Remember: The best deceivers do everything they can to cloak their roguish qualities. They cultivate an air of honesty in one area to disguise their dishonesty in others. Honesty is merely another decoy in their arsenal of weapons.
Interpretation
Deceivers often use apparent honesty to mask their true intentions and dishonesty.
This quote from Robert Greene highlights the complex nature of deceit. It suggests that the most skilled deceivers intentionally create a facade of honesty in one area of their lives as a strategic way to hide their dishonest behaviors in other areas. By employing honesty as a mere tactic or decoy, they manipulate perceptions and gain trust, all while concealing their true motives.
In practice
In a discussion about the nature of trust in relationships, this quote can serve as a cautionary reminder.
In a society where the roles everyone plays are obvious, the refusal to conform to any standard will excite interest. Be both masculine and feminine, impudent and charming, subtle and outrageous. Let other people worry about being socially acceptable; those types are a dime a dozen, and you are after a power greater than they can imagine.
When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.
The moment people feel they know what to expect from you, your spell on them is broken. More: You have ceded them power.
The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways.
The Nihilistic Troll might pretend to be acting in the service of some cause or leader, but don't be fooled. The cause and their supposedly strong convictions are simply a way to justify and provide cover for their abusive behavior.
Only create associations with positive affinities. Make this a rule of life and you will benefit more than from all the therapy in the world.
Think of God and not religion, of ecstasy and not mysticism. The difference between the theoretician of faith and the believer is as great as between the psychiatrist and the psychotic.
Heaven cannot but be high. Earth cannot but be broad. The sun and moon cannot but revolve. All creation cannot but flourish. To do so is their TAO. But it is not from extensive study that this may be known, nor by dialectical skill that his may be made clear. The true sage will have none of these.
He that will maintain that man's free will is able to do or work anything in spiritual cases, be they never so small, denies Christ.
The gentleman is calm and at ease. The gentleman is dignified but not proud; the small man is proud but not dignified.
A great country worthy of the name does not have any friends.
You don't have to love animals to recognize that it is immoral and unjust to exploit them. But if you do love animals, but you continue to participate in their exploitation, you need to rethink your idea of what love means.
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