Archive

Quotes

Alongside all swindlers the state now stands there as swindler-in-chief.

—Jacob Burckhardt, c. 1875

Someone who knows too much finds it hard not to lie.

—Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1947

He that will cheat you at play, will cheat you any way.

—Thomas Fuller, 1732

We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal.

—Tennessee Williams, 1953

And, after all, what is a lie? ’Tis but the truth in masquerade.

—Lord Byron, 1822

It was the men I deceived the most that I loved the most.

—Marguerite Duras, 1987

If you find excrement somewhere in the village, the chief was the one who put it there.

—Congolese proverb

Credulity forges more miracles than trickery could invent.

—Joseph Joubert, 1811

Your piping-hot lie is the best of lies.

—Plautus, c. 200 BC

There is much difference between imitating a good man, and counterfeiting him.

—Benjamin Franklin, 1738

If you steal, do not steal too much at a time. You may be arrested. Steal cleverly, little by little.

—Mobutu Sese Seko, 1991

An honest man is all right even if he’s an idiot…but a crook must have brains.

—Maxim Gorky, 1902

Cheating is more honorable than stealing. 

—German proverb