Discussion of Operation Overlord with Stalin at the Teheran Conference (November 30, 1943); in The Second World War, Volume V : Closing the Ring (1952), Chapter 21 (Teheran: The Crux), p. 338.
Post-war years (1945–1955)
Variant: In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.
“No. Men should die for lies. But the truth is too precious to die for.”
Falsehood in Wartime (1928), Introduction
Context: Between nations, where the consequences are vital, where the destiny of countries and provinces hangs in the balance, the lives and fortunes of millions are affected and civilization itself is menaced, the most upright men honestly believe that there is no depth of duplicity to which they may not legitimately stoop. They have got to do it. The thing cannot go on without the help of lies.
This is no plea that lies should not be used in war-time, but a demonstration of how lies must be used in war-time. If the truth were told from the outset, there would be no reason and no will for war.
Anyone declaring the truth: "Whether you are right or wrong, whether you win or lose, in no circumstances can war help you or your country," would find himself in gaol very quickly. In war-time, failure to lie is negligence, the doubting of a lie a misdemeanour, the declaration of the truth a crime.
“He said it was her fault.
She said it wasn't at all.
But the truth lies somewhere in the middle.”
Song lyrics, The Sensual World (1989)
“Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.”
Speech at Aylesbury, Royal and Central Bucks Agricultural Association (21 September 1865), cited in Wit and Wisdom of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, Collected from his Writings and Speeches (1881), p. 356
1860s
“Because the truth sometimes hurts," I said.
Yeah," he said. "So do lies, though.”
Source: Just Listen
“I don’t think she told any lies. She just forgot to tell the whole truth.”
Source: Dreams of Steel (1990), Chapter 10 (p. 263)
“If wars can be started with lies, they can be stopped by truth.”
Source: Quoted in Fate Of Anti-War Journalism Lies in Upcoming Assange Hearings, Sam Carliner, https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/10/22/fate-anti-war-journalism-lies-upcoming-assange-hearings October 22, 2021
Source: The Political Economy of International Relations (1987), Chapter Nine, transformation Of The Global Economy, p. 351
