“It was difficult to tell them the truth when a lie would have been so much easier for them to understand.”
Source: His Dark Materials, The Subtle Knife (1997), Ch. 4 : Trepanning
Context: Lyra sighed; she had forgotten how roundabout Scholars could be. It was difficult to tell them the truth when a lie would have been so much easier for them to understand.
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Philip Pullman 161
English author 1946Related quotes

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Campaign statement in Fresno, California (10 September 1952); earlier incidence of similar comments exist:
If Mr. Hughes will stop lying about me, I will stop telling the truth about him.
William Randolph Hearst, about Charles Evans Hughes, in 1906, as quoted in The Quote Verifier : Who Said What, Where, and When (2006) by Ralph Keyes
If you will refrain from telling any lies about the Republican Party, I'lll promise not to tell the truth about the Democrats.
Chauncey Depew, as quoted in "If Elected I Promise … "Stories and Gems of Wisdom by and About Politicians (1969) by John F. Parker

The R. Crumb Handbook by Robert Crumb and Peter Poplaski (2005), p. 297

“It is so much easier to tell intimate things in the dark.”
Book I: The Suburb, Ch. IV http://books.google.com/books?id=ByhFAAAAIAAJ&q=%22It+is+so+much+easier+to+tell+intimate+things+in+the+dark%22&pg=PA21#v=onepage
Casuals of the Sea (1916)