Of course I lie to people. But I lie altruistically - for our mutual good. The lie is the basic building block of good manners. That may seem mildly shocking to a moralist - but then what isn't?

Quote by Quentin Crisp

Topics: Lies Quotes

If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.

If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.

The very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we hold of ourselves...

The very purpose of existence is to reconcile the glowing opinion we hold of ourselves...

Living en famille provides the strongest motives for rudeness combined with the maximum opportunity for...

Living en famille provides the strongest motives for rudeness combined with the maximum opportunity for...

Though intelligence is powerless to modify character, it is a dab hand at finding euphemisms...

Though intelligence is powerless to modify character, it is a dab hand at finding euphemisms...

My mother protected me from the world and my father threatened me with it.

My mother protected me from the world and my father threatened me with it.

Love is the extra effort we make in our dealings with those whom we do...

Love is the extra effort we make in our dealings with those whom we do...

If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.

If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.

Sex is the last refuge of the miserable

Sex is the last refuge of the miserable

It is not the simple statement of facts that ushers in freedom; it is the...

It is not the simple statement of facts that ushers in freedom; it is the...

In an expanding universe, time is on the side of the outcast. Those who once...

In an expanding universe, time is on the side of the outcast. Those who once...

There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years...

There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years...

Decency must be an even more exhausting state to maintain than its opposite. Those who...

Decency must be an even more exhausting state to maintain than its opposite. Those who...

The war between the sexes is the only one in which both sides regularly sleep...

The war between the sexes is the only one in which both sides regularly sleep...

The trouble with children is that they're not returnable.

The trouble with children is that they're not returnable.

To know all is not to forgive all. It is to despise everybody.

To know all is not to forgive all. It is to despise everybody.

It's no good running a pig farm badly for 30 years while saying, 'Really, I...

It's no good running a pig farm badly for 30 years while saying, 'Really, I...

Health consists of having the same diseases as one's neighbors.

Health consists of having the same diseases as one's neighbors.

Sex is the last refuge of the miserable.

Sex is the last refuge of the miserable.

For an introvert his environment is himself and can never be subject to startling or...

For an introvert his environment is himself and can never be subject to startling or...

The poverty from which I have suffered could be diagnosed as Soho poverty. It comes...

The poverty from which I have suffered could be diagnosed as Soho poverty. It comes...