Hypocrisy Quotes

Be hypocritical, be cautious, be Not what you seem but always what you see.
Lord Byron

Lord Byron, Don Juan (1818-24), Canto XI, Stanza 86.

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More Hypocrisy Quotes

Away, and mock the time with fairest show; False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

william shakespeare

— William Shakespeare, Macbeth (1605), Act I, scene 7, line 81.

Tags: Away, mock, time, fairest, show, False, face, hide, what

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And the veil Spun from the cobweb fashion of the times, To hide the feeling heart?

mark akenside

— Mark Akenside, Pleasures of Imagination (published 1744), Book II, line 147.

Tags: veil, cobweb, fashion, times, hide, feeling, heart

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Saint abroad, and a devil at home.

john bunyan

— John Bunyan, Pilgrims Progress (1678), Part I.

Tags: Saint, abroad, devil, home

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And prate and preach about what others prove, As if the world and they were hand and glove.

william cowper

— William Cowper, Table Talk (1782), line 173.

Tags: prate, preach, what, others, prove, world, hand, glove

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No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

— Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (1850), Chapter 20.

Tags: man, considerable, period, can, wear, one, face, himself, another

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Hypocrisy is the necessary burden of villainy; affectation, part of the chosen trappings of folly! The one completes a villain, the other only finishes a fop. Contempt is the proper punishment of affectation, and detestation the just consequence of hypocrisy.

samuel johnson

— Samuel Johnson, The Rambler, No. 20 (May 26, 1750).

Tags: Hypocrisy, necessary, burden, villainy, affectation, chosen, trappings, folly, one

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When a man puts on a Character he is a stranger to, there's as much difference between what he appears, and what he is really in himself, as there is between a Vizor and a Face.


— Jean de La Bruyère, The Characters or Manners of the Present Age (1688), Of Men, Chapter XI.

Tags: When, man, Character, stranger, difference, what, appears, himself, there

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Society mediates between the extremes of, on the one hand, intolerably strict morality and, on the other, dangerously anarchic permissiveness through an unspoken agreement whereby we are given leave to bend the rules of the strictest morality, provided we do so quietly and discreetly. Hypocrisy is the grease that keeps society functioning in an agreeable way, by allowing for human fallibility and reconciling the seemingly irreconcilable human needs for order and pleasure.


— Janet Malcolm, The Journalist and the Murderer (1990). New York: Knopf, p. 55.

Tags: Society, extremes, one, hand, intolerably, strict, morality, other, dangerously

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[Y]ou never come right out and admit you have stretched the rules for your own benefit. You do it and shut up about it, and hope you don't get caught, because if you are caught no one or no one who has any sense will come forward and say he has done the same thing himself.


— Janet Malcolm, The Journalist and the Murderer (1990). New York: Knopf, p. 55.

Tags: You, never, right, admit, stretched, rules, own, benefit, shut

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For neither man nor angel can discern Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks Invisible, except to God alone, By his permissive will, through heav'n and earth.

john milton

— John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667; 1674), Book III, line 682.

Tags: man, angel, can, discern, Hypocrisy, evil, walks, Invisible, God

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He was a man Who stole the livery of the court of Heaven To serve the Devil in.

robert pollok

— Robert Pollok, The Course of Time (1827), Book VIII, line 616.

Tags: man, Who, stole, livery, court, Heaven, serve, Devil

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In sermon style he bought, And sold, and lied; and salutations made In Scripture terms. He prayed by quantity, And with his repetitions long and loud, All knees were weary.

robert pollok

— Robert Pollok, The Course of Time (1827), Book VIII, line 628.

Tags: sermon, style, bought, sold, lied, salutations, Scripture, terms, prayed

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Constant at Church and 'Change; his gains were sure; His givings rare, save farthings to the poor.

Alexander Pope

— Alexander Pope, Moral Essays (1731-35), Epistle III, line 347.

Tags: Constant, Church, gains, rare, save, farthings, poor

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Thou hast prevaricated with thy friend, By underhand contrivances undone me: And while my open nature trusted in thee, Thou hast slept in between me and my hopes, And ravish'd from me all my soul held dear. Thou hast betray'd me.

nicholas rowe

— Nicholas Rowe, Lady Jane Grey (1715), Act II, scene 1, line 235.

Tags: prevaricated, friend, underhand, contrivances, me, while, open, nature, trusted

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'Tis too much proved that with devotion's visage And pious action we do sugar o'er The devil himself.

william shakespeare

— William Shakespeare, Hamlet (1600-02), Act III, scene 1, line 47.

Tags: proved, devotion's, visage, pious, action, we, sugar, devil, himself

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I will speak daggers to her, but use none; My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites.

william shakespeare

— William Shakespeare, Hamlet (1600-02), Act III, scene 2, line 414.

Tags: speak, daggers, use, none, tongue, soul, hypocrites

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O, what may man within him hide, Though angel on the outward side!

william shakespeare

— William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure (1603), Act III, scene 2, line 285.

Tags: what, may, man, within, him, hide, angel, outward, side

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O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face! Did ever a dragon keep so fair a cave?

william shakespeare

— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1597), Act III, scene 2, line 73.

Tags: serpent, heart, hid, flowering, face, dragon, keep, fair, cave

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A man I knew who lived upon a smile, And well it fed him; he look'd plump and fair, While rankest venom foam'd through every vein.

Edward Young

— Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1742-1745), Night VIII, line 336.

Tags: man, knew, who, lived, smile, fed, him, look'd, plump

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Thus 'tis with all; their chief and constant care Is to seem everything but what they are.

Oliver Goldsmith

— Oliver Goldsmith, Epilogue to The Sisters, line 25.

Tags: chief, constant, care, everything, what

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Some hypocrites and seeming mortified men, that held down their heads, were like the little images that they place in the very bowing of the vaults of churches, that look as if they held up the church, but are but puppets.


— Attributed to Dr. Laud by Bacon, Apothegms, No. 273.

Tags: hypocrites, seeming, mortified, men, down, heads, little, images, place

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Woe unto thee if after all thy profession thou shouldst be found under the power of ignorance, lost in formality, drowned in earthly-mindedness, envenomed with malice, exalted in an opinion of thine own righteousness, leavened with hypocrisy and carnal ends in God's service.


— Joseph Alleine, p. 336. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))

Tags: Woe, after, profession, shouldst, found, under, power, ignorance, lost

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Hypocrites do the devil's drudgery in Christ's livery.


— Matthew Henry, p. 336. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))

Tags: Hypocrites, devil's, drudgery, livery

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When you see a man with a great deal of religion displayed in his shop window, you may depend upon it he keeps a very small stock of it within.


— Charles Spurgeon, p. 335. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))

Tags: When, you, see, man, great, deal, religion, displayed, shop

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If you think that you can sin, and then by cries avert the consequences of sin, you insult God's character.


— Frederick William Robertson, p. 336. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))

Tags: you, think, can, sin, then, cries, avert, consequences, insult

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Men turn their faces to hell, and hope to get to heaven; why don't they walk into the horsepond, and hope to be dry?


— Charles Spurgeon, p. 336. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))

Tags: Men, turn, faces, hell, hope, heaven, walk, horsepond, dry

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He that puts on a religious habit abroad to gain himself a great name among men, and at the same time lives like an atheist at home, shall at the last be uncovered by God and presented before all the world for a most outrageous hypocrite.


— Thomas Brooks, The Privie Key of Heaven (1665).

Tags: religious, habit, abroad, gain, himself, great, name, men, time

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A hypocrite is in himself both the archer and the mark, in all actions shooting at his own praise or profit.

thomas fuller

— Thomas Fuller, The Holy State and the Prophane State (1642), The Hypocrite. Maxim 1, Book V, Chapter VIII.

Tags: hypocrite, himself, both, archer, mark, actions, shooting, own, praise

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How inexpressible is the meanness of being a hypocrite! how horrible is it to be a mischievous and malignant hypocrite.


— Voltaire, Dictionnaire philosophique portatif ("A Philosophical Dictionary") (1764), Philosopher, Section I.

Tags: inexpressible, meanness, hypocrite, horrible, mischievous, malignant

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