best quotations about
Truth & Lies |
| 183 quotes | Visits: 68,985 |
Quotations
 | I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you. — Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher 65 likes |
 | A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer 65 likes |
 | A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 53 likes |
 | There are always four sides to a story: your side, their side, the truth and what really happened. — Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778, Swiss-French philosopher 40 likes |
| If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 37 likes |
 | A lie told often enough becomes the truth. — Vladimir Lenin, 1870-1924, Soviet revolutionary & leader 36 likes |
 | As to the book called the bible, it is blasphemy to call it the Word of God. It is a book of lies and contradictions and a history of bad times and bad men. — Thomas Paine, 1737-1809, English-American writer 30 likes |
 | When people can not change things, they change the words. — Jean Jaures, 1859-1914, French Socialist leader 30 likes |
 | The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived, and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. — John Kennedy, 1917-1963, American President [1961-1963] 26 likes |
 | If you're going to tell people the truth, you better make them laugh; otherwise they'll kill you. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 24 likes |
 | It is not easy to keep silent when silence is a lie. — Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, French writer 24 likes |
 | There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics. — Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881, British Prime Minister 23 likes |
| The liar's punishment is, not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 23 likes |
 | By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. — George Carlin, 1936-2008, American comedian 22 likes |
| When in doubt, tell the truth. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 21 likes |
 | People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war, or before an election. — Otto von Bismarck, 1815-1898, German chancellor 20 likes |
 | A lie has speed, but truth has endurance. — Edgar J. Mohn, (unidentified) 20 likes |
 | Half a truth is often a great lie. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer 19 likes |
 | In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. — George Orwell, 1903-1950, British writer 19 likes |
 | When I tell any Truth it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it but for the sake of defending those who do. — William Blake, 1757-1827, English poet & painter 19 likes |
 | Ask no questions, and you'll be told no lies. — Charles Dickens, 1812-1870, British writer 18 likes |
 | People who read the tabloids deserve to be lied to. — Jerry Seinfeld, 1954-, American comedian 17 likes |
 | How is the world ruled and led to war? Diplomats lie to journalists and believe these lies when they see them in print. — Karl Kraus, 1874-1936, Austrian writer 17 likes |
 | Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth. — Franklin Roosevelt, 1882-1945, American President [1936-1945] 16 likes |
 | A liar should have a good memory. — Quintilian, 35-96 AD, Roman rhetorician 16 likes |
| What is the truth, but a lie agreed upon. — Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher 15 likes |
 | We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction. — Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964, American general 15 likes |
 | The victor will never be asked if he told the truth. — Adolf Hitler, 1889-1945, German dictator 15 likes |
 | A lie has no leg, but a scandal has wings. — Dr. Thomas Fuller, 1654-1734, English physician and adage collector 15 likes |
 | A lie is more comfortable than doubt, more useful than love, more lasting than truth. — Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927-2014, Colombian writer 14 likes |
| When in doubt tell the truth. It will confound your enemies and astound your friends. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 14 likes |
 | Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. — Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer 14 likes |
 | It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic 14 likes |
| Never apologize for showing feeling, my friend. Remember that when you do so, you apologize for truth. — Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881, British Prime Minister 14 likes |
| Nothing in this world is harder than speaking the truth, nothing easier than flattery. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer 14 likes |
 | I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell. — Harry Truman, 1884-1972, American President [1945-1953] 12 likes |
 | Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. — Graham Greene, 1904-1991, British writer 12 likes |
| A generous confession disarms slander. — Dr. Thomas Fuller, 1654-1734, English physician and adage collector 12 likes |
 | Nothing is more damaging to a new truth than an old error. — Wolfgang Goethe, 1749-1832, German poet & philosopher 11 likes |
 | The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head. — Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer 11 likes |
 | Never lie when the truth is more profitable. — Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, 1906-1966, Polish author of maxims 10 likes |
| Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881, Russian writer 10 likes |
| When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 9 likes |
 | I am a lie who always speaks the truth. — Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist 9 likes |
 | It takes two to speak the truth — one to speak and another to hear. — Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862, American writer 9 likes |
| Always tell the Truth : where it is not loved, it is respected and feared. — Dr. Thomas Fuller, 1654-1734, English physician and adage collector 9 likes |
 | Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie. — Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951, Austrian philosopher 8 likes |
| Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies. — Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher 8 likes |
| Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't. — Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer 8 likes |
 | Advertising is legalized lying. — H.G. Wells, 1866-1946, British writer 8 likes |
 | Political truth is libel; religious truth, blasphemy. — William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic 8 likes |
 | A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies. — Alfred Tennyson, 1809-1892, English poet 7 likes |
| My way of joking is to tell the truth. It's the funniest joke in the world. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 7 likes |
 | That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false. — Paul Valery, 1871-1945, French poet 7 likes |
 | When a woman begins to point out that she is honest, it's time to be wary. — Alfred Capus, 1858-1922, French writer 7 likes |
 | Although you may tell lies, people will believe you, if only you speak with authority. — Anton Chekhov, 1860-1904, Russian writer 7 likes |
 | Art is magic delivered from the lie of being truth. — Theodore Adorno, 1903-1969, German philosopher 7 likes |
 | Two half truths do not make a truth. — Arthur Koestler, 1905-1983, Hungarian-British writer 7 likes |
| Autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful. A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats. — George Orwell, 1903-1950, British writer 7 likes |
 | The most dangerous of all falsehoods is a slightly distorted truth. — Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, 1742-1799, German author of maxims 7 likes |
| Truth can never be told so as to be understood and not be believed. — William Blake, 1757-1827, English poet & painter 6 likes |
 | Truth never damages a cause that is just. — Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian leader of independence 6 likes |
 | Freedom is a very great reality, but it means above all things, freedom from lies. — D. H. Lawrence, 1885-1930, British writer 6 likes |
 | When a woman tells the truth, it is to disguise a lie. — Henri Jeanson, 1900-1970, French critic & columnist 6 likes |
 | It only takes a politician believing in what he says for others to stop believing in him. — Jean Baudrillard, 1929-2007, French intellectual 6 likes |
 | The man who tells lies hides the truth, but the man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it. — Robert Oxton Bolt, 1924-1955, British playwright 6 likes |
| Truth is contrary to our nature, not so error, and this for a very simple reason; truth demands that we should recognize ourselves as limited, error flatters us that, in one way or another, we are unlimited. — Wolfgang Goethe, 1749-1832, German poet & philosopher 6 likes |
 | Semiotics is, in principle, the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie. — Umberto Eco, 1932-2016, Italian writer 5 likes |
 | You should tell the truth from time to time, in order to believe you when you lie. — Jules Renard, 1864-1910, French writer 5 likes |
 | Even if it is not true, it is well conceived Se non è vero, è molto ben trovato. — Giordano Bruno, 1548-1600, Italian monk & philosopher 5 likes |
 | A book in which there were no lies would be a curiosity. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 5 likes |
| Beware of telling an improbable truth. — Dr. Thomas Fuller, 1654-1734, English physician and adage collector 5 likes |
 | Falsehood is invariably the child of fear in one form or another. — Aleister Crowley, 1875-1945, British magician & occultist, 5 likes |
 | Homer has taught all other poets the art of telling lies skillfully. — Aristotle, 384-322 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 4 likes |
 | You mustn't always believe what I say. Questions tempt you to tell lies, particularly when there is no answer. — Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish painter 4 likes |
 | There is no other way of guarding oneself against flattery than by letting men understand that they will not offend you by speaking the truth; but when everyone can tell you the truth, you lose their respect. — Niccolò Machiavelli, 1469-1527, Italian political philosopher 4 likes |
| There are truths which one can only say after having won the right to say them. — Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist 4 likes |
 | What is true, is true only for one time and only for one place. — T. S. Eliot, 1888-1965, British poet, Nobel 1948 4 likes |
 | When I hear a critic speaking of an author’s sincerity, I know that either the critic or the author is a fool. — Vladimir Nabokov, 1899-1977, Russian-American writer 4 likes |
| Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth. — Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973, Spanish painter 3 likes |
 | The truest sayings are paradoxical. — Lao-Tzu, 6th cent. BC, Chinese philosopher 3 likes |
 | Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth. — Albert Camus, 1913-1960, French writer, Nobel 1957 3 likes |
| The real truths are those that can be invented. — Karl Kraus, 1874-1936, Austrian writer 3 likes |
| My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying. — Anton Chekhov, 1860-1904, Russian writer 3 likes |
 | Sincerity is the surest road to confidence. — David Lloyd George, 1863-1945, British Prime Minister [1916-1922] 3 likes |
| A truth looks freshest in the fashions of the day. — Alfred Tennyson, 1809-1892, English poet 2 likes |
 | There are no whole truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil. — Alfred North Whitehead, 1861-1947, British philosopher & mathematician 2 likes |
 | Falsehood is never in words; it is in things. — Italo Calvino, 1923-1985, Italian writer 2 likes |
 | Gossip needn’t be false to be evil – there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around. — Frank A. Clark, 1911-1991, American cartoonist 2 likes |
 | Gossip: a lie made from truth. — Yevgeny Kaseyev, contemporary Russian author of maxims 2 likes |
 | In the end, the truth always wins. Unfortunately, we are still at the beginning. — Zarko Petan, 1929-2014, Slovenian playwright & aphorist 2 likes |
| Historians falsify the past. Ideologists falsify the future. — Zarko Petan, 1929-2014, Slovenian playwright & aphorist 2 likes |
| You will never learn what I am thinking. And those who boast most loudly that they know my thought, to such people I lie even more. — Adolf Hitler, 1889-1945, German dictator 2 likes |
 | Tell the truth and shame the devil. — François Rabelais, 1484-1553, French writer 1 likes |
 | For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth. — Bo Bennett, 1972-, American self-help guru 1 likes |
 | Facts are the enemy of truth. — Miguel Cervantes, 1547-1616, Spanish writer 1 likes |
 | Journalists never tell the truth, even when they do. — Wolinski, 1934-2015, French cartoonist 1 likes |
 | What a woman says to a passionate lover should be written in the wind and the running water. |
 | The art of living is the art of knowing how to believe lies. |
 | An irreligious society cannot endure the truth of the human condition. It prefers a lie, no matter how idiotic it may be. |
 | The fact that so many successful politicians are such shameless liars is not only a reflection on them, it is also a reflection on us. When the people want the impossible, only liars can satisfy. |
| There are only two ways of telling the complete truth –anonymously and posthumously. |
 | Reason is made up of truths that must be told and truths that are not to be told. |
 | Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all. |
 | Lawyers spend their professional careers shoveling smoke. |
 | There is no truth. There is only perception. |
 | For the journalist, whatever is probable is true. |
 | Coming out of some mouths, the truth itself smells bad. |
 | Several excuses are always less convincing than one. |
 | Always the victor writes the history of the vanquished. He who beats distorts the faces of the beaten. The weaker depart from this world and the lies remain. |
 | Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears. |
| In human relationships, kindness and lies are worth a thousand truths. |
 | A petty reason perhaps why novelists more and more try to keep a distance from journalists is that novelists are trying to write the truth and journalists are trying to write fiction. |
 | In talking about the past, we lie with every breath we draw. |
| Lying is the strongest acknowledgment of the force of truth. |
| An honest man speaks the truth, though it may give offense; a vain man, in order that it may. |
 | The first virtue of all really great men is that they are sincere. They eradicate hypocrisy from their hearts. |
| All the historical books which contain no lies are extremely tedious. |
| A German is someone who cannot tell a lie without believing it himself. |
 | It takes one minute to tell a lie, and an hour to refute it. — Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist |
| It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies. — Noam Chomsky, 1928-, American linguist, philosopher, social activist |
 | I will never be able to write my memoirs, I lie too much. |
 | The cruelest lies are often told in silence. |
 | We lie better in writing. |
| Do not lie: it is a defense that is only given to children. |
 | Exaggeration is the lie of the honest man. — Joseph De Maistre, 1753-1821, Savoyard diplomat & philosopher |
| History is a constant conspiracy against the truth. — Joseph De Maistre, 1753-1821, Savoyard diplomat & philosopher |
 | Conscience is better served by a myth. — John Kenneth Galbraith, 1908-2006, American-Canadian economist |
 | It is not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true. |
| If you believe that their real intention is to kill you, it isn't unreasonable to believe that they would lie to you. — Henry Kissinger, 1923-2023, American politician (on doubts about PLO sincerity about recognition of Israel) |
 | Lying is the oxygen of social breathing. — Maurice Chapelan, 1906-1992, French author of maxims & journalist |
| To pretend to believe a lie is an exquisite lie. — Maurice Chapelan, 1906-1992, French author of maxims & journalist |
 | If you have something to say and say nothing, you are really telling a lie. — Ashleigh Brilliant, 1933-, British cartoonist & epigrammatist |
 | If I'm sincere today, what does it matter if I regret it tomorrow? — José Saramago, 1922-2010, Portuguese writer [Nobel 1998] (Blindness, 1995) |
 | Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty. — Stephen King, 1947-, American author of horror & fantasy fiction |
| Fiction is the truth inside the lie. — Stephen King, 1947-, American author of horror & fantasy fiction |
 | There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. |
| Where there are two people, there is untruth. |
| Truth is what's left when you run out of excuses. — Marty Rubin, 1930-1994, Canadian gay activist, author & journalist |
 | I like to do my principal research in bars, where people are more likely to tell the truth or, at least, lie less convincingly than they do in briefings and books. |
| The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind. — H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956, American columnist & cultural critic |
 | To say that a man lieth, is as much to say, as that he is brave towards God, and a coward towards men. |
 | The purpose of argument is to change the nature of truth. |
| Show me a completely smooth operation and I'll show you someone who's covering mistakes. Real boats rock. |
 | Any truth is better than indefinite doubt. |
| I’d rather see folks doubt what’s true than accept what isn’t. |
 | False modesty is the most decent of all lies. |
 | On the surface, an intelligible lie; underneath, the unintelligible truth. |
 | Sanity is a cozy lie. — Susan Sontag, 1933-2004, American writer, critic, activist |
 | The essential quality of a historian is not to be able to invent. |
 | A harmful truth is better than a useful lie. |
 | A truth that needs proof is a half-truth. |
 | As a general rule, if you want to get at the truth, hear both sides and believe neither. |
| Novelists tell that piece of truth hidden at the bottom of every lie. |
 | To overvalue something is a form of lying. |
| A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity. |
| Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie. |
| When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear. |
Personal Stories
 | I did not have sexual relations with that woman. — Bill Clinton, 1946-, American President [1992-2000] 2 likes |
Latin Quotes
 | Truth hates delay. Veritas odit moras. — Seneca, 5 AD-65 AD, Roman philosopher 55 likes |
Quotes in Verse
| A truth that's told with bad intent Beats all the lies you can invent. — William Blake, 1757-1827, English poet & painter 5 likes |
Funny Quotes
 | I never said most of the things I said. — Yogi Berra, 1925-2015, American baseball player & humorist 4 likes |
| The naked truth cannot compete successfully with a lie dressed in the latest fashion. — Zarko Petan, 1929-2014, Slovenian playwright & aphorist 1 likes |
| Fiction was invented the day Jonas arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale. |
Ancient Greek
 | If it’s not right, don’t do it; if it’s not true, don’t say it. Ει μη καθήκει, μη πράξης· ει μη αληθές εστι, μη είπης. — Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, Roman Emperor 46 likes |
 | A slip of the tongue speaks the truth. Η γλώσσα λανθάνουσα τ’ αληθή λέγει. — Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy) 7 likes |
 | The words of truth are simple by nature. Απλούς ο μύθος της αληθείας έφυ. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Phoenician women 6 likes |
| Night is for the thieves, light is for the truth. Κλεπτών γαρ η νυξ, της δ’ αληθείας το φως. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Iphigeneia in Tauris 5 likes |
| It is always better to tell the truth at every opportunity Αεί κράτιστον εστί τα αληθή λέγειν εν παντί καιρώ. — Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy) 5 likes |
 | Have courage. When you tell the truth, you will never go wrong. Θάρσει. Λέγων τ' αληθές ου σφαλεί ποτε. — Sophocles, 496-406 BC, Ancient tragic poet 4 likes |
 | I am bound to tell what I am told, but not in every case to believe it. Εγώ δε οφείλω λέγειν τα λεγόμενα, πείθεσθαί γε μεν ου παντάπασι οφείλω. — Herodotus, 480-420 BC, Ancient Greek historian, the “ father of History” 4 likes |
| A lie never lives to be old. Αλλ’ ουδέν έρπει ψεύδος εις γήρας χρόνου. — Sophocles, 496-406 BC, Ancient tragic poet 4 likes |
| False words do not bear fruit. Ουκ εξάγουσιν καρπόν οι ψευδείς λόγοι. — Sophocles, 496-406 BC, Ancient tragic poet 3 likes |
 | In wine, there is truth. Εν οίνω αλήθεια. — Alcaeus of Mytilene, 7th-6th cent. BC, Ancient Greek lyric poet 3 likes |
Proverbs
 | The truth can walk around naked; the lie has to be clothed. 28 likes |
 | Truth gives a short answer, while the lie usually babbles. 7 likes |
| The truth surfaces like oil on water. 6 likes |
 | The liar and the thief rejoice only in the first year. 6 likes |
 | Though not true, well said. Se non e vero, e ben trovato. 5 likes |
 | The liar is not believed even when he tells the truth. 5 likes |
| Children and fools tell the truth. 4 likes |
| The lie has short legs. 3 likes |
Movie Quotes
 | There's no need to lie. It's like poker. The truth is best. The others still think you're bluffing, so you win. — from the film Breathless (1960) 7 likes |
