--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This explained to me--and I suppose…" description: "\"“This explained to me--and I suppose, forgave me--my inability to see the face of this man, because whoever must deceive us in order to live will by ne..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/michael-ennis-51491_deceive_this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forga_2476478.jpg" --- # This explained to me--and I suppose, forgave me--my… ![“This explained to me--and I suppose, forgave me--my inability to see the face of this man, because whoever must deceive us in order to live will by necessity far exceed the skill of ordinary men, who are as much tempted by the desire to be honest as they are plagued by guilt and shame when they…” quote by Michael Ennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/michael-ennis-51491_deceive_this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forga_2476478.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/michael-ennis-51491_deceive_this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forga_2476478.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/michael-ennis-51491_deceive_this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forga_2476478.jpg) > ““This explained to me--and I suppose, forgave me--my inability to see the face of this man, because whoever must deceive us in order to live will by necessity far exceed the skill of ordinary men, who are as much tempted by the desire to be honest as they are plagued by guilt and shame when they have broken faith.”” [Michael Ennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ennis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that deception is a survival tool, making it harder to recognize falsehoods, and that honest people are tempted but also suffer guilt when they betray trust. **In simple terms:** Deception masks truth; honesty brings guilt. Key Takeaway Recognize that deception can be pervasive. Themes trust deception guilt honesty survival Mood reflective serious Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - Investigating motives - building trust - conflict resolution Key Concepts Psychology Ethics Human Nature Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate necessary deception from betrayal? - What role does guilt play in honest behavior? A Different Perspective Deception may be rationalized, not always malicious. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deception/) [Guilt And Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt-and-shame/) [Necessary evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessary-evil/) ## Related quotes > [It is the act of a bad man to deceive by falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/it-is-the-act-of-a-bad-man-to-deceive-by-falsehood/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [We have great power to see the truth when the truth is all we wish to see; but what is easier than to credit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-vila-blake/we-have-great-power-to-see-the-truth-when-the-truth-is-all-we-wish-to/) [James Vila Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-vila-blake/) > [Its nature of man Deceive themselves and understand others is censurable,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/its-nature-of-man-deceive-themselves-and-understand-others-is/) Mak\_786 > [A man can deceive his fiancee or his mistress as much as he likes and, in the eyes of a woman he loves, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/a-man-can-deceive-his-fiancee-or-his-mistress-as-much-as-he-likes-and/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [A man can deceive a woman by his sham attachment to her provided he does not have a real attachment elsewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/a-man-can-deceive-a-woman-by-his-sham-attachment-to-her-provided-he/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [“Even in death, a good man would not deceive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publius-syrus/even-in-death-a-good-man-would-not-deceive/) [Publius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publius-syrus/) > [It's the easiest thing in the world for a man to deceive himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/it-s-the-easiest-thing-in-the-world-for-a-man-to-deceive-himself/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Cate had told me once, a long time ago, that the only was to survive your past was to find a way to close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-bracken/cate-had-told-me-once-a-long-time-ago-that-the-only-was-to-survive/) [Alexandra Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-bracken/) > [We are all familiar with the feelings of guilt and shame. They are really bothersome and nagging emotions that dont go away that easily.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dranil-kr-sinha/we-are-all-familiar-with-the-feelings-of-guilt-and-shame-they-are/) [DrAnil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dranil-kr-sinha/) > [“Be a good person, do good things, learn, and love other people, but do these things because you love yourself, God, life and people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-giles/be-a-good-person-do-good-things-learn-and-love-other-people-but-do/) [Kimberly Giles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-giles/) > [“Words like guilt and shame and nightmares - the kind of nightmares that drag you from sleep, and leave you reaching for something no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-filer/words-like-guilt-and-shame-and-nightmares-the-kind-of-nightmares-that/) [Nathan Filer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-filer/) > [“Regret. It had been regret she’d felt that night she’d killed the Crochan. Regret and guilt and shame, for acting on blind obedience, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/regret-it-had-been-regret-she-d-felt-that-night-she-d-killed-the/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [How vast the benefits divine which we in Christ possess! We are redeemed from guilt and shame and called to holiness. But not for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-toplady/how-vast-the-benefits-divine-which-we-in-christ-possess-we-are/) [Augustus Toplady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-toplady/) > [Moral Injury is differentiated from PTSD in that it directly relates to guilt and shame veterans experience as a result of committing actions that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-norris/moral-injury-is-differentiated-from-ptsd-in-that-it-directly-relates/) [Chuck Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-norris/) > [There is a certain kind of pain that can change you. Even the strongest sword, when placed in a raging fire, will soften and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gidwitz/there-is-a-certain-kind-of-pain-that-can-change-you-even-the/) [Adam Gidwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gidwitz/) ## More by Michael Ennis > [“I did not have an answer for the maestro that day. Instead my answer has been the labor of my life, principally my Discourses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ennis/i-did-not-have-an-answer-for-the-maestro-that-day-instead-my-answer/) [Michael Ennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ennis/) > [“I no longer believed that Valentino would continue to build anything at all. Instead, he would merely leave behind the empire of hope that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ennis/i-no-longer-believed-that-valentino-would-continue-to-build-anything/) [Michael Ennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ennis/) > [“The times change, but the nature of men does not. Such men ... will not find our new age more favorable, and they will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ennis/the-times-change-but-the-nature-of-men-does-not-such-men-will-not/) [Michael Ennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ennis/) > [“My object in The Prince was to show defeated Italy a model of her savior, a man as perfect in the bold acquisition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ennis/my-object-in-the-prince-was-to-show-defeated-italy-a-model-of-her/) [Michael Ennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ennis/) > [“Nevertheless I would be a hypocrite not to anticipate that the good intentions I brought to The Prince will also be the root of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ennis/nevertheless-i-would-be-a-hypocrite-not-to-anticipate-that-the-good/) [Michael Ennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ennis/) > [“Where war goes on without end, all men are inevitably corrupted by its brutality -- and the worst horrors are visited upon the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ennis/where-war-goes-on-without-end-all-men-are-inevitably-corrupted-by-its/) [Michael Ennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ennis/) [Explore all 7 Michael Ennis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ennis/) ## More Deceive quotes > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“To recklessly excuse a failure is to believe that I’ve effectively erased it from the story of my life, when I’ve actually imprinted it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-recklessly-excuse-a-failure-is-to-believe-that-i-ve-effectively/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [A woman one loves rarely suffices for all our needs, so we deceive her with another whom we do not love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-woman-one-loves-rarely-suffices-for-all-our-needs-so-we-deceive-her/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Looks sure can be deceiving: not every ‘ugly’ person is a ‘bad’ person (or is guilty of whatever it is that they are accused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/looks-sure-can-be-deceiving-not-every-ugly-person-is-a-bad-person-or/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“When people say they do not care what others thing of them, for the most part they deceive themselves”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/when-people-say-they-do-not-care-what-others-thing-of-them-for-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demosthenes/nothing-is-so-easy-as-to-deceive-oneself-for-what-we-wish-we-readily/) [Demosthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demosthenes/) > [No, it's not that they're bad. It's that they're obliged to pretend they're good. They've been brought up to deceive and be cunning, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/no-it-s-not-that-they-re-bad-it-s-that-they-re-obliged-to-pretend/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [“In my opinion, a lie is a physical act, verbal statement, or omission, deliberately designed to deceive another of the truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-craig/in-my-opinion-a-lie-is-a-physical-act-verbal-statement-or-omission/) [David Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-craig/) > [“When you slice the truth too thin, you deceive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-wilks/when-you-slice-the-truth-too-thin-you-deceive/) [Eileen Wilks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-wilks/) > [Those who try to achieve success without hard work ultimately deceive themselves-or worse-deceive others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/those-who-try-to-achieve-success-without-hard-work-ultimately-deceive/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [Even when they are trying to deceive the voters, the Democrats are incompetent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hilton/even-when-they-are-trying-to-deceive-the-voters-the-democrats-are/) [Steve Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hilton/) > [Trust the story ... the storyteller may dissemble and deceive, the story can't: the story can only ever be itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-robertson/trust-the-story-the-storyteller-may-dissemble-and-deceive-the-story/) [James Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-robertson/) > [Oh, what a tangled web we weave...when first we practice to deceive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/oh-what-a-tangled-web-we-weave-when-first-we-practice-to-deceive/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We often shed tears that deceive ourselves after deceiving others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/we-often-shed-tears-that-deceive-ourselves-after-deceiving-others/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) Browse all 340 Deceive quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This explained to me--and I suppose, forgave me--my inability to see the face of this man, because whoever must deceive us in order to live will by necessity far exceed the skill of ordinary men, who are as much tempted by the desire to be honest as they are plagued by guilt and shame when they have broken faith.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Ennis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ennis/this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forgave-me-my-inability-to-see-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deceive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ennis/this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forgave-me-my-inability-to-see-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/michael-ennis-51491_deceive_this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forga_2476478.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/michael-ennis-51491_deceive_this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forga_2476478.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/michael-ennis-51491_deceive_this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forga_2476478.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This explained to me--and I suppose, forgave me--my inability to see the face of this man, because whoever…” — Michael Ennis", "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": "Michael Ennis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ennis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“This explained to me--and I suppose,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ennis/this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forgave-me-my-inability-to-see-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ennis/this-explained-to-me-and-i-suppose-forgave-me-my-inability-to-see-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 } } ] } ```