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Falsehood: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

Falsehood is cowardice, -truth is courage.— HOSEA BALLOU — MS. Sermons.

And none speaks false, when there is none to hear.— BEATTIE — The Minstrel. Bk. II. St. 24.

And, after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but The truth in masquerade. C.— BYRON — Don Juan. Canto XI. St. 37.

Some truth there was, but dash'd and brew'd with lies, To please the fools, and puzzle all the wise.— DRYDEN — Absalom and Achitophel.

Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.— O. W. HOLMES — The Autocrat of the

Breakfast Table. VI. Urge him with truth to frame his fair replies; And sure he will; for wisdom never lies.— HOMER — Odyssey. Bk. III. L. 25.

Pope's trans. Who dares think one thing, and another tell, My heart detests him as the gates of hell.— HOMER — Iliad. Bk. IX. L. 412.

Pope's trans. For my part getting up seems not so easy By half as lying.— HOOD — Morning Meditations.

Round numbers are always false.— SAM'L JOHNSON — Johnsoniana.

Apothegms, Sentiment, etc. From Hawkins' Collective Edition. For no falsehood can endure. Touch of celestial temper.— MILTON — Paradise Lost. Bk. IV. L. 811.

It is not without good reason said, that he who has not a good memory should never take upon him the trade of lying.— MONTAIGNE — Of Liars. Bk. I. Ch. IX.

Some lie beneath the churchyard stone, And some before the Speaker.— PRAED — School and School Fellows.

For my part, if a lie may do thee grace, I'll gild it with the happiest terms I have.— Shakespeare — Henry IV. Pt. I. Act V. Sc. 4. L. 161.

He will lie, sir, with such volubility, that you would think truth were a fool.— Shakespeare — All's Well That Ends Well. Act IV. Sc. 3, L, 283,

Lord, Lord, how subject we old men are to this vice of lying!— Shakespeare — Henry IV. Pt. II. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 325.

Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying! I grant you I was down and out of breath; and so was he: but we rose both at an instant and fought a long hour by Shrewsbury clock.— Shakespeare — Henry IV. Pt. I. Act V. Sc. 4. L. 149,

Oh, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!— Shakespeare — Merchant of Venice. Act I. Sc. 3. L. 103.

These lies are like the father that begets them; gross as a mountain, open, palpable.— Shakespeare — Henry IV. Pt. I. Act II. Sc. 4. L. 249.

'Tis as easy as lying. S.— Shakespeare — Hamlet. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 372.

To lapse in fulness Is sorer than to lie for need, and falsehood Is worse in kings than beggars.— Shakespeare — Cymbeline. Act III. Sc. 6. L. 12.

Whose tongue soe'er speaks false, Not truly speaks; who speaks not truly, lies.— Shakespeare — King John. Act IV. Sc. 3. L. 91.

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth.— Shakespeare — Hamlet. Act II. Sc. 1. L. 63.

You lie-under a mistake- For this is the most civil sort of lie That can be given to a man's face, I now Say what I think.— SHELLEY — Trans. of Calderon's Magico Prodigioso. Sc. 1.

Had I a heart for falsehood framed. I ne'er could injure you.— R. B. SHERIDAN — The Duenna. Act. 1. Sc. 5.

This shows that liars ought to have good memories.— ALGERNON SIDNEY — Discourses on Government. Ch. II. Sec. XV.

A lie never lives to be old.— SOPHOCLES — Acrisius. Frag. 59.

I mean you lie-under a mistake. aa.— SWIFT — Polite Conversation. Dialogue 1.

That a lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies; That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright- But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight. bb.— TENNYSON — The Grandmother, St. 8.

And he that does one fault at first, And lies to hide it, makes it two.— WATTS — Song XV.

I give him joy that's awkward at a lie.— YOUNG — Night Thoughts. Night VIII. L. 361.