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On the Decay of the Art of Lying

On the Decay of the Art of Lying

By Mark Twain Literary 21/04/1910

In the essay, Twain laments the four ways in which men of America's Gilded Age employ man's 'most faithful friend'. He concludes by insisting that: the wise thing is for us diligently to train ourselves to lie thoughtfully, judiciously; to lie with a good object, and not an evil one; to lie for others' advantage, and not our own; to lie healingly, charitably, humanely, not cruelly, hurtfully, maliciously; to lie gracefully and graciously, not awkwardly and clumsily; to lie firmly, frankly, squarely, with head erect, not haltingly, tortuously, with pusillanimous mien, as being ashamed of our high calling.

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Reviews
  • Brutal intelligence

    Cutting humor Brilliant!

    By chidi123

  • The types of lying

    Well done. And we certainly need more of the charitable sort, and less of the more pernicious version that infects the Public Square, and especially those we call “leaders”.

    By Yesx....q

  • On the Decay of the Art of Lying

    This should be required reading for both political parties and the entirety of the Judicial branch of the US government... or maybe they’re the aforementioned experts.

    By SoftEdge

  • 9 pages well worth reading.

    Truly an essay for our time (whatever time that might happen to be).

    By TheNthMouse

  • Another gem

    Twain is brilliant. This is a short but profound piece. Highly recommended.

    By Johnny Garlic

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