When I have one martini, I feel bigger, wiser, taller. When I have a second, I feel superlative. When I have more, there's no holding me.
William FaulknerRead
And even a liar can be scared into telling the truth, same as honest man can be tortured into telling a lie.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Truth and deceit can be influenced by external pressures, regardless of one's nature.
This quote by William Faulkner highlights the complex relationship between truth and honesty, suggesting that both liars and honest people can be compelled to change their responses under duress. It underscores the idea that circumstances and pressure can distort the fundamental character of individuals, revealing that truthfulness is not merely a matter of intrinsic honesty but can also be affected by context and situation.
Themes
TruthLiePressureHonestyDeceit
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in discussions about the ethical implications of truth-telling in extreme situations.
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When grown people speak of the innocence of children, they dont really know what they mean. Pressed, they will go a step further and say, Well, ignorance then. The child is neither. There is no crime which a boy of eleven had not envisaged long ago. His only innocence is, he may not be old enough to desire the fruits of it...his ignorance is, he does not know how to commit it...
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Maybe times are never strange to women: it is just one continuous monotonous thing full of the repeated follies of their menfolks.
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He had a word, too. Love, he called it. But I had been used to words for a long time. I knew that that word was like the others: just a shape to fill a lack; that when the right time came, you wouldn't need a word for that any more than for pride or fear....One day I was talking to Cora. She prayed for me because she believed I was blind to sin, wanting me to kneel and pray too, because people to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.
William FaulknerRead
Ever since then I have believed that God is not only a gentleman and a sport; he is a Kentuckian too.
William FaulknerRead
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