Money only buys the illusion of power. Real power is in the force of will will strong enough that others bend to it for its own sake, and follow it willingly. Power that is won through deception will evaporate under the hot light of truth.
Orson Scott Card
Man loves the marvelous. It has an irresistible charm for him. He is always ready to leave that with which he is familiar to pursue vain inventions. He lends himself to his own deception.
Napoleon Bonaparte
If we can but tear the blindfold of self-deception from our eyes and loosen the gag of self-denial from our voices, we can restore our country to greatness.
Theodore C Sorensen
The one charm about marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.
Oscar Wilde
The intention of never deceiving often exposes us to deception.
François de la Rochefoucauld
The capacity for self-deception, rarely acknowledged or understood by those who offer us supernatural answers to our problems, is huge: as easy as it is to make a mediums cold-reading statements fit our own situation and come to believe that he must have some paranormal insight, it is hardly any more difficult for a would-be psychic with an average ego, upon hearing frequently positive feedback, to believe over time that he must be blessed with a special gift. Its harder to think youre doing it for real when youre tossing tambourines in the dark or have ready-made ectoplasm stuffed into your mouth or bottom.
Derren Victor Brown
The essence of football was blocking, tackling, and execution based on timing, rhythm and deception.
Knute Rockne
A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective.
Sun Tzu
The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.
Leonardo da Vinci
The essence of lying is in deception, not in words.
John Ruskin
All deception in the course of life is indeed nothing else but a lie reduced to practice, and falsehood passing from words into things.
Robert Southey
Deception is a cruel act... It often has many players on different stages that corrode the soul.
Donna A. Favors
The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity
Andre Gide