Arthur C. Clarke Quotes

… he must deceive, misrepresent, leave false impressions … and trust to charm, loyalty and the result to make up for it…. A great man cannot be a good man.

When we successfully deceive others, they are not aware of it; the same is true with self-deception.

Though I know that he had something to do with the attack simulation, and with all those deaths, I find it difficult to pair those actions with the man I see in front of me. I wonder if this is how it is with all evil men, that to someone, they look just like good men, talk like good men, are just as likeable as good men.

No greater wrong can ever be done than to put a good man at the mercy of a bad, while telling him not to defend himself or his fellows; in no way can the success of evil be made surer or quicker.

Satan, who is a wonderful contriver of delusions, is constantly laying snares to entrap ignorant and heedless people.

Nothing is easier than self-deceit.

Half-truths are the devil's IOUs.

Love is the medicine of all moral evil. By it the world is to be cured of sin.

Like an audience entertained by a magician, we allow ourselves to be deceived by those with a stake in persuading us to ignore reality.

Don't be a fool for the Devil, darling.

I smile when I'm angry , I cheat and I lie. I do what I have to do to get by. But I know what is wrong and I know what is right , and I'd die for the truth in my secret life .

Which would be worse - to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?

When cleverness emerges There is great hypocrisy.

The human race's favorite method for being in control of facts is to ignore them.

Lies always come first, dragging fools along by their irreparable vulgarity. Truth always lags last, limping along on the arm of time.

Justice is not Healing. Healing cometh only by suffering and patience, and maketh no demand, not even for Justice. Justice worketh only within the bonds of things as they are... and therefore though Justice is itself good and desireth no further evil, it can but perpetuate the evil that was, and doth not prevent it from the bearing of fruit in sorrow.

There they are. See no evil, hear no evil, and...evil.

One cannot tell when he is going to be healed, so do not try to set an exact time limit. Faith, not time, will determine when the cure will be effected.

Know that Truth sees through bullshit. So if you can't handle looking at Truth, you must be a Devil's culprit.

The Devil is easy to identify. He appears when you're terribly tired and makes a very reasonable request which you know you shouldn't grant.

Deep down in me I knowed it was a lie, and He knowed it. You can't pray a lie - I found that out.

Evil men of every degree will use you, flatter you, lead you on until you are useless; then, if the virtuous do not pity you, or God compassionate, you are without a friend in the universe.

The Diabolical sometimes assumes the aspect of the Good, or even embodies itself completely in its form. If this remains concealedfrom me, I am of course defeated, for this Good is more tempting than the genuine Good.

You can fool yourself, you know. You'd think it's impossible, but it turns out it's the easiest thing of all.

God's ways seem dark, but, soon or late, They touch the shining hills of day; The evil cannot brook delay, The good can well afford to wait, Give ermined knaves their hour of crime; Yet have the future grand and great, The safe appeal of Truth to Time!