“A lie can become the truth in the hands of a despotic ruler.”

“A lie that is accepted by a sufficient number of ignorant voters becomes a political truth.”

James Bovard (1956) American journalist

“No association, no efficient combination of labor can be effected till men give up their liberty of action and subject themselves to a common despotic head or ruler. This is slavery, and towards this socialism is moving.”

George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) American activist

“Richard Nixon is a no good, lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he'd lie just to keep his hand in.”

Harry Truman (1884–1972) American politician, 33rd president of the United States (in office from 1945 to 1953)

“When you tell a lie often enough, you become unable to distinguish it from the truth.”

Jordan Peterson (1962) Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology

“Which is better, truth that is a lie or the lie that is truth?”

Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor

“Never tell a lie when you can tell the truth.”

Stephen King book Mr. Mercedes

“I live in a world where two truths coexist: where both hell and hope lie in the palm of my hand”

Alice Sebold book Lucky

“After Constantine … the ruler, not the average person or the weak person, is the model for ethical deliberations. A moral statement on the rightness of truth-telling or the wrongness of killing is tested first by whether a ruler can meet such standards.”

John Howard Yoder (1927–1997) 20th century American Mennonite theologian

“And even a liar can be scared into telling the truth, same as honest man can be tortured into telling a lie.”

William Faulkner book Light in August