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DECEPTION

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[QUOTES FOLLOW LINKS]

see:

APPEARANCE

CANDOR

CHARLATANS, CHEATS

CLEVER

CORRUPTION

CRIME & PUNISHMENT

DISGUISE

DISHONESTY

EXAGGERATION

FRAUDS

GULLIBLE

HYPOCRISY

ILLUSIONS

IMPOSTORS

LIES/LIARS/LYING

MYSTERY

PHONIES

PLAGIARISM

PRANKS

PRETENSION

PROPAGANDA

PSYCHICS

SCOUNDREL

SELF-DECEPTION

SELLING OUT

TAKING ADVANTAGE

TREACHERY, TREASON

VILLAINS

WEASELS


Youth is easily deceived, because it is quick to hope.
--Aristotle (384—322 B.C.)
Greek philosopher.
_The Art of Rhetoric_ [c. 350 B.C.]

[The War Office kept three sets of figures:] one to
mislead the public, another to mislead the Cabinet,
and the third to mislead itself.
--H(erbert) H(enry) Asquith (1852—1928)
Liberal prime minister of Great Britain [1908—1916].
In Alistair Horne _Price of Glory_ [1962].

Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.
--Francis Bacon (1561—1626)
English philosopher and essayist.
_Essays_ [1625], 22, "Of Cunning"

-

Beware of false prophets, which come to you
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves.
--Bible
New Testament, "Matthew" 7:15


Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards
his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
--Bible
"Proverbs" 20:17

-

While your friend holds you affectionately by both
hands you are safe, for you can watch both his.
--Ambrose Bierce (1842—1914)
American newspaperman, wit, and satirist.
Quoted in Paul Fatout _Ambrose Bierce the Devils Lexicographer_ [1951].

A truth that's told with bad intent,
Beats all the Lies you can invent.
--William Blake (1757—1827)
English poet.
"Auguries of Innocence", 1.53 [1789]

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Many an honest man practices on himself an amount of deceit,
sufficient, if practiced on another, and in a little different way,
to send him to the State prison.
--Christian Nestell Bovee (1820—1904)
American writer.
Quoted in Tryon Edwards _A Dictionary of Thoughts_, p. 107 [1891].


No man is happy without a delusion of some kind.
Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities.
--Christian Nestell Bovee (1820—1904)
American writer.
Quoted in Louis Klopsch
_Many Thoughts of Many Minds_ p. 66 [1896].

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The world wants to be deceived.
--Sebastian Brant (1457—1521)
German satirical poet.
_The Ship of Fools_ (Das Narrenschiff) [1494]

The surest way of making a dupe is to
let your victim suppose you are his.
--Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803—1873)
British novelist and politician.
Attributed in Maturin M. Ballou _Treasury of Thought_, p. 118 [10th ed. 1884].

I begin to smell a rat.
--Miguel de Cervantes (1547—1616)
Spanish novelist.
_Don Quixote de la Mancha_, I, 4, 10 [1605],
trans. Peter Anthony Motteux and John Ozell [1743].

There is less misery in being cheated than in that kind
of wisdom which perceives, or thinks it perceives, that
all mankind are cheats.
--Edwin Hubbel Chapin (1814—1880)
American clergyman and author.
_Humanity in the City_ [1854]

We take greater pains to persuade others that we
are happy than in endeavoring to think so ourselves.
--Attributed to Confucius by Oliver Goldsmith; quoted in John Timbs
_Laconics: Or, The Best Words of the Best Authors_, p. 125 [1856, 8th ed.].

It's discouraging to think how many people are
shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.
--Noël Coward (1899—1973)
English playwright, actor, and composer.
_Blithe Spirit_ [1941]

There is no killing the suspicion that deceit has once begotten.
--George Eliot [Mary Ann Evans] (1819—1880)
English novelist.
_Romola_, p. 443 [1862–1863]

An open foe may prove a curse,
But a pretended friend is worse.
--John Gay (1685—1732)
English poet and dramatist.
_Fables_ [1727] "The Shepherd's Dog and the Wolf"

We are never deceived, we deceive ourselves.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832)
German poet, novelist, and playwright.
Attributed in James Wood _Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient
and Modern English and Foreign Sources: Including Phrases_ [1899].

No man was ever so much deceived by another as by himself.
--Fulke Greville (1554—1628)
English philosophical poet.
In _Maxims, Characters And Reflections_ [3rd ed., 1757].

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Cunning is the art of concealing our own defects,
and discovering other people's weaknesses.
--William Hazlitt (1778—1830)
English essayist.
_Characteristics in the Manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims_ [1823]


We all wear some disguise, make some professions,
use some artifice, to set ourselves off as being
better than we are; and yet it is not denied that
we have some good intentions and praiseworthy
qualities at bottom.
--William Hazlitt (1778—1830)
English essayist.
_Sketches and Essays_ [1839], "On Cant and Hypocrisy"

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Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is the
man who hides one thing in his heart and
speaks another.
--Homer (c. 850? BC)
Greek epic poet.
_The Iliad_, bk. IX [c. 800 B.C.]

Her mouth is a honey-blossom,
No doubt, as the poet sings;
But within her lips, the petals,
Lurks a cruel bee that stings.
--William Dean Howells (1837—1920)
American novelist and critic.
"The Sarcastic Fair" in _Poems_ [1873].

Th' feller that agrees with ever'thing you
say is either a fool er he is gettin' ready
t'skin you.
--Frank McKinney (Kin) Hubbard (1868—1930)
American humorist.
_Back Country Folks_ [1913]

He that applauds him who does not deserve praise, is
endeavoring to deceive the public; he that hisses in
malice or sport, is an oppressor and a robber.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
_The Idler_ [1758—1760] (essays in the newspaper
"The Universal Chronicle") [7 October 1758]

Abuse of words, foundation of idealogy.
--Joseph Joubert (1754—1824)
French philosopher.
_Pensées_ [1838], tr. Paul Auster [1983]

The true way to be deceived is to think
oneself more clever than others.
--François de La Rochefoucauld (1613—1680)
French classical author.
_Reflections; or, Sentences and Moral Maxims_, # 127 [1678]

Human beings seem to have an almost unlimited
capacity to deceive themselves and to deceive
themselves into taking their own lies for truth.
--R.D. Laing (1927—1989)
Scottish psychiatrist.
_The Politics of Experience_ [1967]

I give you bitter pills in sugar coating. The
pills are harmless, the poison is in the sugar.
--Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (1909—1966)
Polish writer.
_Unkempt Thoughts_ [1962]

People are not always what they seem.
--Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729—1781)
German dramatist.
_Nathan der Weise_ [1779]

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You can fool all of the people some of the time and
some of the people all of the time, but you can't
fool all of the people all of the time.
--Abraham Lincoln (1809—1865)
American Republican statesman, President [1861—1865].
In a speech in Clinton, Illinois [8 September 1858].

& note:

One can fool some men, or fool all men in some places
and times, but one cannot fool all men in all places and
ages.
--Denis Diderot (1713—1784)
French writer and philosopher.
_Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des Sciences_, vol. 4 [1754]

& see:

You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of
the people some of the time, but you can make a damn fool
of yourself any old time.
--Laurence J. Peter (1919—1990)
Canadian teacher and author.
_Peter's Almanac_ [1982]

-

Men are so simple and so ready to obey present
necessities, that one who deceives will always
find those who allow themselves to be deceived.
--Niccolò Machiavelli (1469—1527)
Florentine statesman and political philosopher.
_The Prince_ [written 1513]

The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he
knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.
--H.L. (Henry Louis) Mencken (1880—1956)
American journalist and literary critic.
_Notes on Democracy_ [1926]

One is easily fooled by that which one loves.
--Jean Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622—1673)
French comic dramatist.
_Le Tartuffe_, IV, 3
In Kate Louise Roberts
_Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations_, p.183 [1922].

This world is all a fleeting show,
For man's illusion given;
The smiles of joy, the tears of woe,
Deceitful shine, deceitful flow,
There's nothing true but Heaven.
--Thomas Moore (1779—1852)
Irish poet, satirist, composer, and musician.
"This World Is All a Fleeting Show" in _Sacred Songs_ [1816].

Deadly poisons are concealed under sweet honey.
--Ovid [Publius Ovidius Naso] (43 B.C.—18 A.D.)
Roman poet.
_Amores_ I. 8. 104 [16 B.C.]

He carries a stone in one hand, and offers bread with the other.
--Titus Maccius Plautus (254—184 BC)
Roman comic dramatist.
_Aulularia_ II. 2. 18

With one hand he put
A penny in the urn of poverty,
And with the other took a shilling out.
--Robert Pollok (1799—1827)
Scottish poet.
_The Course of Time_, bk. VIII [1827]

O what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!
--Sir Walter Scott (1771—1832)
Scottish novelist and poet.
_Marmion_ [1808], canto 6, st. 17 [1808]

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The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_The Merchant of Venice_, I, iii [1596-98]


All that glisters is not gold.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_The Merchant of Venice_, II, vii [1596-98]


Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more!
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_Much Ado About Nothing_, II, iii [1598-99]


This above all, to thine own self be true,
And it must follow as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_Hamlet_, I, iii [1601]


The devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_Hamlet_, II, ii [1601]


I want that glib and oily art
To speak and purpose not.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_King Lear_, I, i, 226 [1605-06]

-

The man scarce lives who is not more credulous than he ought to be,
and who does not, upon many occasions, give credit to tales, which
not only turn out to be perfectly false, but which a very moderate
degree of reflection and attention might have taught him could not
well be true. The natural disposition is always to believe. It is
acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and
they very seldom teach it enough. The wisest and most cautious
of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is
afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly
think of believing.
--Adam Smith (1723—1790)
Scottish economist.
_The Theory of Moral Sentiments_, pt. VII , sec. iv [1759]

The fox changes his skin but not his habits.
--Suetonius [Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus] (c. 69—c. 122)
Roman biographer and antiquarian.
_The Lives of the Caesars_ "The Life of Vespasian", 16

-

We should not believe every word and suggestion, but should
carefully consider all things in accordance with the will of God.
For such is the weakness of human nature, alas, that evil is often
more readily believed and spoken of another than good.

But perfect men do not easily believe every tale that is told them,
for they know that man's nature is prone to evil, and his words to
deception.

--Thomas a' Kempis (1380—1471)
German ascetical writer.
_The Imitation of Christ_ [c. 1420], bk. 1, ch. 4, "On Prudence in Action"

-

Don't tell fish stories where the people know you;
but particularly, don't tell them where they know
the fish.
--attributed to Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835—1910)
American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot.

-----

artifice (noun)
1. clever trick: a clever trick or stratagem.
2. cleverness: the use of clever stratagems or tricks.
3. insincere behavior: the deceiving of people in a clever or subtle way.

bamboozle [bam-BOO-zuhl], verb:
1. To deceive or get the better of (someone) by trickery, flattery, or the like.
2. To perplex; mystify.

captious (adj.) [ 'kæp-shês]
Not merely deceptive but designed to (mis)lead you
to the wrong conclusion, e.g. a sign, argument, or
advertisement; sophistical.

chicanery [shih-KAY-nuh-ree], noun:
1. The use of trickery or sophistry to deceive (as in matters of law).
2. A trick; a subterfuge.

cozen [KUZ-un], transitive verb:
1. To cheat; to defraud; to deceive, usually by petty tricks.
2. To obtain by deceit.
3. To act deceitfully.

disingenuous (adj.) [dis-in-'jen-yu-ês]
Meanly artful, viciously subtle. A disingenuous person
attempts to portray himself as candid and frank, but
is really crafty or sly.

dissemble (verb) [di-'sem-bêl]
To conceal the truth by deceit.

duplicity (noun) [du-'pli-sê-tee]
(1) The quality of state of being two-fold, double.
(2) Deliberate deception, double-dealing.

feign [FEYN], verb:
1. To represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of.
2. To invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse.
3. To make believe; pretend.

feint (noun)
1. A deceptive action made to disguise what is really intended.
2. A deceptive move in a competitive sport.

finagle (verb) [fê-'ney-gl]
To obtain indirectly through cajoling, bribes, or questionable dealings.

gammon [GAM-uhn], verb:
To deceive.

illude (verb) [i-'lud]
1. To trick, to deceive.
2. To mock, to ridicule.
allude = refer indirectly
elude = escape, get away from
delude = deceive by false impression

inveigle (verb) [in-'vey-gêl]
To persuade by flattery or cajolery, to lure
with clever words or trickery that blur the
truth, to trick by deception.

Machiavellian (adj.)
[mak-ee-ê-'vel-ee-ên]
(1) Characterized by unscrupulous cunning, deception,
or expediency; (2) manipulative, resorting to exploiting
and misleading others in pursuit of one's personal goals.

machination (noun) [mæ-kê-'ney-shên]
A devioius scheme, an act of intrique.

mendacious [men-DAY-shuhs], adjective:
1. Given to deception or falsehood; lying; untruthful;
as, a mendacious person.
2. False; untrue; as, a mendacious statement.
Synonyms: deceitful, dishonest, false, fraudulent.

palaver [puh-LAV-uhr; puh-LAH-vur], noun:
1. Idle talk.
2. Talk intended to beguile or deceive.
3. A parley usually between persons of different
backgrounds or cultures or levels of sophistication;
a talk; hence, a public conference and deliberation.
4. To talk idly.
5. To flatter; to cajole.

prevaricate (verb) [prê-'væ-rê-keyt]
Misleading someone away from the truth by
concocting an inaccurate account of something.

sanctimonious (adj.) [sængk-tê-'mo-ni-ês]
Making a show of piety, sanctity; pretending
to be pious or religious.

snollygoster (noun) ['sna-li-gah-stêr]
(Regional slang) An unscrupulous but shrewd person; a hob-goblin
that preys on naughty boys, girls and poultry (sometimes called
a "snallygaster").
The word originated in the Pennsylvania-Maryland area of the
Eastern United States but occurs widely now in the Northeast.
Etymology: In some areas of the Eastern United States, parents
keep their children ruly with warnings about the evil snollygoster
or snallygaster, a nocturnal monster that is part bird, part
reptile, and pounces with incredible swiftness when least
expected.

subterfuge [SUB-tur-fyooj], noun:
A deceptive device or stratagem.

unctuous [UNGK-choo-us], adjective:
1. Of the nature or quality of an unguent or ointment;
fatty; oily; greasy.
2. Having a smooth, greasy feel, as certain minerals.
3. Insincerely or excessively suave or ingratiating in manner
or speech; marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness.
Synonyms: oleaginous, buttery, fulsome, smarmy, oily


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