On the Decay of the Art of Lying - Mark Twain

On the Decay of the Art of Lying

By Mark Twain

  • Release Date: 1910-04-21
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 202 Ratings
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Description

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.

Reviews

  • The types of lying

    4
    By Yesx....q
    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”.

  • On the Decay of the Art of Lying

    5
    By SoftEdge
    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.

  • 9 pages well worth reading.

    5
    By TheNthMouse
    Truly an essay for our time (whatever time that might happen to be).

  • Another gem

    5
    By Johnny Garlic
    Twain is brilliant. This is a short but profound piece. Highly recommended.

  • The Decay of Lying

    2
    By Medic3396
    So far the book has been great. Whitty yet with alot of humor. I think it shall be a good read.

  • Educate yourself

    4
    By Rupert Smith II
    "“What chance has the ignorant uncultivated liar against the educated expert?” (Reference the following expert industries: political, food industry, medical industry, educational industry, financial industry, news media industry...)

  • Interesting

    4
    By Tah_pang_uh
    Very interesting. Almost convincing argument that lying is a 'virtue'.

  • On Decay of The Art of Lying

    5
    By Jaden Lynn
    A truly hard hitting essay on the ancient art of lying done by Mark Twain

Comments

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