There are no noble lies, but useful myths abound.
Lying
To a quite unwreckable Lie,
To a most impeccable Lie!
To a water-tight, fire-proof, angle-iron, sunk-hinge, time-lock, steel-faced Lie!
Not a private hansom Lie,
But a pair-and-brougham Lie,
Not a little-place-at-Tooting, but a country-house-with-shooting
And a ring-fence-deer-park Lie.
—-Kipling
We say that it can’t be true when we mean that it mustn’t.
No one inveighs so strictly against ad hominem as degenerate liars.
Lies are products, and supply must be commensurate with demand.
The check is sometimes in the mail, but no one has ever been just curious.
Clever lies are as common as clever truths are rare.
It’s not usually the truth that’s being shoved down your throat.
“We” means neither me nor thee.
The subtle tempter praises mediocrity to attack excellence, and deviance to attack normality.
Journalists used to be raffish and amusing liars, and they are no longer raffish or amusing.