Quotes About Self-deception

Lies we tell ourselves are the ghosts that haunt the empty house of midnight.

Men lie, to themselves more than to others, and to the others more often than they tell the truth.

How poetic you are, she said. I've a notion that poetry is the highest form of self-deception.

I've been using the same 'I Ching' since I was teenager when it was given to me by a fellow teenager; it seems too late to change now. I don't use it often, but when I do, it really does help. You can fool yourself, but not the 'I Ching.'

I think I lie way too much to even know what I've lied about.

I once told someone I could act. They totally bought it. I've been getting away with it ever since.

Notwendig man viel Narren findet, Denn viel sind an sich selbst erblindet, Die mit Gewalt wollen weise sein, Da jedermann mit klarem Schein Wohl ihre Narrheit sieht.

This business of 'kidding yourself' worries me. I don't even know how much self-deception I'm involved in. It's hard to get down to the truth about yourself. Any time I feel like I'm finally being honest with myself I wonder if there's some deeper truth I'm shying away from. It amazes me how I can know something and avoid it at the same time.

They treasure names and empty appearances above nearly all else, harming themselves and others just to protect them. They want to get money, or a good reputation, or a good relationship. They struggle desperately to get high positions. People always subject their minds to the worst kind of abuse and suffering just to try to get and then keep these empty, impermanent things.

That her own self-deception and self-absorption, her own slavery to the society and family in which she had been brought up, had reduced this blameless man to a weeping wreck struck her as horrific. She saw more clearly than she had ever seen before that she must change, or keep hurting the people who truly loved her.

Lord, free us from our self-deception and attune our hearts to your Spirit, that we might remember how you humbled yourself, and learn to serve one another, whatever our disagreements. Amen.

Surround us with your subtle and hidden prophets, that we might have help to overcome self-deception and face the truth that sets us free. Amen.

Surely there was not another soul in England that could delude themselves like I could.

Liars come in all shapes and sizes, young lady. Sometimes folks think they are telling a lie to make things better. But then they are telling two lies. One to another person and one to themselves" -Mr. Doyle

The mind is a curious thing, Abby. We see what we want to see, we hear what we're hoping to hear. The one thing we all do well is fool ourselves.

I think the media spends a lot of time fooling itself.

Ever since time began the world has seemed stupid to those who aren't stupid themselves. It was to avoid that annoyance that I became stupid myself, as fast as ever I could. Sheer egoism, no doubt.

We did what our people do all the time, we told ourselves something we did was right and we found a way to justify it, even though we knew it was wrong.

We lied to ourselves thinking in our minds we knew everything. We were deceived in believing that youthful enthusiasm could replace wizened maturity.

Sometimes her capacity for self-deception disturbed her.

She was feeling almost happy. She allowed herself the qualifier of almost because she had accepted the fact that self-deception was also self-destructive. She would not deceive herself any more or hide behind any mask in an attempt to shield herself from the reality of her life.

Your small pieties and impenetrable, mostly unconscious poses invariably trip you up.

The practiced liar also projects her own manipulative, double-dealing facade onto everyone she meets, which makes moving through the world a wary, anxious enterprise. It's hard enough to see what's going on without forcing yourself to look through the wool you've pulled over your own eyes.

the only parts I remember of my childhood are lies I told myself to feel better