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Jonathan Swift Quotes about Lying

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Although the devil be the father of lies, he seems, like other great inventors, to have lost much of his reputation by the continual improvements that have been made upon him.

Although the devil be the father of lies, he seems, like other great inventors, to have lost much of his reputation by the continual improvements that have been made upon him.

Jonathan Swift
Father, Lying, Devil
Jonathan Swift (2011). “Gulliver's Travels and Other Writings”, p.558, Bantam Classics

It often happens that, if a lie be believed only for an hour, it has done its work, and there is no further occasion for it.

Jonathan Swift
Work, Lying, Done
Jonathan Swift, Thomas Roscoe (1859). “The works of Jonathan Swift, D.D.: with copious notes and additions and a memoir of the author”, p.458

A lie is an excuse guarded

Jonathan Swift
Lying, Excuse, Dare

Brutes find out where their talents lie; A bear will not attempt to fly, A foundered horse will oft debate Before he tries a five barred gate. A dog by instinct turns aside Who sees the ditch too deep and wide, But man we find the only creature Who, led by folly, combats nature; Who, when she loudly cries-Forbear! With obstinacy fixes there; And where the genius least inclines, Absurdly bends his whole designs.

Jonathan Swift
Dog, Horse, Lying

This single Stick, which you now behold ingloriously lying in that neglected Corner, I once knew in a flourishing State in a Forest: It was full of Sap, full of Leaves, and full of Boughs: But now, in vain does the busy Art of Man pretend to vie with Nature, by tying that withered Bundle of Twigs to its sapless Trunk: It is at best but the Reverse of what it was; a Tree turned upside down, the Branches on the Earth, and the Root in the Air.

Jonathan Swift
Art, Nature, Lying
Jonathan Swift, Thomas Roscoe (1859). “The works of Jonathan Swift, D.D.: with copious notes and additions and a memoir of the author”, p.551

A lie does not consist in the indirect position of words, but in the desire and intention, by false speaking, to deceive and injure your neighbour.

Jonathan Swift
Lying, Hype, Desire

Brutes find out where their talents lie; a bear will not attempt to fly.

Jonathan Swift
Lying, Bears, Talent
Jonathan Swift, Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols (1801). “Poems, Polite convesation, etc”, p.166

"Lawyers Are": Those whose interests and abilities lie in perverting, confounding and eluding the law.

Jonathan Swift
Lying, Law, Ability

Let a man be ne'er so wise, he may be caught with sober lies.

Jonathan Swift
Wise, Lying, Men
Jonathan Swift, David Laing Purves (1871). “The Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D.: Carefully Selected; with a Biography of the Author”, p.590

An excuse is a lie guarded.

Jonathan Swift
Lying, Responsibility, Excuse
Jonathan Swift (1850). “The works of Jonathan Swift: containing interesting and valuable papers, not hitherto published ; with a memoir of the author”, p.837

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