--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Malice, in its false witness, promotes…" description: "\"Malice, in its false witness, promotes its tale with so cunning a confusion, so mingles truths with falsehoods, surmises with certainties, causes of no..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/philip-sidney-2095_accused_malice-in-its-false-witness-promotes-its_2590821.png" --- # Malice, in its false witness, promotes its tale with so… ![“Malice, in its false witness, promotes its tale with so cunning a confusion, so mingles truths with falsehoods, surmises with certainties, causes of no moment with matters capital, that the accused can absolutely neither grant nor deny, plead innocen.” quote by Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/philip-sidney-2095_accused_malice-in-its-false-witness-promotes-its_2590821.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/philip-sidney-2095_accused_malice-in-its-false-witness-promotes-its_2590821.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/philip-sidney-2095_accused_malice-in-its-false-witness-promotes-its_2590821.png) > “Malice, in its false witness, promotes its tale with so cunning a confusion, so mingles truths with falsehoods, surmises with certainties, causes of no moment with matters capital, that the accused can absolutely neither grant nor deny, plead innocen.” [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes how false testimony confuses truth, making the accused unable to defend themselves. **In simple terms:** False witness clouds truth, hindering defense. Key Takeaway Beware deceitful accusations. Themes justice truth deception Mood cautionary serious Type philosophical legal When to use this quote - courtrooms - media reporting - personal disputes Key Concepts legal ethics philosophy rhetoric Questions to Reflect On - How can one protect against false accusations? - What role does evidence play in truth? A Different Perspective Truth may be obscured by rhetoric. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accused/) [Causes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Confusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) [Cunning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cunning/) [Deny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deny/) [False witness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/false-witness/) [Falsehood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehood/) [Falsehoods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehoods/) [Falsehoods Surmises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehoods-surmises-1859937/) [Grants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grants/) [Malice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malice/) [Malice False](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malice-false-1859935/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Tales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tales/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Witness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witness/) ## Related quotes > [In such situations, of course, people don't nurse their anger silently, they moan aloud; but these are not frank, straightforward moans, there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/in-such-situations-of-course-people-don-t-nurse-their-anger-silently/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [All bosses always has a strategy to use their employees to to seek their own interest, by putting them to watch each other with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/all-bosses-always-has-a-strategy-to-use-their-employees-to-to-seek/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [And these things are pretty much foundational: thou shall not kill, steal, bear false witness. 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They honor father and mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristides-of-athens/the-christians-do-not-commit-adultery-they-do-not-bear-false-witness/) [Aristides of Athens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristides-of-athens/) > [“I poor sinner confess to thee, O Almighty, eternal, merciful God and Father, that I have sinned in manifold ways against thee and thy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-brown/i-poor-sinner-confess-to-thee-o-almighty-eternal-merciful-god-and/) [Steve Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-brown/) > [“Whatever his elders told him to do, he did. They told him to look before he leaped, and he always looked before he leaped.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/whatever-his-elders-told-him-to-do-he-did-they-told-him-to-look/) [Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/) > [There are 869 different forms of lying, but only one of them has been squarely forbidden. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-are-869-different-forms-of-lying-but-only-one-of-them-has-been/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [ “\[Y\]ou are not ashamed of your sin \[in committing adultery\] because so many men commit it. Man's wickedness is now such that men are… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustine-of-hippo/y-ou-are-not-ashamed-of-your-sin-in-committing-adultery-because-so/) [Augustine of Hippo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustine-of-hippo/) > [“The media, adopting a “shocked, shocked” morality, could not fathom how being factually wrong was not an absolute ending in itself. How could this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/the-media-adopting-a-shocked-shocked-morality-could-not-fathom-how/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [“The Devil answer'd: bray a fool in a morter with wheat, yet shall not his folly be beaten out of him; if Jesus Christ…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-devil-answer-d-bray-a-fool-in-a-morter-with-wheat-yet-shall-not/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/thou-shalt-not-commit-adultery-thou-shalt-not-kill-thou-shalt-not/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) ## More by Philip Sidney > [Laws are not made like lime-twigs or nets, to catch everything that toucheth them; but rather like sea-marks, to guide from shipwreck the ignorant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/laws-are-not-made-like-lime-twigs-or-nets-to-catch-everything-that/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [It is no less vain to wish death than it is cowardly to fear it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/it-is-no-less-vain-to-wish-death-than-it-is-cowardly-to-fear-it/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Whatever comes out of despair cannot bear the title of valor, which should be lifted up to such a height that holding all things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/whatever-comes-out-of-despair-cannot-bear-the-title-of-valor-which/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Sweet speaking oft a currish heart reclaims.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/sweet-speaking-oft-a-currish-heart-reclaims/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [To be ambitious of true honor and of the real glory and perfection of our nature is the very principle and incentive of virtue;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/to-be-ambitious-of-true-honor-and-of-the-real-glory-and-perfection-of/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [He travels safe and not unpleasantly who is guarded by poverty and guided by love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/he-travels-safe-and-not-unpleasantly-who-is-guarded-by-poverty-and/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [There is a certain delicacy which in yielding conquers; and with a pitiful look makes one find cause to crave help one's self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/there-is-a-certain-delicacy-which-in-yielding-conquers-and-with-a/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [The glory and increase of wisdom stands in exercising it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/the-glory-and-increase-of-wisdom-stands-in-exercising-it/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [O sweet woods, the delight of solitariness!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/o-sweet-woods-the-delight-of-solitariness/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [“Stella, the only planet of my light, Light of my life, and life of my desire, Chief good, whereto my hope doth only aspire,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/stella-the-only-planet-of-my-light-light-of-my-life-and-life-of-my/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [All is but lip-wisdom which wants experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/all-is-but-lip-wisdom-which-wants-experience/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Confidence in one's self is the chief nurse of magnanimity, which confidence, notwithstanding, doth not leave the care of necessary furniture for it; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/confidence-in-one-s-self-is-the-chief-nurse-of-magnanimity-which/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Those lovers scorn whom that love doth possess? Do they call virtue there ungratefulness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/those-lovers-scorn-whom-that-love-doth-possess-do-they-call-virtue/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [It depends on education--that holder of the keys which the Almighty hath put into our hands--to open the gates which lead to virtue or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/it-depends-on-education-that-holder-of-the-keys-which-the-almighty/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Vice is but a nurse of agonies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/vice-is-but-a-nurse-of-agonies/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) [Explore all 186 Philip Sidney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) ## More Accused quotes > [We resent being faced with facts we'd prefer to ignore as much as being wrongly accused of doing something we haven't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aidan-chambers/we-resent-being-faced-with-facts-we-d-prefer-to-ignore-as-much-as/) [Aidan Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aidan-chambers/) > [Jesus Himself was criticized. 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Fang tried to play innocent--but "innocent Fang" is an oxymoron, so it didn't work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/you-re-lying-through-your-fangs-iggy-accused-fang-tried-to-play/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [The big story today, Barack Obama was accused of insulting Sarah Palin when he criticized Republican policies by saying, you can put lipstick on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/the-big-story-today-barack-obama-was-accused-of-insulting-sarah-palin/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [I've been accused of humanizing the Nazis, to which I can only say, you can't blame me for that. God did that. Go talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-d-snodgrass/i-ve-been-accused-of-humanizing-the-nazis-to-which-i-can-only-say-you/) [W. D. 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