“We know how to tell many believable lies,
But also, when we want to, how to speak the plain truth.”
Stanley Lombardo (1943) Philosopher, Classicist
Theogony, lines 28–29
Translations, Works and Days and Theogony (1993)
Creusa, fragment 323.
“We know how to tell many believable lies,
But also, when we want to, how to speak the plain truth.”
Stanley Lombardo (1943) Philosopher, Classicist
Theogony, lines 28–29
Translations, Works and Days and Theogony (1993)
Diogenes Laërtius (180–240) biographer of ancient Greek philosophers
Aristotle, 9.
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.), Book 5: The Peripatetics
Grover Cleveland (1837–1908) 22nd and 24th president of the United States
Letter to the Democratic Convention (17 August 1884).
Context: A truly American sentiment recognizes the dignity of labor and the fact that honor lies in honest toil. Contented labor is an element of national prosperity. Ability to work constitutes the capital and the wage of labor the income of a vast number of our population, and this interest should be jealously protected. Our workingmen are not asking unreasonable indulgence, but as intelligent and manly citizens they seek the same consideration which those demand who have other interests at stake. They should receive their full share of the care and attention of those who make and execute the laws, to the end that the wants and needs of the employers and the employed shall alike be subserved and the prosperity of the country, the common heritage of both, be advanced.
“An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory.”
Millard Fillmore (1800–1874) American politician, 13th President of the United States (in office from 1850 to 1853)
Speech http://books.google.com/books?id=Ihs8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA407&dq=honorable+defeat (13 September 1844), Buffalo, New York, quoted in the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser (14 September 1844). Fillmore had lost the Whig nomination for governor of New York. The newspaper summary was: "He entreated them to enter the contest with zeal and enthusiasm; but as they valued the sacredness of their cause, and the stability of their principles, to resort to no unfair means: that an honorable defeat was better than a dishonorable victory." <br class="br">1840s
“There will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.”
Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America
2010s, 2016, July, (21 July 2016)
“It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies.”
Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist
“The English are polite by telling lies. The Americans are polite by telling the truth.”
Malcolm Bradbury (1932–2000) English author and academic
Page 269.
Stepping Westward (1965)