The weakness of a soul is proportionate to the number of truths that must be kept from it.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 61 (1955)
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Quotations about:
self-deception
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
The chaplain had mastered, in a moment of divine intuition, the handy technique of protective rationalization, and he was exhilarated by his discovery. It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.
The truth is I’ve never fooled anyone. I’ve let men sometimes fool themselves. Men sometimes didn’t bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn’t argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn’t. When they found this out, they would blame me for disillusioning them — and fooling them.
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) American actress, sex symbol
My Story, ch. 24 “Another Love Affair Ends” (1974) [with Ben Hecht]
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Many of our disappointments and much of our unhappiness arise from our forming false notions of things and persons. We strangely impose upon ourselves; we create a fairyland of happiness. Fancy is fruitful and promises fair, but, like the dog in the fable, we catch at a shadow, and when we find the disappointment, we are vexed, not with ourselves, who are really the imposters, but with the poor, innocent thing or person of whom we have formed such strange ideas.
Abigail Adams (1744-1818) American correspondent, First Lady (1797-1801)
Letter to Hannah Lincoln (5 Oct 1761)
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Illusion is the dust the devil throws in the eyes of the foolish.
Minna Antrim (1861-1950) American epigrammatist, writer
Naked Truth and Veiled Allusions (1901)
The instinct for self-deception in human beings makes them try to banish from their minds dangers of which at bottom they are perfectly aware by declaring them non-existent.
Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, biographer
Beware of Pity (1939)
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.
[L’illusion est le premier plaisir.]
Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer [pseud. of Francois-Marie Arouet]
The Maid of Orleans [La Pucelle d’Orléans] (1756 ed.)
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Sometimes misattributed to Oscar Wilde. This is part of a canto added from another Voltaire piece, probably by a publisher, to the end of the 1756 edition of Voltaire's poem, as noted in the "Additional Notes" included with 19th Century editions of the work. It reads in part:O gift from heaven! tender love! sweet desire!
We are still happy with your image:
Illusion is the first of all pleasures.
[O don du ciel! tendre amour! doux désir!
On est encore heureux par votre image;
L'illusion est le premier plaisir.]
The canto was not included the Voltaire-authorized 1762 edition. The English translation of the quoted line goes back at least to 1881.
More information: Illusion.
it is important not to confuse nationalism with mere worship of success. The nationalist does not go on the principle of simply ganging up with the strongest side. On the contrary, having picked his side, he persuades himself that it is the strongest, and is able to stick to his belief even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him. Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also — since he is conscious of serving something bigger than himself — unshakably certain of being in the right.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
“Notes on Nationalism” (May 1945)
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The problem with evidence is it doesn’t always support your opinion.
Stephen Colbert (b. 1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian
Interview with Ron Suskind (13 Jul 2006)
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MORELLA: There is always choice. We say that there is no choice only to comfort ourselves with a decision we have already made.
J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
Babylon 5, 3×09 “Point of No Return” (26 Feb 1996)
What stuck in the minds of these men who had become murderers was simply the notion of being involved in something historic, grandiose, unique (“a great task that occurs once in two thousand years”), which must therefore be difficult to bear. This was important, because the murderers were not sadists or killers by nature; on the contrary, a systematic effort was made to weed out all those who derived physical pleasure from what they did. […] Hence the problem was how to overcome not so much their conscience as the animal pity by which all normal men are affected in the presence of physical suffering. The trick used by Himmler — who apparently was rather strongly afflicted by these instinctive reactions himself — was very simple and probably very effective; it consisted in turning these instincts around, as it were, in directing them toward the self. So that instead of saying: What horrible things I did to people!, the murderers would be able to say: What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 6 (1963)
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Politics demands a great capacity for self-deception, which rescues the politician from hypocrisy. He can normally manage to believe what he is saying for the time it takes him to say it. This gives him a certain sincerity even when he is saying opposite things to opposite people.
Garry Wills (b. 1934) American author, journalist, historian
Confessions of a Conservative, ch. 15 (1979)
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What are you pretending not to know?
Sig Lines
~
It was not the absence of intelligence which led us into trouble but our unwillingness to draw unpleasant conclusions from it.
H. A. de Weerd (1902-1979) American military historian, author [Harvey Arthur de Weerd]
“Strategic Surprise in the Korean War,” Orbis (1962)
On the US decision in 1950 to call China's bluff by advancing above the 38th parallel.
We lie to ourselves, in order that we may still have the excuse of ignorance, the alibi of stupidity and incomprehension, possessing which we can continue with a good conscience to commit and tolerate the most monstrous crimes.
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English novelist, essayist and critic
“Words and Behavior,” The Olive Tree and Other Essays (1936)
I fear one lies more to one’s self than to anyone else.
To be idle and to be poor have always been reproaches, and therefore every man endeavours with his utmost care to hide his poverty from others, and his idleness from himself.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Idler, #17 (5 Aug 1758)
We begin by fooling others and end up fooling ourselves.
Eric Alterman (b. 1960) American historian, journalist, author
Sound and Fury: The Washington Punditocracy and the Collapse of American Politics, Introduction (1992)
Alcohol is nicissary f’r a man so that now an’ thin he can have a good opinion iv himsilf, ondisturbed be th’ facts.
[Alcohol is necessary for a man so that now and then he can have a good opinion of himself, undisturbed by the facts.]
Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936) American humorist and journalist
“Mr. Dooley on Alcohol,” Chicago Tribune (26 Apr 1914)
Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson, ch. 15, epigraph (1894)
Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 260 (1955)
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When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths. Self-deception, credulity, and charlatanism are somehow linked together.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State Of Mind, Aphorism 83 (1955)
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We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 70 (1955)
(Source)
If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and truth has no place in us; if we acknowledge our sins, he is trustworthy and upright, so that he will forgive our sins and will cleanse us from all evil.
[Ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔχομεν ἑαυτοὺς πλανῶμεν καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν. ἐὰν ὁμολογῶμεν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν πιστός ἐστιν καὶ δίκαιος ἵνα ἀφῇ ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας καὶ καθαρίσῃ ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀδικίας.]
The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
1 John 1: 8-9 [NJB (1985)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[KJV (1611)]If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth; but if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and purify us from everything that is wrong.
[JB (1966)]If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us. But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing.
[GNT (1976)]If we claim, “We don’t have any sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from everything we’ve done wrong.
[CEB (2011)]If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]
We are all exceptional cases. We all want to appeal against something! Each of us insists on being innocent at all cost, even if has to accuse the whole human race and heaven itself!
Albert Camus (1913-1960) Algerian-French novelist, essayist, playwright
The Fall (1956) [tr. J. O’Brien]
The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.
Carl Sagan (1934-1996) American scientist and writer
“In the Valley of the Shadow,” Parade (10 Mar 1996)
Many would be wise if they did not think themselves wise.
[Serían sabios algunos si no creyesen que lo son.]
Baltasar Gracián y Morales (1601-1658) Spanish Jesuit priest, writer, philosopher
The Art of Worldly Wisdom [Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia], § 176 (1647) [tr. Jacobs (1892)]
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(Source (Spanish)). Alternate translations:Some would be wise, if they did not think themselves so.
[Flesher ed. (1685)]Some would be wise if they did not believe themselves wise.
[tr. Fischer (1937)]Some would be sages if they did not believe they were so already.
[tr. Maurer (1992)]
Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Following the Equator, ch. 59, epigram (1897)
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It is as easy to deceive oneself without perceiving it, as it is difficult to deceive others without their perceiving it.
[Il est aussi facile de se tromper soi-même sans s’en apercevoir qu’il est difficile de tromper les autres sans qu’ils s’en aperçoivent.]François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶115 (1665-1678) [ed. Gowens (1851), ¶118]
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Present in 1st edition (1665). (Source (French)). Alternate translations:It is as easie for a man to be self-deceiv'd, without being sensible of it, as it is hard to deceive others, without their perceiving it.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶18]It is as easie a matter to deceive a Mans self, and not be sensible of it, as it is hard to impose upon others, and yet for them not to be sensible of it.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶116]It is as easy to deceive ourselves without our perceivng it, as it is difficult to deceive others without their perceiving it.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶90; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶112]It is as easy to deceive ourselves; without perceiving it, as it is difficult to deceive others without being perceived.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶78]It is as easy unwittingly to deceive oneself as to deceive others.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶115]It is as easy to deceive ourselves without realizing it, as it is hard to avoid detection in our deception of others.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶115]It is as easy to delude ourselves unknowingly, as it is difficult to delude others without their knowing it.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶115]It is as easy to deceive oneself without noticing it as it is difficult to deceive others without their realizing the deception.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶115]It is as easy to deceive ourselves without knowing it as it is hard to deceive others without their finding it out.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶115]It is as easy to deceive ourselves without noticing it as it is hard to deceive others without their noticing.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶115]It is as easy to deceive ourselves without our perceiving it, as it is difficult to deceive others without their perceiving it.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶115]
We become so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that at last we are disguised to ourselves.
[Nous sommes si accoutumés à nous déguiser aux autres qu’enfin nous nous déguisons à nous-mêmes.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶119 (1665-1678) [tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]
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Appeared in the 1st edition (1665). Another 1665 variant began "La coutume que nous avons de nous déguiser aux autres, pour acquérir leur estime, fait qu’enfin … [The custom we have of disguising ourselves to others, in order to gain their esteem, means that finally…]"
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:We are so used to dissemble with other People, that in time we come to Deceive and Dissemble with our selves.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶120]We were so used to disguise ourselves to others, that at last we become disguised even to ourselves.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶102; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶116]We are so used to disguise ourselves to others, that at last we become disguised to ourselves.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶91]We are so much accustomed to disguise ourselves to others, that at length we disguise ourselves to ourselves
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶122]We spend so much time deceiving others that we end by deceiving ourselves.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶119]We are so accustomed to adopting a mask before others that we end by being unable to recognize ourselves.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶119]We get so much in the habit of wearing a disguise before others that we finally appear disguised before ourselves.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶119]We are so used to disguising ourselves from others that we end by disguising ourselves from ourselves.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶119]So accustomed do we become to disguising ourselves from others that, at length, we disguise ourselves from ourselves.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶119]
Compare this to ¶373:We sometimes shed tears which at first deceive only others, but in the end deceive ourselves also. [tr. Stevens (1939), ¶373]
Who has deceiv’d thee so oft as thy self?
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman, scientist, philosopher, aphorist
Poor Richard (1738 ed.)
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