--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You must never believe everything they…" description: "\"You must never believe everything they say about a person. Generally speaking, most of it will be lies, half-truths at best.\" — Kate Atkinson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c3/kate-atkinson-1265_believe_you-must-never-believe-everything-they-s_1920238.jpg" --- # You must never believe everything they say about a person… ![“You must never believe everything they say about a person. Generally speaking, most of it will be lies, half-truths at best.” quote by Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c3/kate-atkinson-1265_believe_you-must-never-believe-everything-they-s_1920238.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c3/kate-atkinson-1265_believe_you-must-never-believe-everything-they-s_1920238.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c3/kate-atkinson-1265_believe_you-must-never-believe-everything-they-s_1920238.jpg) > “You must never believe everything they say about a person. Generally speaking, most of it will be lies, half-truths at best.” [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Be skeptical of gossip; most claims about people are partially false. **In simple terms:** Question rumors about others. Key Takeaway Verify before believing. Themes skepticism truth communication Mood cautious reflective Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - workplace gossip - online reviews - personal relationships Key Concepts cognitive bias social perception Questions to Reflect On - What evidence do you need? - How often are you misled? A Different Perspective Over‑cautious skepticism may damage trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Half truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half-truth/) [Half Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half-truths/) [Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truths/) ## Related quotes > [The truths that seem most truthful, if you look at them from all sides, if you look at them close up, turn out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/the-truths-that-seem-most-truthful-if-you-look-at-them-from-all-sides/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“Lies and half-truths hurt not only the liar, but the people they love most.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-allred/lies-and-half-truths-hurt-not-only-the-liar-but-the-people-they-love/) [Katherine Allred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-allred/) > [Advertising is the art of making whole lies out of half truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-a-shoaff/advertising-is-the-art-of-making-whole-lies-out-of-half-truths/) Edgar A Shoaff > [Two half truths do not make a truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/two-half-truths-do-not-make-a-truth/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/there-are-no-whole-truths-all-truths-are-half-truths/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Half truths were a wonderful way to inspire credibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baldacci/half-truths-were-a-wonderful-way-to-inspire-credibility/) [David Baldacci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baldacci/) > [Half-truths are the devil's IOUs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/half-truths-are-the-devil-s-ious/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [There was a distinction between lying and telling half-truths, but it was a very narrow one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/there-was-a-distinction-between-lying-and-telling-half-truths-but-it/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [The truth is always a compound of two half- truths, and you never reach it, because there is always something more to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-truth-is-always-a-compound-of-two-half-truths-and-you-never-reach/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [What will a Hillary Clinton presidency look like? 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It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/one-goes-to-nature-only-for-hints-and-half-truths-her-facts-are-crude/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Common sense, the half-truths of a deceitful society, is honored as the honest truths of a frank world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-jacoby/common-sense-the-half-truths-of-a-deceitful-society-is-honored-as-the/) Russell Jacoby > [The polls demonstrate that 50 percent of Americans who get their news from TV think Saddam Hussein was behind the Twin Towers attack. Man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/the-polls-demonstrate-that-50-percent-of-americans-who-get-their-news/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Aristotle discovered all the half-truths which were necessary to the creation of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/aristotle-discovered-all-the-half-truths-which-were-necessary-to-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) ## More by Kate Atkinson > [“Sweet sixteen," Hugh said, kissing her affectionately. "Happy birthday, little bear. Your future's all ahead of you." Ursula still harbored the feeling that some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/sweet-sixteen-hugh-said-kissing-her-affectionately-happy-birthday/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [When you chopped logs with the ax and they split open they smelled beautiful, like Christmas. But when you split someone's head open it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/when-you-chopped-logs-with-the-ax-and-they-split-open-they-smelled/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“He had made a vow, a private promise to the world in the long dark watches of the night, that if he did survive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/he-had-made-a-vow-a-private-promise-to-the-world-in-the-long-dark/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“When she was little they had lived in an old farmhouse too, in the middle of nothing of but landscape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/when-she-was-little-they-had-lived-in-an-old-farmhouse-too-in-the/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“Do you keep time in the same place that you save it? If so why is it always so difficult to find? It must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/do-you-keep-time-in-the-same-place-that-you-save-it-if-so-why-is-it/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [I was on the verge of something numinous and profound and in one more second the universe was going to crack open and arcana…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-was-on-the-verge-of-something-numinous-and-profound-and-in-one-more/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [I feel as if I’m waiting for something dreadful to happen, and then I realize it already has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-feel-as-if-i-m-waiting-for-something-dreadful-to-happen-and-then-i/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“If she had been in charge of designing the human race she would have gone about things differently. (A golden shaft of light through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/if-she-had-been-in-charge-of-designing-the-human-race-she-would-have/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/the-beginning-is-the-word-and-the-end-is-silence-and-in-between-are/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“The only way to stop the tears was to keep drinking the whisky.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/the-only-way-to-stop-the-tears-was-to-keep-drinking-the-whisky/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [I don't want to spoil the magic, but it's a very curious thing that honestly baffles me. It's the nearest we'll ever get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-don-t-want-to-spoil-the-magic-but-it-s-a-very-curious-thing-that/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“What did science ever do for the world, apart from make better ways of killing people?” Sylvie said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/what-did-science-ever-do-for-the-world-apart-from-make-better-ways-of/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [Because I write fiction, I don't write autobiography, and to me they are very different things. The first-person narrative is a very intimate thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/because-i-write-fiction-i-don-t-write-autobiography-and-to-me-they/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“she could see Sylvie and her friends on the lawn below, their dresses fluttering like moths in the encroaching dusk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/she-could-see-sylvie-and-her-friends-on-the-lawn-below-their-dresses/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“misquote Edmund Burke rather than Milton. All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/misquote-edmund-burke-rather-than-milton-all-that-is-necessary-for/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) [Explore all 261 Kate Atkinson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) ## More Believe quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. 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I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [There is no such word as item girl in the dictionary. People have created this word and I don't believe that I am an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shefali-zariwala/there-is-no-such-word-as-item-girl-in-the-dictionary-people-have/) [Shefali Zariwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shefali-zariwala/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I don't really like too much credit. I know nobody's going to believe this, but I'd rather be able to score goals and nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-wright-phillips/i-don-t-really-like-too-much-credit-i-know-nobody-s-going-to-believe/) [Bradley Wright-Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-wright-phillips/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/to-believe-in-love-to-be-ready-to-give-up-anything-for-it-to-be/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [That's why I don't generally talk about endorsements because I don't believe we have to tell people who to vote for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-iii/that-s-why-i-don-t-generally-talk-about-endorsements-because-i-don-t/) [Martin Luther King III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-iii/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) Browse all 47,704 Believe quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You must never believe everything they say about a person. 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