Daniel Handler Quotes

Know that a lie is not haram [wrong] in itself, but only because the evil conclusions to which it leads the hearer, making him believe something that is not really the case.... If a lie is the only way of obtaining a good result, it is permissible.... We must lie when truth leads to unpleasant results.

Lies like that are not a sin, they are a sacrifice.

It's okay to lie as long as you reach a higher truth doing it.

If you tell a lie to make a person better, then that is not a sin.

When we tell little white lies, we become progressively color-blind. It is better to remain silent than to mislead.

People who lie, particularly those who lie really big, can't do it effectively unless they feel that there's a righteous power behind what they're doing. You're entitled to lie because the end justifies the means.

Little white lies are part of everyday life. If you're in court being charged with a felony, you're probably going to be tempted to lie. Or if your girlfriend asks you if the sweater she is wearing makes her look fat; you're going to lie because you love that person. There are different reasons and justifications to lie; it's human nature.

White lies always introduce others of a darker complexion.

Sometimes you have to lie. One often has to distort a thing to catch its true spirit.

There are times when lying is the most sacred of duties.

Lying is an indispensable part of making life tolerable.

The pure and simple truth Is rarely pure and never simple. What's a boy to do When lies and truth are both sinful?

What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church ... a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them.

I used to think I knew what was right and what was wrong, and who the good guys are, and who the bad guys are. Then the world got very gray, and I didn't know anything for a long time

There was a distinction between lying and telling half-truths, but it was a very narrow one.

The truth is far from you, so you know you got to lie. Then you're all the time defending what you can never justify.

Alanna didn't approve of lying, but in a pinch a lie was sometimes better than the truth.

I'm neutral on lying, seeing as how there's times when the truth just hurts people.

If I should go out of church whenever I hear a false statement I could never stay there five minutes. But why come out? The streetis as false as the church, and when I get to my house, or to my manners, or to my speech, I have not got away from the lie.

There are worse things than a lie... I have found... that it may be well to choose one sin in order that another may be shunned.

There were lies we told to save ourselves, and then there were lies we told to rescue others. What counted more, the mistruth, or the greater good?

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

What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good.

Your problem is that you have been too honest for too long. Once you start doing it, lying is simpler than breathing.

Once we assuage our conscience by calling something a "necessary evil", it begins to look more and more necessary and less and less evil.