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 201 Ratings
Free On itunes Buy on Amazon

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

Advertisement

Maximize your website's potential with Website Statistic

Get insights into your website traffic, analyze your website's audience, and optimize your website for better results with Website Statistic.

More by Mark Twain