Joe Abercrombie Quotes

There is truth and then again there is truth. For all that the world is full of people who go around believing they've got you or your neighbor figured out, there really is no bottom to what is not known. The truth about us is endless. As are the lies.

There is no lie that a man will not believe; and there is no man who does not believe many lies; and there is no man who believes only lies.

The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice.

I always divide people into two groups. Those who live by what they know to be a lie, and those who live by what they believe, falsely, to be the truth.

People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.

Nobody speaks the truth when there is something they must have.

A fact never went into partnership with a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of wonders. A fact will fit every other fact in the universe, and that is how you can tell whether it is or is not a fact. A lie will not fit anything except another lie.

Gradually I came to realize that people will more readily swallow lies than truth, as if the taste of lies was homey, appetizing: a habit.

A news-writer is a man without virtue who lies at home for his own profit.

An untruth must be spoken, where need requires. For whether men lie, or say true, it is with one and the same object. Men lie, because they think to gain by deceiving others; and speak the truth, because they expect to get something by their true speaking, and to be trusted afterwards in more important matters. Thus, though their conduct is so opposite, the end of both is alike. If there were no gain to be got, your true-speaking man would tell untruths as much as your liar, and your liar would tell the truth as much as your true-speaking man.

… he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false, is guilty of falsehood; and the accidental truth of the assertion, does not justify or excuse him.

Before speaking without knowledge, saying lies, you have to present evidence.

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

It's amazing how lies grow. You start with a small one that seems easy to cover, then you get boxed in and tell another one. Then another. People believe you at first, then they act upon your lies, and you catch yourself wishing you'd simply told the truth.

Lies don't matter, ... There's no merit to it. It's kind of hard to entertain foolishness when it has no merit.

When you find that people are not telling you the truth---look out!

A lie stands on one leg, truth on two.

If you've got the truth you can demonstrate it. Talking doesn't prove it.

The truth is messy. It's raw and uncomfortable. You can't blame people for preferring lies.

Not many people are true, fake as the lies they tell

It's been very interesting. We've seen a lot of interesting testimony. We've seen a lot of interesting people, a lot of allegations, a lot of lies, a lot of misinformation and some truth.

...it was imaginative people who tended to lie. Lying required making stuff up, and only imaginative people were good at that.

That it's possible not to see a lie even when it's in front of us.

Truth is not always the best basis for happiness. There are certain lies which may constitute a far better and more secure foundation of happiness. There are people who perish when their eyes are opened.

That which needs to be proved cannot be worth much.