Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.

διόπερ ῥᾷστον ἁπάντων ἐστὶν αὑτὸν ἐξαπατῆσαι: ὃ γὰρ βούλεται, τοῦθ᾽ ἕκαστος καὶ οἴεται

Demosthenes

More information about this quote

Topic

Delusion Credulity Truth

Speaker

Demosthenes

Medium

Speech

Language

Greek

Time

349 BC 340s BC 4th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Occupation

Politician

From

Greece Europe

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Demosthenes. Olynthiac Three. c. 349 BC, Athens, Greece.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Demosthenes about delusion: “Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes…”
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A quote by Demosthenes about delusion: “Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes…”
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A quote by Demosthenes about delusion: “Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote about Truth

Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.

Mark Twain

Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World

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Read Following the Equator at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Truth

Author

Mark Twain
Source
Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World
Genre
Travel writing
Statement Type
Joke
Language
English
Time
1897 1890s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Twain, Mark. Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World. Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1897, ch. 7.

Current Citation

Twain, Mark. "Following the Equator." Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad, Following the Equator, Other Travels, edited by Roy Blount Jr. Library of America, 2010, ch. 7.

Another quote from Classical antiquity

Man is the measure of all things.

Protagoras

Quoted in Theaetetus, by Plato

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Read Theaetetus at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Nature of man
Speaker
Protagoras

Author

Plato
Source
Theaetetus
Medium
Philosophical dialogue
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Greek
Time
420 BC 420s BC 5th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Plato. Θεαίτητος [Theatetus]. c. 400 BC.

Current Citation

Plato. Theatetus, translated by John McDowell. Oxford University Press, 2014.

Another quote originally in Greek

If cows and horses or lions had hands, or could draw with their hands and make things as men can, horses would have drawn horse-like gods, cows cow-like gods, and each species would have made the gods' bodies just like their own.

Xenophanes

More information about this quote
Topic
Nature of God God and man God Anthropomorphism

Author

Xenophanes
Medium
Presocratic fragment Fragment
Genre
Philosophical literature
Language
Greek
Time
5th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 0
Original Citation

Xenophanes. Fragments. 5th century BC, DK21 B15.

Current Citation

Xenophanes. "Xenophanes of Colophon." The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists. Oxford World Classics, 2009, DK21 B15.