Deception Quotes - Page 14

• Man is an evasive beast, given to cultivating strange notions about himself. He is humiliated by his simian ancestry, and tries to deny his animal nature, to persuade himself that he is not limited by its weaknesses nor concerned in its fate. And this impulse may be harmless, when it is genuine. But what are we to say when we see the formulas of heroic self-deception made use of by unheroic self-indulgence?

  Upton Sinclair

  Fate, Animal, Men

  "The Profits of Religion : An Essay in Economic Interpretation". Book by Upton Sinclair, Introductory, "Bootstrap-lifting", 1918.

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• Acting is a form of deception, and actors can mesmerize themselves almost as easily as an audience.

  Leo Rosten

  Acting, Actors, Form

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• I hate deception, even where the imagination only is concerned.

  George Washington

  Hate, Lying, Imagination

  George Washington (1855). “Maxims of Washington: Political, Social, Moral, and Religious”, p.311

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• The instinct for self-deception in human beings makes them try to banish from their minds dangers of which at bottom they are perfectly aware by declaring them non-existent.

  Stefan Zweig

  Self, Mind, Trying

  "Beware of Pity". Book by Stefan Zweig, 1939.

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• The best way to deceive a knave is to tell him the truth.

  Ivan Panin

  Knaves, Way, Deceiving

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• Machiavelli says that if as a ruler you accept that your every action must pass moral scrutiny, you will without fail be defeated by an opponent who submits to no such moral test. To hold on to power, you have not only to master the crafts of deception and treachery but to be prepared to use them where necessary.

  J. M. Coetzee

  Use, Crafts, Opponents

  "Diary of a Bad Year". Book by J. M. Coetzee, 2007.

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• Deception is a sort of seduction. In love and war, adultery and espionage, deceit can only succeed if the deceived party is willing, in some way, to be deceived.

  Ben Macintyre

  War, Party, Way

  Ben Macintyre (2010). “Operation Mincemeat: The True Spy Story that Changed the Course of World War II”, p.239, A&C Black

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• In civilized life, where the happiness, and indeed almost the existence, of man depends so much upon the opinion of his fellow-men, he is constantly acting a studied part. The bold and peculiar traits of native character are refined away or softened down by the levelling influence of what is termed good-breeding, and he practises so many petty deceptions and affects so many generous sentiments for the purposes of popularity that it is difficult to distinguish his real from his artificial character.

  Washington Irving

  Real, Character, Men

  Washington Irving (2015). “The Complete Short Stories of Washington Irving: The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Bracebridge Hall, Tales of a Traveler, The Alhambra, Woolfert’s Roost & The Crayon Papers Collections (Illustrated): The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, Old Christmas, The Voyage, Roscoe, The Widow’s Retinue, An Old Soldier, Mountjoy, Don Juan, Woolfert’s Roost, Tales of The Alhambra and many more”, p.383, e-artnow

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• We grow hostile to many an artist or writer, not because we finally come to see he has deceived us, but because he thought no subtler means were required to ensnare us.

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Mean, Artist, Deceived Us

  Friedrich Nietzsche, R. J. Hollingdale (1996). “Nietzsche: Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits”, p.275, Cambridge University Press

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• To think truly is noble and to be deceived is base.

  Plato

  Thinking, Noble, Deceived

  Plato (2015). “Theaetetus: Top Philosophy Collections”, p.134, 谷月社

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• Human life is thus only a perpetual illusion; men deceive and flatter each other. No one speaks of us in our presence as he does of us in our absence. Human society is founded on mutual deceit; few friendships would endure if each knew what his friend said of him in his absence, although he then spoke in sincerity and without passion.

  Blaise Pascal

  Passion, Men, Doe

  Blaise Pascal (2013). “Pascal's Pensees”, p.35, Simon and Schuster

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• The only safety is in the middle of total misunderstanding and deception.

  Henry Rollins

  Safety, Middle, Misunderstanding

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• ... we have broken down the self-respecting spirit of man with nursery tales and priestly threats, and we dare to assert, that inproportion as we have prostrated our understanding and degraded our nature, we have exhibited virtue, wisdom, and happiness, in our words, our actions, and our lives!

  Frances Wright

  Men, Self, Broken

  Frances Wright (1829). “Course of popular lectures as delivered by Frances Wright: with three addresses on various public occasions, and a reply to the charges against the French reformers of 1789. Second edition”, p.115

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• As a painter, I realized that what we see is just manifestation of unseen power. Since then [1958 Coup in Iraq], reality started to take another form in my mind. Hence, I was aware of deception of our senses.

  Ala Bashir

  Reality, Iraq, Mind

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• She's easy to lead around, a shiny present here, a pretty compliment there, and you have true love and a popped cherry sacrificed to the god of deception and hormones. Young girls are so ridiculous--so predictably easy.

  P. C. Cast

  Girl, True Love, Ridiculous

  P. C. Cast, Kristin Cast (2013). “House of Night Series”, p.591, Macmillan

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• Most of our platitudes notwithstanding, self-deception remains the most difficult deception. The tricks that work on others count for nothing in that very well-lit back alley where one keeps assignation with oneself: no winning smiles will do here, no prettily drawn lists of good intentions. One shuffles flashily but in vain through one's marked cards- the kindness done for the wrong reason, the apparent triumph which involved no real effort, the seemingly heroic act into which one had been shamed.

  Joan Didion

  Kindness, Real, Winning

  Joan Didion (1968). “Slouching towards Bethlehem”

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• Politeness is deception in pretty packaging.

  Veronica Roth

  Packaging, Politeness

  Veronica Roth (2013). “The Divergent Series Complete Collection: Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant”, p.44, Harper Collins

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• If you asked me what makes the world go round, I would say self-deception. Self-deception allows us to create a consistent narrative for ourselves that we actually believe. I’m not saying that the truth doesn’t matter. It does. But self-deception is how we survive.

  Errol Morris

  Believe, Self, Doe

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• ...Why are all these masks winking?" Jason pointed around the room with his fork. The loremaster dabbed at his mouth with a frilled purple napkin. "One eye is open to all truth, the other closed to all deception.

  Brandon Mull

  Eye, Purple, Jason

  Brandon Mull (2013). “Brandon Mull's Beyonders Trilogy: A World Without Heroes; Seeds of Rebellion; Chasing the Prophecy”, p.48, Simon and Schuster

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• I worry about anthropomorphism as a form of self-deception. (The Christian religion is an anthropomorphic account of the universe.)

  A. S. Byatt

  Christian, Self, Worry

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• You just sit there and tolerate it, the same way everything in this country is tolerated. Every deception, every lie, every bullet in the brains. Just as you are already tolerating bullets in the brains that will be implemented only after the bullet is put in your brains.

  Imre Kertész

  Country, Lying, Brain

  "Liquidation" by Imre Kertész, www.nytimes.com. December 19, 2004.

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• Rise above the deceptions and temptations of the mind. This is your duty. You are born for this only; all other duties are self-created and self-imposed owing to ignorance.

  Sivananda

  Ignorance, Self, Temptation

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• Especially difficult when the first and best unconscious move of a dedicated liar is to persuade himself he's sincere. And once he's sincere, all deception vanishes.

  Ian Mcewan

  Liars, Moving, Firsts

  Ian McEwan (2010). “Saturday”, p.141, Random House

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• Fake it may be, lies and deceptions, but this is the world in which we find ourselves, and here we must make our little lives.

  Ian McDonald

  Lying, Fake, World

  Ian McDonald (2007). “Brasyl”

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• People who believe that they are strong-willed and the masters of their destiny can only continue to believe this by becoming specialists in self-deception.

  James A. Baldwin

  Life, Strong, Believe

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