People who are lying are, understandably, more worried about being believed, so they work harder - too hard, as it were - at being believable.
Interpretation
Lying requires more effort to maintain than honesty, as liars must work hard to convince others of their falsehoods.
This quote by Christopher Voss highlights the paradox of deception: those who lie often invest considerable energy in trying to appear credible, which can lead to an overemphasis on believability. It suggests that the act of lying is not just about the falsehood itself, but also about the anxiety and labor involved in convincing others, revealing the complexities of human communication and trust.
In practice
During a negotiation, one might refer to this quote to explain why it's essential to assess trustworthiness.
When you expect to get into a negotiation, you expect to be faced by a guy that's going to attack you, a guy or gal that's going to attack or that they're going to try to get the best of you. Two-thirds of us, that makes us very defensive.
Price doesn't make deals, and salary doesn't control your career.
There are three kinds of yeses. There's commitment, confirmation, and counterfeit. People are most used to giving the counterfeit yes because they've been trapped by the confirmation yes so many times. So the way you master no is understanding what really happens when somebody says 'no.' When yes is commitment, no is protection.
The sweetest two words in any negotiation are actually, 'That's right.' Before you convince them to see what you're trying to accomplish, you have to say the things to them that will get them to say, 'That's right.'
The secret to gaining the upper hand in a negotiation is to give the other side the illusion of control. Don't try to force your opponent to admit that you are right. Ask questions, that begin with 'How?' or 'What?' so your opponent uses mental energy to figure out the answer.
Very few negotiations are begun and concluded in the same sitting. It's really rare. In fact, If you sit down and actually complete your negotiation in one sitting, you left stuff on the table.
To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here.
It is quite rare for God to provide a great man at the necessary moment to carry out some great deep, which is why when this unusual combination of circumstance does occur, history at once records the name of the chosen one and recommends him to the admiration of posterity.
Chance makes a plaything of a man's life.
Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.
He that does good to another does good also to himself, not only in the consequence but in the very act. For the consciousness of well-doing is in itself ample reward.
Only a look and a voice; then darkness again and silence.
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