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Quotes about truth and lies

458 quotes from 240 people

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My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
Wilfred Owen1893–1918Dulce et Decorum Est (1920)In context
- War & Peace
Matilda told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one’s Eyes;
Hilaire Belloc1870–1953Matilda (1907)In context
- Comedy
The more outré and grotesque an incident is the more carefully it deserves to be examined, and the very point which appears to complicate a case is, when duly considered and scientifically handled, the one which is most likely to elucidate it.
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), Chapter 15In context
- Facts
- Thinking
The truth, for time alone reveals the just;
A villain is detected in a day.
Sophocles496–406 BCOedipus the King (c. 429 BC), spoken by CreonIn context
- Justice
- Time
Yea, I am free, strong in the strength of truth.
Sophocles496–406 BCOedipus the King (c. 429 BC), spoken by TeiresiasIn context
- Freedom
All warfare is based on deception.
Sun Tzu544–496 BCThe Art of War (5th century BC), Chapter IIn context
- War & Peace
Oh, my poor Mathilde! Why, my necklace was paste. It was worth at most five hundred francs!
Guy de Maupassant1850–1893The Necklace (1884)In context
For every time She shouted “Fire!”
They only answered “Little Liar!”
And therefore when her Aunt returned,
Matilda, and the House, were Burned.
Hilaire Belloc1870–1953Matilda (1907)In context
- Comedy
The lady protests too much, methinks.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Hamlet (c. 1600), Act III, Scene II, spoken by QueenIn context
- Women
No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.
Oscar Wilde1854–1900The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), The PrefaceIn context
- Art
Truth hath no confines.
Herman Melville1819–1891Moby-Dick (1851), Chapter XXXVIIn context
I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am!
Nathaniel Hawthorne1804–1864The Scarlet Letter (1850), Chapter XVIIIn context
They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft, and therefore seldom fail to punish it with death; for they allege, that care and vigilance, with a very common understanding, may preserve a man’s goods from thieves, but honesty has no defence against superior cunning
Jonathan Swift1667–1745Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput, Chapter VIIn context
- Laws
It is better to be unhappy and know the worst, than to be happy in a fool’s paradise!
Fyodor Dostoyevsky1821–1881The Idiot (1869), Part IV, Chapter VIn context
- Happiness
Away, and mock the time with fairest show:
False face must hide what the false heart doth know.
William Shakespeare1564–1616Macbeth (c. 1606), Act I, Scene VII, spoken by MacbethIn context