establishing one s self on lies and fables.
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Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von
1749-1832 German Poet Dramatist Novelist
He entered the territory of lies without a passport for return.
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Greene, Graham
1904-1991 British Novelist
In human relationships, kindness and lies are worth a thousand truths.
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Greene, Graham
1904-1991 British Novelist
That s not a lie, it s a terminological inexactitude. Also, a tactical misrepresentation.
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Haig, Alexander
We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.
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Hoffer, Eric
1902-1983 American Author Philosopher
I detest the man who hides one thing in the depth of his heart and speaks forth another.
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Homer
c 850 - BC Greek Epic Poet
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.
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Jefferson, Thomas
1743-1826 Third President of the USA
By a lie, a man...annihilates his dignity as a man.
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Kant, Immanuel
1724-1804 German Philosopher
No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar.
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Lincoln, Abraham
1809-1865 Sixteenth President of the USA
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.
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Luce, Clare Boothe
1903-1987 American Diplomat Writer
Each day a few more lies eat into the seed with which we are born, little institutional lies from the print of newspapers, the shock waves of television, and the sentimental cheats of the movie screen.
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Mailer, Norman
1923 American Author
Good lies need a leavening of truth to make them palatable.
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Mcilvanney, William
The truth that survives is simply the lie that is pleasantest to believe.
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Mencken, H. L.
1880-1956 American Editor Author Critic Humorist
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.
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Mencken, H. L.
1880-1956 American Editor Author Critic Humorist
When a man lies, he murders some part of the world.
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Merlin
One can be absolutely truthful and sincere even though admittedly the most outrageous liar. Fiction and invention are of the very fabric of life.
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Miller, Henry
1891-1980 American Author
If one is to be called a liar, one may as well make an effort to deserve the name.
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Milne, A. A.
1882-1956 British Born American Writer
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.
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Milosz, Ceslaw
A lie will easily get you out of a scrape, and yet, strangely and beautifully, rapture possesses you when you have taken the scrape and left out the lie.
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Montague, C. E.
1867-1928 British Author Journalist
Who does not in some sort live to others, does not live much to himself.
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Montaigne, Michel Eyquem de
1533-1592 French Philosopher Essayist
I do myself a greater injury in lying that I do him of whom I tell a lie.
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Montaigne, Michel Eyquem De
1533-1592 French Philosopher Essayist
He who is not very strong in memory should not meddle with lying.
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Montaigne, Michel Eyquem De
1533-1592 French Philosopher Essayist
In plain truth, lying is an accursed vice. We are not men, nor have any other tie upon another, but by our word.
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Montaigne, Michel Eyquem De
1533-1592 French Philosopher Essayist
Lying is a terrible vice, it testifies that one despises God, but fears men.
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Montaigne, Michel Eyquem De
1533-1592 French Philosopher Essayist
The most common lie is that which one lies to himself; lying to others is relatively an exception.
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Nietzsche, Friedrich
1844-1900 German Philosopher
The lie is a condition of life.
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Nietzsche, Friedrich
1844-1900 German Philosopher
One may sometimes tell a lie, but the grimace that accompanies it tells the truth.
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Nietzsche, Friedrich
1844-1900 German Philosopher
No man lies so boldly as the man who is indignant.
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Nietzsche, Friedrich
1844-1900 German Philosopher
If you tell a lie, always rehearse it. If it don t sound good to you, it won t sound good to anybody.
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Paige, Leroy ''Satchel''
1906-1982 American Baseball Player
Whoever is detected in a shameful fraud is ever after not believed even if they speak the truth.
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Phaedrus
c1 Macedonian Inventor and Writer
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.
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Plato
BC 427-347 Greek Philosopher
Time passes, and little by little everything that we have spoken in falsehood becomes true.
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Proust, Marcel
1871-1922 French Novelist
Lies are essential to humanity. They are perhaps as important as the pursuit of pleasure and moreover are dictated by that pursuit.
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Proust, Marcel
1871-1922 French Novelist
They say is often a great liar.
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Proverb
Lying and stealing are next door neighbors.
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Proverb, Arabian
Sayings of Arabian Origin
Great talker, great liar.
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Proverb, French
Sayings of French Origin
With lies you may go ahead in the world, but you can never go back.
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Proverb, Russian
Sayings of Russian Origin
Telling lies is a fault in a boy, an art in a lover, an accomplishment in a bachelor, and second-nature in a married man.
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Rowland, Helen
1875-1950 American Journalist
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.
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Ruskin, John
1819-1900 British Critic Social Theorist
Lies are usually caused by undue fear of men.
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Saying, Hasidic
The liar s punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.
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Shaw, George Bernard
1856-1950 Irish-born British Dramatist
A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood.
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Shenstone, William
1714-1763 British Poet
Liars need to have good memories.
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Sidney, Algernon
All lies and jests, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.
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Simon, Paul
1941 American Musician Singer Songwriter
If you want to be thought a liar, always tell the truth.
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Smith, Logan Pearsall
1865-1946 Anglo-American Essayist Aphorist
Lying is like alcoholism. You are always recovering.
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Soderbergh, Steven
In our country the lie has become not just a moral category but a pillar of the State.
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Solzhenitsyn, Alexander
1918 Russian Novelist
Truth will lose its credit, if delivered by a person that has none.
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South, Bishop Robert
1634-1716 British Clergyman
I would dodge, not lie, in the national interest.
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Speakes, Larry
Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity, do not easily resume life.
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Steiner, George
1929 French-born American Critic Novelist
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.
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Sterling, John
American Sports Announcer
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.
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Stevenson, Robert Louis
1850-1895 Scottish Essayist Poet Novelist
Every government is run by liars and nothing they say should be believed.
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Stone, I. F.
1907-1989 American Author
Pain forces even the innocent to lie.
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Syrus, Publilius
1st Century BC Roman Writer
Don t lie if you don t have to.
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Szilard, Leo
This is the punishment of a liar: he is not believed, even when he speaks the truth.
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Talmud, The
BC 500-400 AD Jewish Archive of Oral Tradition
You don t tell deliberate lies, but sometimes you have to be evasive.
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Thatcher, Margaret
1925 British Stateswoman Prime Minister (1979-90)
If one cannot invent a really convincing lie, it is often better to stick to the truth.
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Thirkell, Angela
You can fool too many of the people too much of the time.
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Thurber, James
1894-1961 American Humorist Illustrator
If you do not wish to be lied to, do not ask questions. If there were no questions, there would be no lies.
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Traven, B.
A wise man does not waste so good a commodity as lying for naught.
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Twain, Mark
1835-1910 American Humorist Writer
A lie can run around the world six times while the truth is still trying to put on its pants.
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Twain, Mark
1835-1910 American Humorist Writer
I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can, but I won t.
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Twain, Mark
1835-1910 American Humorist Writer
One of the striking differences between a cat and a lie is that the cat has only nine lives.
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Twain, Mark
1835-1910 American Humorist Writer
Never forget that a half truth is a whole lie.
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Unknown, Source
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.
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Unknown, Source
Some lies are so well disguised to resemble truth, that we should be poor judges of the truth not to believe them.
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Unknown, Source
It is easier to gather up a bag of loose feathers than to round up or head off a single lie.
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Unknown, Source
Clever liars give details, but the cleverest don t.
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Unknown, Source
Burning lies led to my silent cries Keeping it inside I ve got everything to hide. lustful desire, a burning fire You are the flame, You are to blame. Beautiful light deliver me from fright dreams full of lust. Or is the dream dreaming us? PHYSICAL PAIN don t call me insane. I don t want to be dead but all beautiful colors bleed to red
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Unknown, Source
A fellow who says he has never told a lie has just told one.
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Unknown, Source
When you rationalize, you do just that. You make rational lies.
Lies and Lying
Unknown, Source
I should like to lie at your feet and die in your arms.
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Voltaire
1694-1778 French Historian Writer
A lie can run around the world before the truth can get it s boots on.
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Watt, James
1836-1819 American Inventor
The liar at any rate recognizes that recreation, not instruction, is the aim of conversation, and is a far more civilized being than the blockhead who loudly expresses his disbelief in a story which is told simply for the amusement of the company.
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Wilde, Oscar
1856-1900 British Author Wit
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.
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Wilde, Oscar
1856-1900 British Author Wit
Mendacity is a system that we live in. Liquor is one way out an death s the other.
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Williams, Tennessee
1914-1983 American Dramatist
Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie.
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Wittgenstein, Ludwig
1889-1951 Austrian Philosopher
If you wish to strengthen a lie, mix a little truth in with it.
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Zohar