“Hypocrisy is a universal phenomenon. It ends with death, but not before.”

—  Isaac Asimov

"By the Numbers" (May 1973), in The Tragedy of the Moon (1973), p. 188
General sources

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Hypocrisy is a universal phenomenon. It ends with death, but not before." by Isaac Asimov?
Isaac Asimov photo
Isaac Asimov 303
American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston Uni… 1920–1992

Related quotes

Henri Poincaré photo

“If all the parts of the universe are interchained in a certain measure, any one phenomenon will not be the effect of a single cause, but the resultant of causes infinitely numerous; it is, one often says, the consequence of the state of the universe the moment before.”

Si toutes les parties de l’univers sont solidaires dans une certaine mesure, un phénomène quelconque ne sera pas l’effet d’une cause unique, mais la résultante de causes infiniment nombreuses ; il est, dit-on souvent, la conséquence de l’état de l’univers un instant auparavant.
Source: The Value of Science (1905), Ch. 2: The Measure of Time

“Faith is a universal human phenomenon. All people live by some faith.”

Roger Haight (1936) American theologian

Source: Dynamics Of Theology, Chapter One, Faith As A Dimension of The Human, p. 15

Peter F. Drucker photo

“As with every phenomenon of the objective universe, the first step toward understanding work is to analyze it.”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Source: 1960s - 1980s, MANAGEMENT: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (1973), Part 1, p. 182

William Shakespeare photo

“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.”

Variant: Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
Source: Julius Caesar

Leo Tolstoy photo

“The universal hypocrisy has so entered into the flesh and blood of all classes of our modern society, it has reached such a pitch that nothing in that way can rouse indignation. Hypocrisy in the Greek means "acting," and acting—playing a part—is always possible.”

Variant Translation: Hypocrisy with good reason means the same as acting, and anybody can pretend — act a part.
Source: The Kingdom of God is Within You (1894), Chapter XII, Conclusion—Repent Ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand

“The creationist account is as factual, historical and perspicuous and is thus fundamental in the understanding of every fact and phenomenon in the created universe.”

John Rohr (1934–2011) American political scientist

Source: To run a constitution, 1986, p. 176

Joseph H. Hertz photo

“Prayer is a universal phenomenon in the soul-life of man. It is the soul's reaction to the terrors and joys, the uncertainties and dreams of life.”

Joseph H. Hertz (1872–1946) British rabbi

Introduction (p. x)
The Authorised Daily Prayer Book

Sri Chinmoy photo

“Death is not the end. Death can never be the end. Death is the road. Life is the traveller. The soul is the guide.”

Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian writer and guru

My Rose Petals (1971)

J.C. Ryle photo

“Fear puts an end to openness of manner; fear leads to concealment; fear sows the seed of much hypocrisy, and leads to many a lie.”

J.C. Ryle (1816–1900) Anglican bishop

Source: The Upper Room (1888), Ch. XVI: "The Duties of Parents"

Related topics