--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An injurious lie is an uncommendable…" description: "\"An injurious lie is an uncommendable thing; and so, also, and in the same degree, is an injurious truth a fact that is recognized by the law of libel ...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ad/mark-twain-22_degrees_an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thi_1631085.png" --- # An injurious lie is an uncommendable thing; and so, also… ![“An injurious lie is an uncommendable thing; and so, also, and in the same degree, is an injurious truth a fact that is recognized by the law of libel .” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ad/mark-twain-22_degrees_an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thi_1631085.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ad/mark-twain-22_degrees_an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thi_1631085.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ad/mark-twain-22_degrees_an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thi_1631085.png) > “An injurious lie is an uncommendable thing; and so, also, and in the same degree, is an injurious truth a fact that is recognized by the law of libel .” [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. Both harmful lies and harmful truths can be legally actionable under libel law, emphasizing the danger of false statements and damaging facts. **In simple terms:** Both false statements and damaging facts can be libelous. Key Takeaway Consider the legal and ethical weight of words. Themes law truth lie ethics Mood thoughtful critical Type legal philosophical When to use this quote - journalism - political speech - social media - court cases Key Concepts libel defamation legal responsibility Questions to Reflect On - When does truth become harmful? - How should societies balance free speech and protection? A Different Perspective Legal standards differ across jurisdictions; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Libel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libel/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [An injurious truth has no merit over an injurious lie. Neither should ever be uttered. The man who speaks an injurious truth, lest his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/an-injurious-truth-has-no-merit-over-an-injurious-lie-neither-should/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I do not like an injurious lie, except when it injures somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-do-not-like-an-injurious-lie-except-when-it-injures-somebody-else/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“I prefer an injurious truth to a useful error. Truth heals any pain it may inflict on us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-prefer-an-injurious-truth-to-a-useful-error-truth-heals-any-pain-it/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [There isn't any way to libel the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-isn-t-any-way-to-libel-the-human-race/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Substances that are injurious to the well are equally (or more so) injurious to the sick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-m-shelton/substances-that-are-injurious-to-the-well-are-equally-or-more-so/) [Herbert M. Shelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-m-shelton/) > [The good opinion of the vulgar is injurious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/the-good-opinion-of-the-vulgar-is-injurious/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Qualified idiots are injurious to society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yssubramanyam/qualified-idiots-are-injurious-to-society/) [Yssubramanyam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yssubramanyam/) > [The whole constitution of property on its present tenures, is injurious, and its influence on persons deteriorating and degrading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-whole-constitution-of-property-on-its-present-tenures-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It is injurious to the mind as well as to the body to be always in one place and always surrounded by the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-jefferies/it-is-injurious-to-the-mind-as-well-as-to-the-body-to-be-always-in/) [Richard Jefferies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-jefferies/) > [Every social association that is not face-to-face is injurious to your health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/every-social-association-that-is-not-face-to-face-is-injurious-to/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [No man has ever had a point of pride that was not injurious to him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/no-man-has-ever-had-a-point-of-pride-that-was-not-injurious-to-him/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-rockefeller/charity-is-injurious-unless-it-helps-the-recipient-to-become/) [John D. Rockefeller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-rockefeller/) > [That which is injurious loses its capacity to harm when it is brought into the light, and we attract to us that which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hawkins/that-which-is-injurious-loses-its-capacity-to-harm-when-it-is-brought/) [David Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hawkins/) > [The habitual living in prosperity is most injurious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/the-habitual-living-in-prosperity-is-most-injurious/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [Temporize not! It is always injurious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-jackson/temporize-not-it-is-always-injurious/) [Andrew Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-jackson/) ## 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 Degrees quotes > [ \[Photography is \] likewise even French impressionists. So the Sculls bought pop. It was politics, and they moved with it. 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After I graduated with my masters I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-algieri/i-was-a-full-time-student-either-at-stony-brook-or-nyu-getting-my/) [Chris Algieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-algieri/) > [Life comes from death. To the degree that I can live in the death of Jesus - to that degree I can channel God's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-giglio/life-comes-from-death-to-the-degree-that-i-can-live-in-the-death-of/) [Louie Giglio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-giglio/) > [By heaven we understand a state of happiness infinite in degree, and endless in duration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/by-heaven-we-understand-a-state-of-happiness-infinite-in-degree-and/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [As hard as I try to live with some degree of faith in my life, I just can't believe that the full moon can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/as-hard-as-i-try-to-live-with-some-degree-of-faith-in-my-life-i-just/) [Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/) > [The male dares to be different to the degree that he accepts his passivity and his desire to be female, his fagginess. The farthest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-solanas/the-male-dares-to-be-different-to-the-degree-that-he-accepts-his/) [Valerie Solanas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-solanas/) > [ What are you for? It may be, to a degree, consoling that white brothers and sisters did not vote for \[Donald\] Trump, and do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/what-are-you-for-it-may-be-to-a-degree-consoling-that-white-brothers/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [My mother taught me three things, respect, knowledge-search for knowledge, it's an eternal journey. That's like my hair-cut, the line, 360 degrees, find knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/my-mother-taught-me-three-things-respect-knowledge-search-for/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [I work with different actors with varied degrees of experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-baker/i-work-with-different-actors-with-varied-degrees-of-experience/) [Sean Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-baker/) > [We are only alive to the degree that we can let ourselves be moved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/we-are-only-alive-to-the-degree-that-we-can-let-ourselves-be-moved/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [Like many others, I have deep misgivings about the state of education in the United States. Too many of our students fail to graduate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/like-many-others-i-have-deep-misgivings-about-the-state-of-education/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [The insolence of base minds in success is boundless; and would scarce admit of a comparison, did not they themselves furnish us with one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-insolence-of-base-minds-in-success-is-boundless-and-would-scarce/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Each year we pump at least six billion tons of heat-trapping carbon into the innermost layer of our atmosphere, whose outer extent is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-gelbspan/each-year-we-pump-at-least-six-billion-tons-of-heat-trapping-carbon/) [Ross Gelbspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-gelbspan/) Browse all 3,453 Degrees quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An injurious lie is an uncommendable thing; and so, also, and in the same degree, is an injurious truth a fact that is recognized by the law of libel .", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thing-and-so-also-and-in-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Degrees" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thing-and-so-also-and-in-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ad/mark-twain-22_degrees_an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thi_1631085.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ad/mark-twain-22_degrees_an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thi_1631085.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ad/mark-twain-22_degrees_an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thi_1631085.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An injurious lie is an uncommendable thing; and so, also, and in the same degree, is an injurious truth a…” — 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": "An injurious lie is an uncommendable...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thing-and-so-also-and-in-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/an-injurious-lie-is-an-uncommendable-thing-and-so-also-and-in-the/#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 } } ] } ```