--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If he lived by a lie he should try to die…" description: "\"“If he lived by a lie he should try to die by it”\" — Ernest Hemingway" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d9/ernest-hemingway-83_lived_if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-di_291653.jpg" --- # If he lived by a lie he should try to die by it ![“If he lived by a lie he should try to die by it” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d9/ernest-hemingway-83_lived_if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-di_291653.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d9/ernest-hemingway-83_lived_if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-di_291653.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d9/ernest-hemingway-83_lived_if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-di_291653.jpg) > ““If he lived by a lie he should try to die by it”” [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Living a lie demands a death that aligns with that falsehood; authenticity is essential. **In simple terms:** Living a lie leads to a death that matches the lie. Key Takeaway Seek truth to avoid a life ending in falsehood. Themes integrity truth existential risk personal responsibility Mood serious introspective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal decision making - ethical dilemmas - psychological counseling - creative writing Key Concepts authenticity moral consistency Questions to Reflect On - What lies are you maintaining? - Can you face the consequences of truth? A Different Perspective Truth may be painful and costly to confront. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“He was done with every lie he'd ever allowed himself to believe, every lie he'd ever lived, every lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/he-was-done-with-every-lie-he-d-ever-allowed-himself-to-believe-every/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [“That she lived a lie. That she wasn't the good girl everyone believed her to be, wanted her to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lacey-alexander/that-she-lived-a-lie-that-she-wasn-t-the-good-girl-everyone-believed/) [Lacey Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lacey-alexander/) > [“But I lived a lie. I lived it out of anger. This is what I am trying to tell you. I have lived lies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-i-lived-a-lie-i-lived-it-out-of-anger-this-is-what-i-am-trying-to/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [“Ever since that day, I have lived a lie, the lie of living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lelouch-vi-britannia/ever-since-that-day-i-have-lived-a-lie-the-lie-of-living/) [Lelouch Vi Britannia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lelouch-vi-britannia/) > [The years be-lie we lived the lie, I love you 'til the day I die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/queen-band/the-years-be-lie-we-lived-the-lie-i-love-you-til-the-day-i-die/) [Queen (band](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/queen-band/) > [One of the first houses we lived in was like out of a fairy story. We had a stream that ran through our garden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emilia-clarke/one-of-the-first-houses-we-lived-in-was-like-out-of-a-fairy-story-we/) [Emilia Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emilia-clarke/) > [Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, you had the time to sit down and think, and we discovered that sitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/especially-for-those-of-us-who-lived-in-single-cells-you-had-the-time/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [When we dead awaken ... we see that we have never lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/when-we-dead-awaken-we-see-that-we-have-never-lived/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [To me, beauty is a lived thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lotic/to-me-beauty-is-a-lived-thing/) [Lotic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lotic/) > [Whenever I finish a film, I feel that this is the worst film that I have made. This is bound to happen because while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajkumar-hirani/whenever-i-finish-a-film-i-feel-that-this-is-the-worst-film-that-i/) [Rajkumar Hirani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajkumar-hirani/) > [My mother worked in the white world, but I lived almost exclusively in a black world. I don't think I had ever seen a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/my-mother-worked-in-the-white-world-but-i-lived-almost-exclusively-in/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [I've always lived my life fearlessly, and what I want to do with my life, I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-taylor-wood/i-ve-always-lived-my-life-fearlessly-and-what-i-want-to-do-with-my/) [Sam Taylor-Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-taylor-wood/) > [I'm from Europe, England, and I actually lived in Italy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adewale-akinnuoye-agbaje/i-m-from-europe-england-and-i-actually-lived-in-italy/) [Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adewale-akinnuoye-agbaje/) > [When you lived it for years and years and years and seen different characters just get pummeled and squashed because 'I said so,' it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arn-anderson/when-you-lived-it-for-years-and-years-and-years-and-seen-different/) [Arn Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arn-anderson/) > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) ## More by Ernest Hemingway > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“There was no wind, and, outside now of the warm air of the cave, heavy with smoke of both tobacco and charcoal, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-was-no-wind-and-outside-now-of-the-warm-air-of-the-cave-heavy/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“It was not brilliant bull-fighting. It was only perfect bull-fighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-was-not-brilliant-bull-fighting-it-was-only-perfect-bull-fighting/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Creation's probably overrated. After all, God made the world in only six days and rested on the seventh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/creation-s-probably-overrated-after-all-god-made-the-world-in-only/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Viva my husband who was Mayor of this town”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/viva-my-husband-who-was-mayor-of-this-town/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“The earth gets tired of being exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-earth-gets-tired-of-being-exploited/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/what-is-moral-is-what-you-feel-good-after-and-what-is-immoral-is-what/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“We drove out along the coast road. There was the green of the headlands, the white, red-roofed villas, patches of forest, and the ocean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-drove-out-along-the-coast-road-there-was-the-green-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-a-nobel-prize-winner-i-cannot-but-regret-that-the-award-was-never/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Oh, darling, I've been so miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-i-ve-been-so-miserable/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write, and then I remember that it was always difficult,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-read-my-own-books-sometimes-to-cheer-me-when-it-is-hard-to-write/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“You find everything on earth at Harry's." "Yes, my Colonel. Except, possibly, happiness." "I'll damn well find happiness, too," the Colonel assured him. "Happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-find-everything-on-earth-at-harry-s-yes-my-colonel-except/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“No. It's bad for me. Cole Porter wrote the words and the music. This knowledge that you're going mad for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/no-it-s-bad-for-me-cole-porter-wrote-the-words-and-the-music-this/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/everything-kills-everything-else-in-some-way-fishing-kills-me-exactly/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) [Explore all 1,464 Ernest Hemingway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## More Lived quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [When you lived it for years and years and years and seen different characters just get pummeled and squashed because 'I said so,' it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arn-anderson/when-you-lived-it-for-years-and-years-and-years-and-seen-different/) [Arn Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arn-anderson/) > [I'm from Europe, England, and I actually lived in Italy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adewale-akinnuoye-agbaje/i-m-from-europe-england-and-i-actually-lived-in-italy/) [Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adewale-akinnuoye-agbaje/) > [I've always lived my life fearlessly, and what I want to do with my life, I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-taylor-wood/i-ve-always-lived-my-life-fearlessly-and-what-i-want-to-do-with-my/) [Sam Taylor-Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-taylor-wood/) > [My mother worked in the white world, but I lived almost exclusively in a black world. I don't think I had ever seen a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/my-mother-worked-in-the-white-world-but-i-lived-almost-exclusively-in/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [Whenever I finish a film, I feel that this is the worst film that I have made. This is bound to happen because while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajkumar-hirani/whenever-i-finish-a-film-i-feel-that-this-is-the-worst-film-that-i/) [Rajkumar Hirani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajkumar-hirani/) > [To me, beauty is a lived thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lotic/to-me-beauty-is-a-lived-thing/) [Lotic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lotic/) > [When we dead awaken ... we see that we have never lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/when-we-dead-awaken-we-see-that-we-have-never-lived/) [Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/) > [Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, you had the time to sit down and think, and we discovered that sitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/especially-for-those-of-us-who-lived-in-single-cells-you-had-the-time/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [One of the first houses we lived in was like out of a fairy story. We had a stream that ran through our garden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emilia-clarke/one-of-the-first-houses-we-lived-in-was-like-out-of-a-fairy-story-we/) [Emilia Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emilia-clarke/) > [For so long, for my whole life I didn't have to but I lived in the closet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-evans/for-so-long-for-my-whole-life-i-didn-t-have-to-but-i-lived-in-the/) [Scott Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-evans/) > [I have said it somewhere - our literary lived lives are as important as our literally lived lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/i-have-said-it-somewhere-our-literary-lived-lives-are-as-important-as/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [It was only in the theatre that I lived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-was-only-in-the-theatre-that-i-lived/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [As a child, we lived in flats, and I was never allowed pets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-pigott-smith/as-a-child-we-lived-in-flats-and-i-was-never-allowed-pets/) [Tim Pigott-Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-pigott-smith/) > [I feel like I've lived four or five lifetimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-pellegrino/i-feel-like-i-ve-lived-four-or-five-lifetimes/) [Mark Pellegrino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-pellegrino/) Browse all 2,038 Lived quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If he lived by a lie he should try to die by it”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernest Hemingway" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-die-by-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lived" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-die-by-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d9/ernest-hemingway-83_lived_if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-di_291653.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d9/ernest-hemingway-83_lived_if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-di_291653.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d9/ernest-hemingway-83_lived_if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-di_291653.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If he lived by a lie he should try to die by it” — Ernest Hemingway", "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": "Ernest Hemingway", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If he lived by a lie...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-die-by-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/if-he-lived-by-a-lie-he-should-try-to-die-by-it/#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 } } ] } ```