--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My object is to mystify and entertain. I…" description: "\"My object is to mystify and entertain. I wouldn't deceive you for the world.\" — Howard Thurston" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90f/howard-thurston-63757_deceive_my-object-is-to-mystify-and-entertain-i_2081451.png" --- # My object is to mystify and entertain. I wouldn't deceive… ![“My object is to mystify and entertain. I wouldn't deceive you for the world.” quote by Howard Thurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90f/howard-thurston-63757_deceive_my-object-is-to-mystify-and-entertain-i_2081451.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90f/howard-thurston-63757_deceive_my-object-is-to-mystify-and-entertain-i_2081451.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/90f/howard-thurston-63757_deceive_my-object-is-to-mystify-and-entertain-i_2081451.png) > “My object is to mystify and entertain. I wouldn't deceive you for the world.” [Howard Thurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-thurston/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker aims to amuse and intrigue without resorting to falsehoods. **In simple terms:** Entertain honestly. Key Takeaway Engage audiences truthfully. Themes entertainment honesty creativity Mood playful confident Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - stage shows - magic acts - public speaking - media appearances Key Concepts performance art audience engagement Questions to Reflect On - How do you keep intrigue without deception? - What limits of deception affect trust? A Different Perspective Balancing mystery with truth can be difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Mystify](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystify/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [The average man is not hard to mystify.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-thurston/the-average-man-is-not-hard-to-mystify/) [Howard Thurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-thurston/) > [It is quite as ignominious to allow oneself to be deceived as to deceive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-queen-of-sweden/it-is-quite-as-ignominious-to-allow-oneself-to-be-deceived-as-to/) [Christina, Queen of Sweden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-queen-of-sweden/) > [The best way to deceive a knave is to tell him the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-panin/the-best-way-to-deceive-a-knave-is-to-tell-him-the-truth/) [Ivan Panin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-panin/) > [It is as easy to unknowingly deceive yourself as it is to deceive others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/it-is-as-easy-to-unknowingly-deceive-yourself-as-it-is-to-deceive/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [And since we cannot deceive the whole human race all the time, it is most important thus to cut every generation off from all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/and-since-we-cannot-deceive-the-whole-human-race-all-the-time-it-is/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [We avenge intelligence when we deceive a fool, and the victory is worth the trouble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-casanova/we-avenge-intelligence-when-we-deceive-a-fool-and-the-victory-is/) [Giacomo Casanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-casanova/) > [It is in the ability to deceive oneself that the greatest talent is shown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-in-the-ability-to-deceive-oneself-that-the-greatest-talent-is/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [We often shed tears that deceive ourselves after deceiving others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/we-often-shed-tears-that-deceive-ourselves-after-deceiving-others/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Trust the story ... the storyteller may dissemble and deceive, the story can't: the story can only ever be itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-robertson/trust-the-story-the-storyteller-may-dissemble-and-deceive-the-story/) [James Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-robertson/) > [Those who try to achieve success without hard work ultimately deceive themselves-or worse-deceive others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/those-who-try-to-achieve-success-without-hard-work-ultimately-deceive/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [No, it's not that they're bad. It's that they're obliged to pretend they're good. They've been brought up to deceive and be cunning, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/no-it-s-not-that-they-re-bad-it-s-that-they-re-obliged-to-pretend/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/nothing-is-so-easy-as-to-deceive-oneself-for-what-we-wish-we-readily/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [“Looks sure can be deceiving: not every ‘ugly’ person is a ‘bad’ person (or is guilty of whatever it is that they are accused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/looks-sure-can-be-deceiving-not-every-ugly-person-is-a-bad-person-or/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More by Howard Thurston > [The average man is not hard to mystify.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-thurston/the-average-man-is-not-hard-to-mystify/) [Howard Thurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-thurston/) > [Long experience has taught me that the crux of my fortunes is whether I can radiate good will toward my audience. There is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-thurston/long-experience-has-taught-me-that-the-crux-of-my-fortunes-is-whether/) [Howard Thurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-thurston/) > [You can fool the eyes and minds of the audience, but you cannot fool their hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-thurston/you-can-fool-the-eyes-and-minds-of-the-audience-but-you-cannot-fool/) [Howard Thurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-thurston/) > [Make them think they've been fooled by a gentlemen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-thurston/make-them-think-they-ve-been-fooled-by-a-gentlemen/) [Howard Thurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-thurston/) [Explore all 5 Howard Thurston quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-thurston/) ## More Deceive quotes > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“To recklessly excuse a failure is to believe that I’ve effectively erased it from the story of my life, when I’ve actually imprinted it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-recklessly-excuse-a-failure-is-to-believe-that-i-ve-effectively/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [A woman one loves rarely suffices for all our needs, so we deceive her with another whom we do not love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-woman-one-loves-rarely-suffices-for-all-our-needs-so-we-deceive-her/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Looks sure can be deceiving: not every ‘ugly’ person is a ‘bad’ person (or is guilty of whatever it is that they are accused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/looks-sure-can-be-deceiving-not-every-ugly-person-is-a-bad-person-or/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“When people say they do not care what others thing of them, for the most part they deceive themselves”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/when-people-say-they-do-not-care-what-others-thing-of-them-for-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/nothing-is-so-easy-as-to-deceive-oneself-for-what-we-wish-we-readily/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [No, it's not that they're bad. It's that they're obliged to pretend they're good. They've been brought up to deceive and be cunning, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/no-it-s-not-that-they-re-bad-it-s-that-they-re-obliged-to-pretend/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [“In my opinion, a lie is a physical act, verbal statement, or omission, deliberately designed to deceive another of the truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-craig/in-my-opinion-a-lie-is-a-physical-act-verbal-statement-or-omission/) [David Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-craig/) > [“When you slice the truth too thin, you deceive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-wilks/when-you-slice-the-truth-too-thin-you-deceive/) [Eileen Wilks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-wilks/) > [Those who try to achieve success without hard work ultimately deceive themselves-or worse-deceive others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/those-who-try-to-achieve-success-without-hard-work-ultimately-deceive/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [Even when they are trying to deceive the voters, the Democrats are incompetent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hilton/even-when-they-are-trying-to-deceive-the-voters-the-democrats-are/) [Steve Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hilton/) > [Trust the story ... the storyteller may dissemble and deceive, the story can't: the story can only ever be itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-robertson/trust-the-story-the-storyteller-may-dissemble-and-deceive-the-story/) [James Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-robertson/) > [Oh, what a tangled web we weave...when first we practice to deceive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/oh-what-a-tangled-web-we-weave-when-first-we-practice-to-deceive/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We often shed tears that deceive ourselves after deceiving others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/we-often-shed-tears-that-deceive-ourselves-after-deceiving-others/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) Browse all 340 Deceive quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My object is to mystify and entertain. 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