--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would lie of course. I lied a lot and…" description: "\"“I would lie of course. I lied a lot and with good reason: to protect the truth—safeguard it like wearing fake gems to keep the real ones from getting ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bb/jennifer-egan-825_lies_i-would-lie-of-course-i-lied-a-lot-and-w_1147562.jpg" --- # I would lie of course. I lied a lot and with good reason… ![“I would lie of course. I lied a lot and with good reason: to protect the truth—safeguard it like wearing fake gems to keep the real ones from getting stolen or cheapened by overuse. I guarded what truths I possessed because information was not a thing—it was colorless odorless shapeless and…” quote by Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bb/jennifer-egan-825_lies_i-would-lie-of-course-i-lied-a-lot-and-w_1147562.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bb/jennifer-egan-825_lies_i-would-lie-of-course-i-lied-a-lot-and-w_1147562.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bb/jennifer-egan-825_lies_i-would-lie-of-course-i-lied-a-lot-and-w_1147562.jpg) > ““I would lie of course. I lied a lot and with good reason: to protect the truth—safeguard it like wearing fake gems to keep the real ones from getting stolen or cheapened by overuse. I guarded what truths I possessed because information was not a thing—it was colorless odorless shapeless and therefore indestructible. There was no way to retrieve or void it no way to halt its proliferation. Telling someone a secret was like storing plutonium inside a sandwich bag the information would inevitably outlive the friendship or love or trust in which you’d placed it. And then you would have given it away.”” [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage likens keeping secrets to storing dangerous material, suggesting that secrets are volatile, hard to control, and can outlive relationships, while truth is intangible yet powerful. **In simple terms:** Secrets are volatile and can outlive trust; truth is intangible but powerful. Key Takeaway Handle secrets carefully; recognize truth’s resilience. Themes secrets truth trust information ethics danger Mood cautious thoughtful Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - confidential work - political leaks - digital privacy Key Concepts ethical dilemmas information control relationship dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What secrets are you protecting? - How do you balance truth and privacy? A Different Perspective Secrets can damage trust if mishandled. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Guarded Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guarded-truths-2741070/) [Lied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lied/) [Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) [Protect Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protect-truth-614520/) [Real ones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-ones/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Safeguard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-safeguard-3227680/) [Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truths/) ## Related quotes > [Words used carelessly, as if they did not matter in any serious way, often allowed otherwise well-guarded truths to seep through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/words-used-carelessly-as-if-they-did-not-matter-in-any-serious-way/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Fixed principles of truth are the only safeguard for youth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/fixed-principles-of-truth-are-the-only-safeguard-for-youth/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [“I want to protect Liv from everything, but I can’t protect her from the truth. No matter how ugly it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-lane/i-want-to-protect-liv-from-everything-but-i-can-t-protect-her-from/) [Nina Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-lane/) > [“So now they're shaking in their boots and looking for someone to give them the answer they want to hear. Not the truth, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellision/so-now-they-re-shaking-in-their-boots-and-looking-for-someone-to-give/) [Ralph Ellision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellision/) > [“There are always rumors, and there are always secrets. And secrets within secrets. They protect us. The truth can be manipulated. But we live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianna-baggott/there-are-always-rumors-and-there-are-always-secrets-and-secrets/) [Julianna Baggott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianna-baggott/) > [The number one job of a leader is to protect the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-spence/the-number-one-job-of-a-leader-is-to-protect-the-truth/) [Roy Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-spence/) > [Just like skin is needed to protect the flesh and blood¦ a lie was needed to protect the truth..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/just-like-skin-is-needed-to-protect-the-flesh-and-blood-a-lie-was/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All the dead bolts, pulled shades and hidden knives in the world couldn't protect you from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/all-the-dead-bolts-pulled-shades-and-hidden-knives-in-the-world/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [“Who will protect your rights better? A king, president or you? Who will protect the truth? A reporter, a labor union or you? Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-beck/who-will-protect-your-rights-better-a-king-president-or-you-who-will/) [Glenn Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-beck/) > [“Loving someone means being prepared to do anything to protect them. Even if the only thing you can protect them from is the truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-greene/loving-someone-means-being-prepared-to-do-anything-to-protect-them/) [Matt Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-greene/) > [You will never find the real truth among people that are insecure or have egos to protect. Truth over time becomes either guarded or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/you-will-never-find-the-real-truth-among-people-that-are-insecure-or/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Build an inner place to protect your truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/build-an-inner-place-to-protect-your-truth/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [No one really understood music unless he was a scientist, her father had declared, and not just a scientist, either, oh, no, only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/no-one-really-understood-music-unless-he-was-a-scientist-her-father/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [We couldn't afford plastic Easter eggs as a kid, so we dyed the real ones. After a few weeks, you kinda get used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-munn/we-couldn-t-afford-plastic-easter-eggs-as-a-kid-so-we-dyed-the-real/) [Olivia Munn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-munn/) > [When I wrote my fictional novels, they always had a starting point of something real. Those images that are not real are exactly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/when-i-wrote-my-fictional-novels-they-always-had-a-starting-point-of/) [Karl Ove Knausgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) ## More by Jennifer Egan > [“Behind the desk was nothing but view-the whole city flung out in front of us the way street vendors fling out their towels packed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/behind-the-desk-was-nothing-but-view-the-whole-city-flung-out-in/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [I just think that, for my particular personality, feeling slightly invisible is always a help.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-just-think-that-for-my-particular-personality-feeling-slightly/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [Between books, I have to throw out everything I did before, because the tools I've used to write the previous book will not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/between-books-i-have-to-throw-out-everything-i-did-before-because-the/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [As a reader and a writer, I'm happiest when apparently mutually exclusive states can somehow coexist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/as-a-reader-and-a-writer-i-m-happiest-when-apparently-mutually/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [I teach intermittently, and while I enjoy it, I don't find that it's a calling for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-teach-intermittently-and-while-i-enjoy-it-i-don-t-find-that-it-s-a/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [Like all failed experiments, that one taught me something I didn’t expect: one key ingredient of so-called experience is the delusional faith that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/like-all-failed-experiments-that-one-taught-me-something-i-didn-t/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [“Thousands of solar panels lift and tilt at the same time, in the same way. I clutch at Dad's arm: "Why are they doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/thousands-of-solar-panels-lift-and-tilt-at-the-same-time-in-the-same/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [It was the hat. He looked sweet in the hat. How could a man in a fuzzy blue hat have used human bones to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/it-was-the-hat-he-looked-sweet-in-the-hat-how-could-a-man-in-a-fuzzy/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [I was a stepchild in two different families. The hardest thing about being a stepchild is you know that in some way everything would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-was-a-stepchild-in-two-different-families-the-hardest-thing-about/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [“The seconds pass. I know what’s going on because it’s the same thing that always happens: give me something nice, something I love or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/the-seconds-pass-i-know-what-s-going-on-because-it-s-the-same-thing/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [I had this idea that I could hire myself out as a person to go on archeological digs and dig, without any training! I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-had-this-idea-that-i-could-hire-myself-out-as-a-person-to-go-on/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [At night, the house thick with sleep, she would peer out her bedroom window at the trees and sky and feel the presence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/at-night-the-house-thick-with-sleep-she-would-peer-out-her-bedroom/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [I number my drafts, and by the time a book is done, I'll have 75 or 80 drafts of some sections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-number-my-drafts-and-by-the-time-a-book-is-done-i-ll-have-75-or-80/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [Read at the level at which you want to write. Reading is the nourishment that feeds the kind of writing you want to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/read-at-the-level-at-which-you-want-to-write-reading-is-the/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [I was a stepchild in two different families. The hardest thing about being a stepchild is you know that in some way everything would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-was-a-stepchild-in-two-different-families-the-hardest-thing-about-2/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) [Explore all 358 Jennifer Egan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) ## More Lied quotes > [In any event, it is one thing to assert, then or now, that the Iraq war was ill-advised. It is quite another to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-silberman/in-any-event-it-is-one-thing-to-assert-then-or-now-that-the-iraq-war/) [Laurence Silberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-silberman/) > [There's this American pretense, which is the pretense of the journalist with the view from nowhere - which has somehow morphed into the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/there-s-this-american-pretense-which-is-the-pretense-of-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I'm Not A Star, Sombody Lied I Got Pistol In My Car, A Forty Five.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-ross/i-m-not-a-star-sombody-lied-i-got-pistol-in-my-car-a-forty-five/) [Rick Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-ross/) > [Maturity is reached the day we don't need to be lied to about anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-yerby/maturity-is-reached-the-day-we-don-t-need-to-be-lied-to-about-anything/) [Frank Yerby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-yerby/) > [We're in more wars today under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton than under George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan. Yet they tell you that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/we-re-in-more-wars-today-under-barack-obama-and-hillary-clinton-than/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Its taken me months, and months to finally believe youre alive. Still breathing, smiling, touching, walking, thinking, and so much more. I think this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brianna-c/its-taken-me-months-and-months-to-finally-believe-youre-alive-still/) [Brianna C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brianna-c/) > [“Are you alright?" he asked warily. "Sure," I lied as I turned and headed for the stairs. So softly that only a werewolf could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-peacock/are-you-alright-he-asked-warily-sure-i-lied-as-i-turned-and-headed/) [Kathleen Peacock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-peacock/) > [Betrayal is a serious thing in this world,you know what else is serious? Being lied to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina/betrayal-is-a-serious-thing-in-this-world-you-know-what-else-is/) [Sabrina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina/) > [Tal told me he loved me, and told me and told me, but you don't tell someone that and then tell them they're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cohn/tal-told-me-he-loved-me-and-told-me-and-told-me-but-you-don-t-tell/) [Rachel Cohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cohn/) > [“He lied. I lied. Any love that starts out under a lie is bound to kill you. I just didn't want to die on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karina-halle/he-lied-i-lied-any-love-that-starts-out-under-a-lie-is-bound-to-kill/) [Karina Halle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karina-halle/) > [To have lied is to have suffered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/to-have-lied-is-to-have-suffered/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Political correctness is a major defect of the western ethos. Some Western countries have even passed blasphemy laws that would put you in legal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-sina/political-correctness-is-a-major-defect-of-the-western-ethos-some/) [Ali Sina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-sina/) > [You lost me because you lied to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-lost-me-because-you-lied-to-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Truth is, I lied when I said I'm nothing without you...turns out I'm better off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/truth-is-i-lied-when-i-said-i-m-nothing-without-you-turns-out-i-m/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“They say when you're about to die, you see your entire life flash before your eyes. They lied.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/they-say-when-you-re-about-to-die-you-see-your-entire-life-flash/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) [Browse all 929 Lied quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lied/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I would lie of course. I lied a lot and with good reason: to protect the truth—safeguard it like wearing fake gems to keep the real ones from getting stolen or cheapened by overuse. I guarded what truths I possessed because information was not a thing—it was colorless odorless shapeless and therefore indestructible. There was no way to retrieve or void it no way to halt its proliferation. Telling someone a secret was like storing plutonium inside a sandwich bag the information would inevitably outlive the friendship or love or trust in which you’d placed it. 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