QuoteProject
A lie does not consist in the indirect position of words, but in the desire and intention, by false speaking, to deceive and injure your neighbour.
Jonathan Swift
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

A lie is defined by the intention to deceive rather than just the words used.

In this quote, Jonathan Swift emphasizes that the essence of a lie lies not merely in the specific phrases or words employed but rather in the intention behind them. To lie is fundamentally about the desire to mislead and cause harm to another person, which highlights the moral responsibility associated with our words and actions.

Themes

LieTruthDeceitIntentionWords

In practice

Example use cases

During a discussion about honesty in relationships, this quote can underline the importance of intention behind words.

More from Jonathan Swift

How is it possible to expect that mankind will take advice when they will not so much as take warning.
Jonathan SwiftRead
What vexes me most is, that my female friends, who could bear me very well a dozen years ago, have now forsaken me, although I am not so old in proportion to them as I formerly was: which I can prove by arithmetic, for then I was double their age, which now I am not. Letter to Alexander Pope. 7 Feb. 1736.
Jonathan SwiftRead
This is every cook's opinion - _x000D_ no savory dish without an onion, _x000D_ but lest your kissing should be spoiled _x000D_ your onions must be fully boiled.
Jonathan SwiftRead
The bulk of mankind is as well equipped for flying as thinking.
Jonathan SwiftRead
This single Stick, which you now behold ingloriously lying in that neglected Corner, I once knew in a flourishing State in a Forest: It was full of Sap, full of Leaves, and full of Boughs: But now, in vain does the busy Art of Man pretend to vie with Nature, by tying that withered Bundle of Twigs to its sapless Trunk: It is at best but the Reverse of what it was; a Tree turned upside down, the Branches on the Earth, and the Root in the Air.
Jonathan SwiftRead
I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth.
Jonathan SwiftRead

Similar quotes

If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle, and fighting will be to your disadvantage.
Sun TzuRead
I am grateful that my horizons were not narrowed at the outset.
Jessye NormanRead
For what it’s worth: trust your feelings. I can’t promise that you’ll never get hurt again, but I can promise you the risk is worth it.
Rick RiordanRead
Know mankind well, don't degrade every man as evil, and don't exalt every man thinking he is good. He who cannot discover himself; cannot discover the world.
RumiRead
Women are like tea bags: put them in hot water and they get stronger.
Eleanor RooseveltRead
Strong delusions travel like _x000D_ cold germs on a sneeze.
Stephen KingRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.