Patricia Highsmith Quotes

I cannot stand dishonesty among people, the tendency to prevaricate.

Truth is always consistent with itself, and needs nothing to help it out. It is always near at hand, and sits upon our lips, and is ready to drop out before we are aware; whereas a lie is troublesome, and sets a man's invention upon the rack; and one trick needs a great many more to make it good.

Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.

I never told the truth so i can never tell a lie.

If you don't want to slip up tomorrow, speak the truth today.

I never lie," I said offhand. "At least not to those I don't love.

Truth-telling frightens me. Lying confuses me.

It is very difficult to tell the truth.

I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I do not tell lie.

I don't like to tell lies.

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

There is no point in asking a man a question until you have established whether he has any reason to lie to you.

The great advantage about telling the truth is that nobody ever believes it.

I can't tell a lie - not even when I hear one.

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

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

I never really tell lies, and sometimes it has worked against me.

I don't lie very well!

I'm not a particularly good liar.

But here's the thing about being honest: All the liars HATE you for it, and most of the people in the world are liars. They lie to their bosses, they lie to their families, they lie to themselves, they lie so much they don't even know they're lying anymore. If you have the courage to be honest even a little bit all those people will hate you for it, because their lie is reflected in your honesty. Oscar Wilde wasn't kidding when he said, "If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you."

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

The lie was dead And damned, and truth stood up instead.

I'm not smart enough to lie.

If you tell the truth you do not need a good memory!

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