Quotes about lies

A collection of quotes on the topic of lie.

„Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness.“

— Anne Frank victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary 1929 - 1945

People, Wealth

„If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.“

— Adolf Hitler Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party 1889 - 1945

„Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all.“

— Neil Gaiman English fantasy writer 1960
Context: We writers – and especially writers for children, but all writers – have an obligation to our readers: it's the obligation to write true things, especially important when we are creating tales of people who do not exist in places that never were – to understand that truth is not in what happens but what it tells us about who we are. Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all.

Truth

„Lie still, lie still, my breaking heart;
My silent heart, lie still and break:
Life, and the world, and mine own self, are changed
For a dream's sake.“

— Christina Rossetti English poet 1830 - 1894

Life, World, Dreams, Change

„Drink and dance and laugh and lie,
Love, the reeling midnight through,
For tomorrow we shall die!
(But, alas, we never do.)“

— Dorothy Parker, Death and Taxes
"The Flaw in Paganism" in Death and Taxes (1931)

Love, Drink, Dance

„He who died at Azan sends
This to comfort all his friends:—
Faithful friends! It lies I know
Pale and white and cold as snow;
And ye say, 'Abdallah’s dead!'
Weeping at the feet and head.
I can see your falling tears,
I can hear your sighs and prayers;
Yet I smile and whisper this:
I am not the thing you kiss.
Cease your tears and let it lie;
It was mine—it is not I.“

— Edwin Arnold British poet and journalist 1832 - 1904
After Death in Arabia.

Faith, Smile, Kiss, Tear

„There is only one sin. and that is theft... when you tell a lie, you steal someones right to the truth.“

— Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

Truth

„At that time (last spring) [U. S., 1928] I did not consider this medium to be of any signal importance in the world of art; merely a very amusing stunt cleverly executed.... however, wishing to return to Paris, I felt it would be quite justifiable to have an exhibition here, where "clever stunts" are highly appreciated, so I came over 3 months ago and set to work, carving wood and twisting wire. These new studies in wire, however, did not remain the simple modest little things I had done in New York. They are still simple, more simple than before; and therein lie the great possibilities which I have only recently come to feel for the wire medium.“

— Alexander Calder American artist 1898 - 1976

World, Art, Feeling, Spring

„Religion was too vague. God was different. He was something real, something I could feel. But there were only certain times when I could feel it. I used to lie between cool, clean sheets at night after I'd had a bath, after I had washed my hair and scrubbed my knuckles and finger-nails and teeth. Then I could lie quite still in the dark with my face to the window with the trees in it, and talk to God. "I am clean, now. I've never been as clean. I'll never be cleaner." And somehow, it was God. I wasn't sure that it was… just something cool and dark and clean.“

— Frances Farmer American actress 1913 - 1970

God, Religion, Feeling, Tree

„People always told me, 'Be careful what you do,
Don't go around breaking young girls' hearts,'
And momma always told me, 'Be careful who you love,
Be careful what you do, 'cause a lie becomes the truth.“

— Michael Jackson American singer, songwriter and dancer 1958 - 2009

Love, People, Truth, Girl

„So if I said I never did drugs, that would mean I lie and get fucked more than the president does!“

— Eminem American rapper and actor 1972
"Role Model" (Track 9).

„She's mad, but she's magic. There's no lie in her fire.“

— Charles Bukowski American writer 1920 - 1994

Madness

„... the wicked lie, that the past is always tense and the future, perfect.“

— Zadie Smith, White Teeth

Past, Future, Perfection

„The girls show up wearing nothing. I can’t lie, I’m 16, I don’t hate it. I don’t have a girlfriend.“

— Justin Bieber Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor 1994
Vibe "Justin Bieber on Photo Shoots, Puberty, 2Pac & Drake" http://www.vibe.com/article/justin-bieber-photo-shoots-puberty-2pac-drake, 22 July 2010

Hate, Girl

„The first thing a man will do for his ideal is lie“

— Joseph Alois Schumpeter Austrian economist 1883 - 1950

„There are also animals which are called elks [alces "moose" in Am. Engl.; elk "wapiti"]. The shape of these, and the varied colour of their skins, is much like roes, but in size they surpass them a little and are destitute of horns, and have legs without joints and ligatures; nor do they lie down for the purpose of rest, nor, if they have been thrown down by any accident, can they raise or lift themselves up. Trees serve as beds to them; they lean themselves against them, and thus reclining only slightly, they take their rest; when the huntsmen have discovered from the footsteps of these animals whither they are accustomed to betake themselves, they either undermine all the trees at the roots, or cut into them so far that the upper part of the trees may appear to be left standing. When they have leant upon them, according to their habit, they knock down by their weight the unsupported trees, and fall down themselves along with them.“

— Julius Caesar Roman politician and general -100 - -44 BC
Book VI

Tree, Appearance, Animals, Parting

Help us translate English quotes

Discover interesting quotes and translate them.

Translate quotes