In real life, coincidences happen all the time. In novels, they are leapt upon with fury.
Harlan CobenRead
The ugliest truth, in the end, was still better than the prettiest of lies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Truth, no matter how unpleasant, is preferable to falsehoods that seem appealing.
This quote emphasizes the importance of valuing truth over deception, suggesting that even harsh realities are more beneficial than comforting lies. It highlights the idea that facing the truth, no matter how difficult, leads to greater integrity and understanding than embracing untruths that may provide temporary solace but ultimately lead to harm or disappointment.
Themes
TruthLiesHonestyWisdomIntegrity
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about honesty in business.
More from Harlan Coben
All quotes →When you like something and you're pretty good at it and you can make a living doing it, you don't ask why. You just count your blessings and go with it.
Harlan CobenRead
No, I don’t live in heartache. I don’t cry myself to sleep or any of that. I am, I tell myself, over it. But I do feel a void, icky as that sounds. And—like it or not—I still think about her every single day.
Harlan CobenRead
Life may not always fall into neat chapters, and you may not always get the satisfying ending you're looking for, but sometimes a good explanation is all the rewrite you need.
Harlan CobenRead
The most annoying and full- of- crap thing a writer says is, I write only for myself, I don't care if anyone reads it. A writer without a reader doesn't exist.
Harlan CobenRead
There's always a price you pay when you lie. Once you introduce a lie into a relationship, even for the best of intentions, it is always there. Whenever you’re with that person again, that lie is in the room too. It sits on your shoulder. Good lie or bad lie, it's in the room with you forever now. It's your constant companion.
Harlan CobenRead
Similar quotes
Most people dislike vanity in others, whatever share they have of it themselves; but I give it fair quarter, wherever I meet with it, being persuaded that it is often productive of good to the possessor, and to others who are within his sphere of action: and therefore, in many cases, it would not be altogether absurd if a man were to thank God for his vanity among the other comforts of life.
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If you want to stay in for the long haul, and lead a life that is free from illusions either propagated by you or embraced by you, then I suggest you learn to recognize and avoid the symptoms of the zealot and the person who knows he is right. For the dissenter, the skeptical mentality is at least as important as any armor of principle.
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People are best convinced by things they themselves discover.
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At least I've had to come to that in my life, to realize that this stuff called failure, this stuff, this debris of historical trauma, family trauma, you know, stuff that can kill your spirit, is actually raw material to make things with and to build a bridge. You can use those materials to build a bridge over that which would destroy you.
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They will envy you for your success, your wealth, for your intelligence, for your looks, for your status - but rarely for your wisdom.
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Legends die hard. They survive as truth rarely does.
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