Quotes
Quotes about Lies
As geographers, Sosius, crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts, and unapproachable bogs.
The most perfect soul, says Heraclitus, is a dry light, which flies out of the body as lightning breaks from a cloud.
If we are not stupid or insincere when we say that the good or ill of man lies within his own will, and that all beside is nothing to us, why are we still troubled?
The images of twenty of the most illustrious families--the Manlii, the Quinctii, and other names of equal splendour--were carried before it [the bier of Junia]. Those of Brutus and Cassius were not displayed; but for that very reason they shone with pre-eminent lustre.
Remember that man's life lies all within this present, as 't were but a hair's-breadth of time; as for the rest, the past is gone, the future yet unseen. Short, therefore, is man's life, and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells.
Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life,--there, if one must speak out, the real man.
Aristotle was once asked what those who tell lies gain by it. Said he, "That when they speak truth they are not believed."
Democritus says, "But we know nothing really; for truth lies deep down."
A close mouth catches no flies.
There were but two families in the world, Have-much and Have-little.
The efficacy of religion lies precisely in what is not rational, philosophic or eternal; its efficacy lies in the unforeseen, the miraculous, the extraordinary. Thus religion attracts more devotion according as it demands more faith,--that is to say, as it becomes more incredible to the profane mind. The philosopher aspires to explain away all mysteries, to dissolve them into light. Mystery on the other hand is demanded and pursued by the religious instinct; mystery constitutes the essence of worship, the power of proselytism. When the "cross" became the "foolishness" of the cross, it took possession of the masses.
All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Everyone who enjoys thinks that the principal thing to the tree is the fruit, but in point of fact the principal thing to it is the seed.--Herein lies the difference between them that create and them that enjoy.
The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies.
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.
Whatever lies before us must keep its door tight shut. Whatever's past is past.
See the bees and butterflies, blessed creatures. Hear that blackbird, or perhaps it is a trush. We take what life we can.
The trouble with even sincere and sensible statements is that they can deal only in either tautology or lies
Life's all telling lies nowadays. All cheating and being a stranger to the truth.
I wait no longer now: wide lies the way, unsure, uncharted. Only this I know: the sea has dubious currents
It was for lying, he saw hopelessly, that words had been made. In the beginning was the word and the word was the Father of Lies
It was for lying, he saw hopelessly, that words had been made. In the beginning was the word and the word was with the Father of Lies
Gangrene? The ghastliest word, I had often thought, in the English language; it insolently connoted life
In a free society, intellectuals are among the under-privileged. What they offer - as schoolteachers, university lecturers, writers - is not greatly wanted. If they threaten to withdraw their labour, nobody is going to be much disturbed. To refuse to publish a volume of free verse or take a class in structural linguistics - that's not like cutting off the power supplies or stopping the buses
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared
