--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All Cretans are liars." description: "\"All Cretans are liars.\" — Epimenides" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/epimenides-236151_history_all-cretans-are-liars-2746247_2746247.png" --- # All Cretans are liars. ![“All Cretans are liars.” quote by Epimenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/epimenides-236151_history_all-cretans-are-liars-2746247_2746247.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/epimenides-236151_history_all-cretans-are-liars-2746247_2746247.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/epimenides-236151_history_all-cretans-are-liars-2746247_2746247.png) > “All Cretans are liars.” [Epimenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epimenides/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. All Cretans claim they always lie, creating a self‑referential paradox. **In simple terms:** Cretans say they lie, which contradicts itself. Key Takeaway Question self‑referential claims. Themes logic paradox truth self‑reference philosophy Mood curious analytical Type logical philosophical When to use this quote - philosophical debate - logic puzzles - teaching logic Key Concepts epimenidean paradox liar paradox critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - Can a statement be both true and false? - How do paradoxes challenge our understanding of truth? A Different Perspective The paradox is a classic logical puzzle, not a factual claim. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cretans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cretans-1557153/) [Cretans Liars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cretans-liars-3064616/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Liars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liars/) ## Related quotes > [“There is no doubt whatever that these Keftiu of the Egyptians were Cretans of the Minoan Age. They used to be considered Phoenicians, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-william-king/there-is-no-doubt-whatever-that-these-keftiu-of-the-egyptians-were/) [Leonard William King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-william-king/) > [ \[The Cretans have\] more wit than words. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-cretans-have-more-wit-than-words/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) [C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/) > [John McCain is a liar and flip-flopper and panderer and bully and whiner. And it seems to be working.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tomasky/john-mccain-is-a-liar-and-flip-flopper-and-panderer-and-bully-and/) [Michael Tomasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tomasky/) > [That's good; don't deny it. Denying the undeniable just makes you sound like a fool as well as a liar. In this profession, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-carter/that-s-good-don-t-deny-it-denying-the-undeniable-just-makes-you-sound/) [Ally Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-carter/) > [It's sad but it seems the world these days are made up of Liars and Cheaters.We still must trust but the way it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hutchinson/it-s-sad-but-it-seems-the-world-these-days-are-made-up-of-liars-and/) [David Hutchinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hutchinson/) > [Politicians can forgive almost anything in the way of abuse; they can forgive subversion, revolution, being contradicted, exposed as liars, even ridiculed, but they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-waugh/politicians-can-forgive-almost-anything-in-the-way-of-abuse-they-can/) [Auberon Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-waugh/) > [They minute people fall in love they become liars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-ellison/they-minute-people-fall-in-love-they-become-liars/) [Harlan Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-ellison/) > [I think you are a liar because you think you know what is true. You think you feel what is true. But you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-croggon/i-think-you-are-a-liar-because-you-think-you-know-what-is-true-you/) [Alison Croggon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-croggon/) > [A liar freely gives his oath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-malloch/a-liar-freely-gives-his-oath/) [Douglas Malloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-malloch/) > [“The fact that they viewed their wealth as a result of their own hands, without any honor other than lip service being given to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-goff/the-fact-that-they-viewed-their-wealth-as-a-result-of-their-own-hands/) [Lee Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-goff/) > [Even a liar tells a hundred truths to one lie; he has to, to make the lie good for anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/even-a-liar-tells-a-hundred-truths-to-one-lie-he-has-to-to-make-the/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Great liars are also great magicians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/great-liars-are-also-great-magicians/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [He lacked tenderness; he was rude; and he had more than a streak of cruelty in him; he was a thief and a liar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/he-lacked-tenderness-he-was-rude-and-he-had-more-than-a-streak-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [One of the best moments of any Liars show is hearing the crowd squawk 'We're doomed! We're doomed!' on cue during 'We Fenced Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/one-of-the-best-moments-of-any-liars-show-is-hearing-the-crowd-squawk/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The NBA is my history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-hardaway/the-nba-is-my-history/) [Penny Hardaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-hardaway/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) [C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/) > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All Cretans are liars.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Epimenides" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epimenides/all-cretans-are-liars/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epimenides/all-cretans-are-liars/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/epimenides-236151_history_all-cretans-are-liars-2746247_2746247.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/epimenides-236151_history_all-cretans-are-liars-2746247_2746247.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/epimenides-236151_history_all-cretans-are-liars-2746247_2746247.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All Cretans are liars.” — Epimenides", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Epimenides", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epimenides/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "All Cretans are liars.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epimenides/all-cretans-are-liars/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epimenides/all-cretans-are-liars/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```