Benjamin Franklin
Inventor, Statesman, Author
"Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don't have brains enough to be honest."
Deception quotes
Deception
337 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Philosopher
"Nothing is so difficult as not deceiving oneself."
Mahatma Gandhi
Political Leader
"Terrorism and deception are weapons not of the strong, but of the weak."
Sun Tzu
Military Strategist
"All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are to lure him; feign disorder and strike him. When he concentrates, prepare against him; where he is strong, avoid him. Anger his general and confuse him. Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance."
Osamu Dazai
Novelist
"I am convinced that human life is filled with many pure, happy, serene examples of insincerity, truly splendid of their kind-of people deceiving one another without (strangely enough) any wounds being inflicted, of people who seem unaware even that they are deceiving one another."
Explore further
Topics related to Deception
Browse quotes that often appear alongside deception — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Deception quotes (page 1 of 17)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"The supreme mystery of despotism, its prop and stay, is to keep men in a state of deception, and with the specious title of religion to cloak the fear by which they must be held in check, so that they will fight for their servitude as if for salvation."
Read quote
78 likes
"The two principles of truth, reason and senses, are not only both not genuine, but are engaged in mutual deception. The senses deceive reason through false appearances, and the senses are disturbed by passions, which produce false impressions."
Read quote
72 likes
"Governments are based pincipally on force and deception. Democratic governments are based chiefly on deception, other governments on force. And democratic governments, if you get too uppity, give up on the deception and resort to brute force, as a lot of us found out in the sixites. Those who didn't find out in the sixites will find out in the near future because we're going to have a rerun."
Read quote
70 likes
"He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it the second time."
Read quote
65 likes
"The worst of all deceptions is self-deception."
Read quote
64 likes
"The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means."
Read quote
64 likes
"No one was ever injured by the truth; but he who persists in self-deception and ignorance is injured."
Read quote
62 likes
"It is a self-deception of philosophers and moralists to imagine that they escape decadence by opposing it. That is beyond their will; and, however little they acknowledge it, one later discovers that they were among the most powerful promoters of decadence."
Read quote
62 likes
"Among other common lies, we have the silent lie - the deception which one conveys by simply keeping still and concealing the truth. Many obstinate truth-mongers indulge in this dissipation, imagining that if they speak no lie, they lie not at all."
Read quote
62 likes
"There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact."
Read quote
56 likes
"The truth cannot be deceptive, and one who sees it cannot be deceived."
Read quote
56 likes
"I would gladly chastise those who represent things as different from what they are. Those who steal property or make counterfeit money are punished, and those ought to be still more severely dealt with who steal away or falsify the good name of a prince."
Read quote
47 likes
"The word bipartisan usually means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out."
Read quote
45 likes
"Food, clothing and shelter — these are the basic needs. Beyond that, if you want anything, it is the beginning of self-deception."
Read quote
44 likes
"It is twice the pleasure to deceive the deceiver."
Read quote
43 likes
"The fundamental factor of self-deception is this constant desire to be something in this world and in the world hereafter."
Read quote
43 likes
"All warfare is based on deception. There is no place where espionage is not used. Offer the enemy bait to lure him."
Read quote
41 likes
"Nationalism is power hunger tempered by self-deception."
Read quote
41 likes
"Those who think their intellect will keep them from deception are already deceived."
Read quote
36 likes
"Courage is the willingness to speak the truth about what you see and to own what you say."
Read quote
27 likes