William Safire Quotes

It is my belief... that the truth is generally preferable to lies.

I don't like to tell lies.

I'm not big on lying. I don't like that at all.

He who does not need to lie is proud of not being a liar.

Have you weaned yourself of your off-putting proclivity for not telling the truth/

There is no such thing as a good writer and a bad liar.

Be bad, but at least don't be a liar, a deceiver!

This little expression, 'It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere,' is a monstrous lie.

The greatest truth is honesty, and the greatest falsehood is dishonesty.

For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth.

Don't tell lies, ever. No matter what - not even little white lies.

It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.

The truthful man is usually a liar.

He who is dishonest with respect to speech, is dishonest in everything.

If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.

You become uneasy with people in direct proportion to how many lies you have to keep track of in their presence.

No lie can live forever.

There are few reasons for telling the truth, but for lying the number is infinite.

Truth is a risky proposition. It's the nature of mediocre human beings to believe that lies are necessary, that they serve a purpose, that truth is subversive, that candor is dangerous, that the very scaffold of communal life is supported by lies.

When treating with liars, even an honest man must lie.

I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies.

If you're not gonna tell the truth, then why start talking?

I lie as truthfully as I can.

There is an innocence in lying which is the sign of good faith in a cause.

He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it the second time.