Quotations about:
    deceiving


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The surest method of being deceived is to believe that one is cleverer than others.

[Le vrai moyen d’être trompé, c’est de se croire plus fin que les autres]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶127 (1665-1678) [tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶127]
    (Source)

Present in the 1st (1665) edition. Another 1665 variant:
On est fort sujet à être trompé quand on croit être plus fin que les autres.
 
[We are very liable to be deceived when we believe ourselves to be more subtle than others.]

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

The sure way to be cheated is, to fancy ourselves more cunning than others.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶81; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶123; ed. Carvill (1835), ¶69]

The true method of being deceived is to think oneself more cunning than others.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶130]

The true way to be deceived is to think oneself more knowing than others.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶127]

The surest way to be deceived is to think one's self cleverer than one's neighbor.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶127]

The best way to be outwitted is to believe ourselves cleverer than others.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶127]

The surest way to be outwitted is to suppose yourself sharper than others.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶127]

The surest way to be taken in is to think oneself craftier than other people.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶127]

The best way to be deceived is to think ourselves more cunning than others.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶127]

 
Added on 7-Feb-25 | Last updated 7-Feb-25
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How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Dictation (1906-12-02), The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 2 (2013)
    (Source)

A phrase that may be the origin the spurious Twain quotation, "It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled."
 
Added on 29-Oct-20 | Last updated 30-Jan-26
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It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
(Spurious)

Not found in Twain's writings. The earliest attribution to him appears to be in 2011. The connection to Twain may be his (authentic) comment, "How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!"

For more discussion of this quotation, see Quote Origin: It’s Easier To Fool People Than To Convince Them That They’ve Been Fooled – Quote Investigator®.
 
Added on 16-Oct-15 | Last updated 30-Jan-26
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