--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A railroad is like a lie you have to keep…" description: "\"A railroad is like a lie you have to keep building it to make it stand.\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7a/mark-twain-22_building_a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-kee_729499.png" --- # A railroad is like a lie you have to keep building it to… ![“A railroad is like a lie you have to keep building it to make it stand.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7a/mark-twain-22_building_a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-kee_729499.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7a/mark-twain-22_building_a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-kee_729499.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7a/mark-twain-22_building_a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-kee_729499.png) > “A railroad is like a lie you have to keep building it to make it stand.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A falsehood must be continuously reinforced to appear credible. **In simple terms:** Lies need constant maintenance to seem true. Key Takeaway Maintain truth, avoid building lies. Themes honesty deception credibility Mood reflective critical Type aphilosophical social commentary When to use this quote - political rhetoric - personal relationships - media narratives Key Concepts social dynamics psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure honesty in daily life? - What are the costs of sustaining a lie? A Different Perspective Even repeated lies can collapse under scrutiny. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cowboy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowboy/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Railroad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railroad/) [Railroad tracks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railroad-tracks/) [Railroads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/railroads/) [Train tracks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train-tracks/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [RAILROAD, n. The chief of many mechanical devices enabling us to get away from where we are to where we are no better off.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/railroad-n-the-chief-of-many-mechanical-devices-enabling-us-to-get/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [I lived a few miles outside of a tiny town in central Oklahoma. I would often run amok though the fields of wheat, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-manning/i-lived-a-few-miles-outside-of-a-tiny-town-in-central-oklahoma-i/) [Chelsea Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-manning/) > [“Between the railroad tracks suicidal flowers grow. .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-n-g-mez-de-la-serna/between-the-railroad-tracks-suicidal-flowers-grow/) [Ramón Gómez de la Serna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-n-g-mez-de-la-serna/) > [Separation of the Church and State is like a railroad track. It cannot be close to one another, neither can it be distant, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-sin/separation-of-the-church-and-state-is-like-a-railroad-track-it-cannot/) Jaime Sin > [It is still news to her that passion could steer her wrong though she went down, a thousand times strung out across railroad tracks,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-di-prima/it-is-still-news-to-her-that-passion-could-steer-her-wrong-though-she/) [Diane di Prima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-di-prima/) > [You cannot tie your fiance to the railroad track of self-reflection and personal improvement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-dickinson/you-cannot-tie-your-fiance-to-the-railroad-track-of-self-reflection/) [Amy Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-dickinson/) > [There was one moment, and it happened in school. I had a big final exam - we were supposed to write a 20-page report…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-burton/there-was-one-moment-and-it-happened-in-school-i-had-a-big-final-exam/) [Tim Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-burton/) > [Now I need to take a piece of wood and make it sound like the railroad track, but I also had to make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-paul/now-i-need-to-take-a-piece-of-wood-and-make-it-sound-like-the/) [Les Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-paul/) > [Ever bike? Now that's something that makes life worth living!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/ever-bike-now-that-s-something-that-makes-life-worth-living/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Miles and miles and miles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-shepard/miles-and-miles-and-miles/) [Alan Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-shepard/) > [When I was a little kid, I used to walk miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles of railroad tracks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-houston/when-i-was-a-little-kid-i-used-to-walk-miles-and-miles-and-miles-and/) [Pam Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-houston/) > [“Given a little wine, you will find folks are the same no matter what side of the railroad tracks they came from.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-b-brewer/given-a-little-wine-you-will-find-folks-are-the-same-no-matter-what/) [Nancy B. Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-b-brewer/) > [My father was a logger. He cut timber and hauled it out of the woods and had a sawmill. They sawed it into lumber.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-stanley/my-father-was-a-logger-he-cut-timber-and-hauled-it-out-of-the-woods/) [Ralph Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-stanley/) > [I started composting in 1970 by taking my food scraps out behind where I lived and burying them in a hole next to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-begley-jr/i-started-composting-in-1970-by-taking-my-food-scraps-out-behind/) [Ed Begley, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-begley-jr/) > [a TEN-YEAR-OLD lad in Indianapolis who was arrested for picking up coal along the side of railroad tracks is now in jail. If the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-jones/a-ten-year-old-lad-in-indianapolis-who-was-arrested-for-picking-up/) Mother Jones ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Building quotes > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/you-of-canada-are-building-a-magnificent-record-of-achievement-my/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [One of the things the United States does well is building coalitions. What the U.S. knows is that if you don't have a coalition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/one-of-the-things-the-united-states-does-well-is-building-coalitions/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [Surely, if Mother Nature had been consulted, she would never have consented to building a city in New Orleans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-zuckerman/surely-if-mother-nature-had-been-consulted-she-would-never-have/) [Mortimer Zuckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-zuckerman/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [Absolutely, you can improve and become better at toughness. It's a talent, but it can be acquired, too. I think of it like building…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harbaugh/absolutely-you-can-improve-and-become-better-at-toughness-it-s-a/) [Jim Harbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harbaugh/) > [ T\]he church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/t-he-church-is-not-a-place-it-s-not-a-building-it-s-not-a-preaching/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) > [I'd like to play Ian Paisley, actually. I'd need building up, though he's very frail now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liam-neeson/i-d-like-to-play-ian-paisley-actually-i-d-need-building-up-though-he/) [Liam Neeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liam-neeson/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some architects have a preconceived notion of what a building should be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-w-fentress/some-architects-have-a-preconceived-notion-of-what-a-building-should/) [Curtis W. Fentress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-w-fentress/) > [As for the forces, electromagnetism and gravity we experience in everyday life. But the weak and strong forces are beyond our ordinary experience. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-witten/as-for-the-forces-electromagnetism-and-gravity-we-experience-in/) [Edward Witten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-witten/) > [I'm 30. I'm about to hit my prime now. I need to act and keep building.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dillian-whyte/i-m-30-i-m-about-to-hit-my-prime-now-i-need-to-act-and-keep-building/) [Dillian Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dillian-whyte/) > [The essential functions of the mind consist in understanding and in inventing, in other words, in building up structures by structuring reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/the-essential-functions-of-the-mind-consist-in-understanding-and-in/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [Practically every time I speak up at a school conference, a political event, or my apartment building association's annual meeting, I'm met with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/practically-every-time-i-speak-up-at-a-school-conference-a-political/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) Browse all 5,974 Building quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A railroad is like a lie you have to keep building it to make it stand.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-keep-building-it-to-make-it-stand/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Building" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-keep-building-it-to-make-it-stand/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7a/mark-twain-22_building_a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-kee_729499.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7a/mark-twain-22_building_a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-kee_729499.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7a/mark-twain-22_building_a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-kee_729499.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A railroad is like a lie you have to keep building it to make it stand.” — Mark Twain", "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": "Mark Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A railroad is like a lie...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-keep-building-it-to-make-it-stand/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-railroad-is-like-a-lie-you-have-to-keep-building-it-to-make-it-stand/#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 } } ] } ```