Those who worship their own lying
What’s the most offensive is not their lying — one can always forgive lying — lying is a delightful thing, for it leads to truth — what is offensive is that they lie and worship their own lying....
Fyodor Dostoevsky – Crime and Punishment (1866)
Or lie for the love of lying
Very talkative people always seemed to me to be divided into two classes — those who lie for a purpose and those who lie for the love of lying;
Ambrose Bierce - The Man and the Snake (1890)
Or take pride in thorough lying
What do I care? I lie more often than I tell the truth. I have a sort of pride in it. If a man is to be a liar, let him be a thorough one.
George Gissing – The Emancipated (1890)
Or adopt a confidential servant's lying
Lies, lies, nothing but lies! But I daresay I’m too ‘ard on him; isn’t lies our natural lot? What is servants for but to lie when it is in their master’s interest, and to be a confidential servant is to be the Prince of liars!
George Moore - Esther Waters (1894)
Or lie about themselves
“I began something that has been going on and on in me all these years,” he explained. “It is a trick one practises, this lying to oneself about oneself.”
Sherwood Anderson – Many Marriages (1923)
Or blend lying into the act
He scowled. “Damn all actors anyway. You can’t get at ’em. Professional liars, that’s what they are when you get down to it. You can’t tell when they’re acting and when they’re not.”
Christopher Bush - The Case of the Amateur Actor (1955)
6 comments:
I liked this idea that I recently saw on Gurwinder's Substack page:
"Everyone is just a marketing campaign for their gametes."
Sam - I don't like the idea of Ed Davey marketing his gametes.
To repurpose the Rumsfeld Matrix:
There are facts
There are lies
There are unknown facts
There are unknown lies
Plus I guess there are electioneering claims which manage to mash all four into an unholy distraction.
DJ - thanks, I'd forgotten about the Rumsfeld Matrix. It certainly can be repurposed into lies and probably political personas too. Worth a blog post before the election I reckon.
"those who lie for the love of lying": Blair and Clinton x 2.
A pal of mine knew a Cambridge college Fellow who was in that category too. Unfortunately he was the college Bursar. They had to get rid of him in the end.
dearieme - our son knew a lad at secondary school who was fond of lying. He seemed to enjoy doing it even if his lies were obviously improbable. At the time we thought it was odd for someone of that age to do it all the time, but maybe it isn't, maybe they begin early.
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