Deception

When the devil says his paternosters he wants to cheat you.

When the devil says his paternosters he wants to cheat you.

French proverbs

He that is a donkey, and believes himself a deer, finds out his mistake at the leaping of the ditch.

He that is a donkey, and believes himself a deer, finds out his mistake at the leaping of the ditch.

Italian proverbs

If you rewire the unconscious mechanisms that maintain you with assumptions derived from something you know to be unreal, then your meaningful instinct will take you places you should not go, in proportion to its corruption. There is little more terrifying than the possibility that you could come to a crisis point in your life when you need every faculty you possess, at that moment, to make the decision properly, only to find you have pathologized yourself with deceit and can no longer rely on your own judgment. Good luck to you, because nothing but luck will then serve to save you.

If you rewire the unconscious mechanisms that maintain you with assumptions derived from something you know to be unreal, then your meaningful instinct will take you places you should not go, in proportion to its corruption. There is little more terrifying than the possibility that you could come to a crisis point in your life when you need every faculty you possess, at that moment, to make the decision properly, only to find you have pathologized yourself with deceit and can no longer rely on your own judgment. Good luck to you, because nothing but luck will then serve to save you.

Jordan Peterson

Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.

Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

All are not cooks that walk with long knives.

All are not cooks that walk with long knives.

Russian proverbs

When one is in love one begins by deceiving oneself, one ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls romance.

When one is in love one begins by deceiving oneself, one ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls romance.

There are only two things. Truth and lies. Truth is indivisible, hence it cannot recognize itself; anyone who wants to recognize it has to be a lie.

There are only two things. Truth and lies. Truth is indivisible, hence it cannot recognize itself; anyone who wants to recognize it has to be a lie.

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

Charles Spurgeon

Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.

Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

No wise man ever thought that a traitor should be trusted.

No wise man ever thought that a traitor should be trusted.

Half the truth is often a great lie.

Half the truth is often a great lie.

Benjamin Franklin

No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.

No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.

Abraham Lincoln

Nationalism is power hunger tempered by self-deception.

Nationalism is power hunger tempered by self-deception.

No man was ever so much deceived by another as by himself.

No man was ever so much deceived by another as by himself.

We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.

We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.

When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.

In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.

In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.

Winston Churchill

The one charm about marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.

The one charm about marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.

The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.