--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But maybe half a lie is worse than a real…" description: "\"But maybe half a lie is worse than a real lie.\" — Lillian Hellman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f3/lillian-hellman-4752_half_but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-rea_859487.jpg" --- # But maybe half a lie is worse than a real lie. ![“But maybe half a lie is worse than a real lie.” quote by Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f3/lillian-hellman-4752_half_but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-rea_859487.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f3/lillian-hellman-4752_half_but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-rea_859487.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f3/lillian-hellman-4752_half_but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-rea_859487.jpg) > “But maybe half a lie is worse than a real lie.” [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A half-truth can be more damaging than a full lie because it misleads while appearing honest. **In simple terms:** Half-truths can be worse than lies. Key Takeaway Avoid deceptive partial truths. Themes ethics deception integrity Mood critical serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - politics - personal relationships - media Key Concepts partial truth misinformation trust Questions to Reflect On - Is it ever okay to with a half-truth? - What are the long-term effects of partial honesty? A Different Perspective Half-truths may be justified to protect feelings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Half Lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half-lie-837105/) [Lie Worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lie-worse-837104/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real Lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-lie-837107/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worse/) [Worse Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worse-real-837106/) ## Related quotes > [You lie. Worse, you lie poorly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-lie-worse-you-lie-poorly/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I’m not afraid to die.” It was only half a lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/i-m-not-afraid-to-die-it-was-only-half-a-lie/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [There is absolutely nothing worse than real failure if you give up too soon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/there-is-absolutely-nothing-worse-than-real-failure-if-you-give-up/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [It's so easy to lie. What’s even worse is how we cling to those lies. We beg for the illusion so we don’t have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/it-s-so-easy-to-lie-what-s-even-worse-is-how-we-cling-to-those-lies/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [ “\[T\]he real lie that advertising tells is not so much in what it shows, but in what it leaves out.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefano-benni/t-he-real-lie-that-advertising-tells-is-not-so-much-in-what-it-shows/) [Stefano Benni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefano-benni/) > [“If you tell a lie long enough, it becomes real. Then the lie no longer exists and all you're left with is your version…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irfan-master/if-you-tell-a-lie-long-enough-it-becomes-real-then-the-lie-no-longer/) [Irfan Master](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irfan-master/) > [“Nothing is worse than broken promises.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-amis/nothing-is-worse-than-broken-promises/) [Lily Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-amis/) > [“Smile! Tom orrow will be worse!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/smile-tom-orrow-will-be-worse/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I do not think it is permitted that a better man be harmed by a worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/i-do-not-think-it-is-permitted-that-a-better-man-be-harmed-by-a-worse/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Being fed up of someone can be even worse than disliking them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-fed-up-of-someone-can-be-even-worse-than-disliking-them/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's nothing worse than a leader who lacks ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-nothing-worse-than-a-leader-who-lacks-ambition/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We come to know best what men are, in their worse jeopardizes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-daniel/we-come-to-know-best-what-men-are-in-their-worse-jeopardizes/) [Samuel Daniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-daniel/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [... there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/there-are-far-far-worse-things-in-the-living-world-than-dying/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [“This was going to be worse than the time I table danced in the diner in high school!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bryson/this-was-going-to-be-worse-than-the-time-i-table-danced-in-the-diner/) [Kathy Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bryson/) ## More by Lillian Hellman > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [Failure in the theater is more dramatic and uglier than any other form of writing. It costs so much, you feel so guilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-dramatic-and-uglier-than-any-other/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [A man should be jailed for telling lies to the young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/a-man-should-be-jailed-for-telling-lies-to-the-young/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [I don't think many writers like their best-known piece of work, particularly when it was written a long time ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/i-don-t-think-many-writers-like-their-best-known-piece-of-work/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [I live in a room and I go to work and I play a game called getting through the day while you wait for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/i-live-in-a-room-and-i-go-to-work-and-i-play-a-game-called-getting/) [LILLIAN HELLMAN](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [There are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it like in the Bible with the locusts. And other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/there-are-people-who-eat-the-earth-and-eat-all-the-people-on-it-like/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [Nothing you write, if you hope to be good, will ever come out as you first hoped.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/nothing-you-write-if-you-hope-to-be-good-will-ever-come-out-as-you/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [Decision by democratic majority vote is a fine form of government, but it's a stinking way to create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/decision-by-democratic-majority-vote-is-a-fine-form-of-government-but/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [Haven't you lived in the South long enough to know that nothing is ever anybody's fault?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/haven-t-you-lived-in-the-south-long-enough-to-know-that-nothing-is/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [We will not think noble because we are not noble. We will not live in beautiful harmony because there is no such thing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/we-will-not-think-noble-because-we-are-not-noble-we-will-not-live-in/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [It was an unspoken pleasure, that having come together so many years, ruined so much and repaired a little, we had endured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/it-was-an-unspoken-pleasure-that-having-come-together-so-many-years/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [Intellectuals can tell themselves anything, sell themselves any bill of goods, which is why they were so often patsies for the ruling classes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/intellectuals-can-tell-themselves-anything-sell-themselves-any-bill/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [Courtesy is breeding. Breeding is an excellent thing. Always remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/courtesy-is-breeding-breeding-is-an-excellent-thing-always-remember/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [You lose your manners when you're poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/you-lose-your-manners-when-you-re-poor/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [Fashions in sin change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/fashions-in-sin-change/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) [Explore all 106 Lillian Hellman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) ## More Half quotes > [When you listen to someone improvise, the notes that are played are only half the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-laws/when-you-listen-to-someone-improvise-the-notes-that-are-played-are/) [Hubert Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-laws/) > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [I genuinely did not expect more than half our nation to choose to walk away from our long-term allies into the arms of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-reade/i-genuinely-did-not-expect-more-than-half-our-nation-to-choose-to/) [Brian Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-reade/) > [Being blonde, for me, means never having to say: 'I'll have the honey-striped half-head of highlights for £200,' to a bored colourist in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-johnson/being-blonde-for-me-means-never-having-to-say-i-ll-have-the-honey/) [Rachel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-johnson/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I with borrow'd silver shine, What you see is none of mine. First I show you but a quarter, Like the bow that guards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/i-with-borrow-d-silver-shine-what-you-see-is-none-of-mine-first-i/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I spend a lot of time loathing the sentences that I put down on the page. Once I'm past that phase, it doesn't really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/i-spend-a-lot-of-time-loathing-the-sentences-that-i-put-down-on-the/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-usually-write-from-the-rhythm-section-if-a-drummer-got-a-funky-beat/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [The thing about living alone is that it gives you a lot of time to think. You don't necessarily reach any conclusions, because wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/the-thing-about-living-alone-is-that-it-gives-you-a-lot-of-time-to/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [In a couple of decades you have half of the wells that are drilled right now, and you're talking about numbers in the millions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/in-a-couple-of-decades-you-have-half-of-the-wells-that-are-drilled/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) [Browse all 8,570 Half quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But maybe half a lie is worse than a real lie.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lillian Hellman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-real-lie/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Half" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-real-lie/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f3/lillian-hellman-4752_half_but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-rea_859487.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f3/lillian-hellman-4752_half_but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-rea_859487.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f3/lillian-hellman-4752_half_but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-rea_859487.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But maybe half a lie is worse than a real lie.” — Lillian Hellman", "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": "Lillian Hellman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But maybe half a lie is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-real-lie/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/but-maybe-half-a-lie-is-worse-than-a-real-lie/#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 } } ] } ```