“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar”

Last update Oct. 1, 2023. History

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Abraham Lincoln photo
Abraham Lincoln 618
16th President of the United States 1809–1865

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“A good liar must have a good memory. Kissinger is a stupendous liar with a remarkable memory.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

[The Trial of Henry Kissinger, 2002, 1859846319, 46240330, [E840.8.K58 H58 2001]]
2000s, 2002

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“Liars ought to have good memories.”

Algernon Sidney (1623–1683) British politician and political theorist

Source: Discourses Concerning Government (1689), Ch. 2, Sect. 15; comparable to: "He who has not a good memory should never take upon him the trade of lying", Michel de Montaigne, Book i. chap. ix. "Of Liars".

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“Success has always been a great liar”

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist
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“In either case the orator should bear clearly in mind throughout his whole speech what the fiction is to which he has committed himself, since we are apt to forget our falsehoods, and there is no doubt about the truth of the proverb that a liar should have a good memory.”
Vtrubique autem orator meminisse debebit actione tota quid finxerit, quoniam solent excidere quae falsa sunt: verumque est illud quod vulgo dicitur, mendacem memorem esse oportere.

Quintilian (35–96) ancient Roman rhetor

Book IV, Chapter II, 91; translation by H. E. Butler
Compare: "Liars ought to have good memories", Algernon Sidney, Discourses on Government, chapter ii, section xv.
Alternate translation for "solent excidere quae falsa sunt": False things tend to be forgotten
De Institutione Oratoria (c. 95 AD)

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“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.”

Thomas Sowell (1930) American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author

Big Lies in Politics http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2012/05/22/big_lies_in_politics/page/full, 22 May 2012.
2010s

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“There is no such thing as a good writer and a bad liar.”

Amy Bloom (1953) Fiction writer, screenwriter, social worker, psychotherapist

Source: A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You

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“The truthful man is usually a liar.”

Alfred Nobel (1833–1896) Swedish chemist, innovator, and armaments manufacturer

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