Groucho Marx Quotes

Autobiography is probably the most respectable form of lying.

I will say, with memoir, you must be honest. You must be truthful.

It is as easy to deceive one's self without perceiving it, as it is difficult to deceive others without their finding out.

A memoir forces me to stop and remember carefully. It is an exercise in truth. In a memoir, I look at myself, my life, and the people I love the most in the mirror of the blank screen. In a memoir, feelings are more important than facts, and to write honestly, I have to confront my demons.

There's a certain point, when you're writing autobiographical stuff, where you don't want to misrepresent yourself. It would be dishonest.

What makes writing a memoir difficult is harder to quantify. Is it learning to know when you're ready to talk about something? Is it seeing the structure in a lumpen mass of fact? Is it finding out what you were really like as other people saw you? Yes to each.

Human beings are unable to be honest with themselves about themselves. They cannot talk about themselves without embellishing

You've got to make a decision when you write about your life, and I decided I was going to be honest, and some of those things will be embarrassing.

Self-analysis always cheats.

The best lies about me are the ones I told.

I have met a thousand scamps; but I never met one who considered himself so. Self-knowledge isn't so common.

But we are such deceivers that we will not look at ourselves in relationship, because there the real face can be seen. So we close our eyes to relationship, and we go on thinking that something is going to be seen inside. You cannot see anything inside.

Man is bound to lie about himself

The question isn't, 'What do we want to know about people?', It's, 'What do people want to tell about themselves?'

It's essential to tell the truth at all times. This will reduce life's pain. Lying distorts reality. All forms of distorted thinking must be corrected.

The autobiographical doesn't interest me. I could think of few things less interesting than rooting about in my life.

I am being frank about myself in this book. I tell of my first mistake on page 850.

I'm really bad at describing my own life.

When you're writing personal stories, you have to be totally uncompromising - to the extent that you can be - about yourself. I know that if I am uber-uncompromising with myself, that gives me some latitude to write about others.

I don't want to get into autobiographies; I don't want to talk about myself.

When a person cannot deceive himself the chances are against his being able to deceive other people.

Really, as a writer, I believe that if you're going to write about your own life, you need to do it as honestly and candidly as you are capable.

I think it requires a bit of honesty, Swan Lake.

It's hard to talk about yourself.

I'm not lying to myself like most people.