It has been said that, “A lie can travel halfway round the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” It has also been said that the above quote came from Mark Twain. That, in and of itself, may well be a lie as it seems more probable that the quote came from Charles Haddon Spurgeon; but aside from this, what of Spurgeon do we know or, for that matter, care.
Regardless of the origin, the quote is true but only up to a point.
It describes but the beginning of the race. Truth, eventually, wins the day because the lie, eventually, stumbles.
As for Twain, a voluminous liar in practice, he did have something to say on the matter.
“The glory which is built upon a lie soon becomes a most unpleasant encumbrance. How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!”
“Almost all lies are acts, and speech has no part in them.”
“I am different from Washington; I have a higher, grander standard of principle. Washington could not lie. I can lie, but I won’t.”
Twain, indeed had a great deal to say regarding the practice or art of the lie, but perhaps my favorite is this:
