Judith Viorst Quotes

I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies.

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

Truth alone triumphs, not untruth. Through truth alone lies the way to Devayana (the way to the gods). Those who think that a little sugar - coating of untruth helps the spread of truth are mistaken and will find in the long run that a single drop of poison poisons the whole mass ... The man who is pure, and who dares, does all things.

Never tell a lie-except for practice.

It is not right or manly to lie even about Satan.

Make a habit of telling the truth, or make a habit of lying: to decide each case on its own merits is exhausting, and hardly ever worth it.

The whole truth is generally the ally of virtue; a half-truth is always the ally of some vice.

Never lie under any circumstances.

If you are going to do something that you have to lie about, don't do it, it's very simple.

Nothing makes a man so virtuous as belief of the truth. A lying doctrine will soon beget a lying practice. A man cannot have an erroneous belief without by-and-by having an erroneous life. I believe the one thing naturally begets the other.

Major Major had lied, and it was good. He was not really surprised that it was good, for he had observed that people who did lie were, on the whole, more resourceful and ambitious and successful than people who did not lie.

He who does not lie does not know what truth is.

Those who think it is permissible to tell white lies soon grow color-blind.

So, I think that's the centerpiece of morality: Don't lie. But to do that, you have to go a step further and find out what the truth is.

Lying is the strongest acknowledgement of the force of truth.

You can't be reluctant to give up your lie and still tell the truth.

Above all, I would teach him to tell the truth Truth-telling, I have found, is the key to responsible citizenship. The thousands of criminals I have seen in 40 years of law enforcement have had one thing in common: Every single one was a liar.

I think you can never ever lie, ever. If you don't know, say, 'I don't know'.

Never lie when the truth is more profitable.

It is a poor cause which has to be lied for regularly.

Honesty is a complex and tricky thing, and we don't want to be honest all the time.

In the world in which we live, truth is an ancillary virtue, but it shouldn't be.

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

I've tried to do away with lying in my life in the last few years, but it's hard.

There's hostility to lying, and there should be.