Variant: A sign is anything that can be used to tell a lie.
Source: Trattato di semiotica generale (1975); [A Theory of Semiotics] (1976)
“It is a principle of diplomacy that one must know something of the truth in order to lie convincingly.”
Source: The Hunt for Red October
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Tom Clancy 83
American author 1947–2013Related quotes
“One must be something in order to do something.”
Conversations with Eckermann (20 October 1828)
"La vida es difícil. Para estar en paz con uno mismo hay que decir la verdad. Para estar en paz con el prójimo hay que mentir."
Descanso de caminantes, 2001.
“Give me just enough information so that I can lie convincingly.”
“The same principle that forbids me to lie does not allow me to tell the truth.”
“In order to know men, something must be chanced. Who risks himself of nothing knows nothing.”
"Ingmar's self portrait" (1957) as quoted in "Who is he really?" http://www.ingmarbergman.se/universe.asp?guid=4F72F9D3-43BB-405D-B42B-3D091B8FAF3A