--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The great skill in lying is not lying…" description: "\"“The great skill in lying is not lying, you'd say. Just leaving things out. Keeping everything as close to the actual truth as possible. Nothing overbl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/rebecca-stott-44914_lying_the-great-skill-in-lying-is-not-lying-yo_3015953.jpg" --- # The great skill in lying is not lying, you'd say. Just… ![“The great skill in lying is not lying, you'd say. Just leaving things out. Keeping everything as close to the actual truth as possible. Nothing overblown.” quote by Rebecca Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/rebecca-stott-44914_lying_the-great-skill-in-lying-is-not-lying-yo_3015953.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/rebecca-stott-44914_lying_the-great-skill-in-lying-is-not-lying-yo_3015953.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c65/rebecca-stott-44914_lying_the-great-skill-in-lying-is-not-lying-yo_3015953.jpg) > ““The great skill in lying is not lying, you'd say. Just leaving things out. Keeping everything as close to the actual truth as possible. Nothing overblown.”” [Rebecca Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-stott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Effective lying involves omission and staying close to truth, avoiding exaggeration. **In simple terms:** Lie by omitting, not exaggerating. Key Takeaway Practice selective honesty. Themes truthfulness deception communication Mood thoughtful ethical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - journalism - politics - personal relationships Key Concepts ethics psychology language precision Questions to Reflect On - When is omission acceptable? - How does truth proximity affect credibility? A Different Perspective Risk of eroding trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Lying Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying-lying-242903/) [Lying Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying-say-909574/) [Skill Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skill-lying-2327171/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-possible-315536/) ## Related quotes > [“...when the public nerve is aroused, the most impressive capacity of man is his skill for lying.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/when-the-public-nerve-is-aroused-the-most-impressive-capacity-of-man/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [It's the strangest thing about being human: to know so much, to communicate so much, and yet always to fall so drastically short of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/it-s-the-strangest-thing-about-being-human-to-know-so-much-to/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [Fiction intended to please, should resemble truth as much as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fiction-intended-to-please-should-resemble-truth-as-much-as-possible/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Being a rocker, to me, is equal to living as much of the truth as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duff-mckagan/being-a-rocker-to-me-is-equal-to-living-as-much-of-the-truth-as/) [Duff McKagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duff-mckagan/) > [The art of writing fiction is to sail as dangerously close to the truth as possible without sinking the ship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kinky-friedman/the-art-of-writing-fiction-is-to-sail-as-dangerously-close-to-the/) [Kinky Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kinky-friedman/) > [Without free speech no search for Truth is possible; without free speech no discovery of Truth is useful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bradlaugh/without-free-speech-no-search-for-truth-is-possible-without-free/) [Charles Bradlaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bradlaugh/) > [I think all of us are looking for that which does not admit of bullshit . . . 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She’s lying. And before long, they’re lying. Together. In bed...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tawny-weber/he-s-lying-she-s-lying-and-before-long-they-re-lying-together-in-bed/) [Tawny Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tawny-weber/) ## More by Rebecca Stott > [“Isn't it always unfair - death always a kind of outrage? A life ended too soon with jagged and torn edges, a sentence incomplete.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-stott/isn-t-it-always-unfair-death-always-a-kind-of-outrage-a-life-ended/) [Rebecca Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-stott/) > [“Paris is an ocean," a lawyer called Honoré said to me in a bar on the place Vendôme later that night. We were very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-stott/paris-is-an-ocean-a-lawyer-called-honor-said-to-me-in-a-bar-on-the/) [Rebecca Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-stott/) > [“Beyond this point on the river Cambridge became a kind of miniature Venice, its river water lapping up against the ancient stone of college…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-stott/beyond-this-point-on-the-river-cambridge-became-a-kind-of-miniature/) [Rebecca Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-stott/) > [“It's only when you've pieced together a story in several different ways that you realise where the holes are, discover the knowledge that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-stott/it-s-only-when-you-ve-pieced-together-a-story-in-several-different/) [Rebecca Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-stott/) > [“Stepping into the smell of a long-abandoned aple crop, Cameron called towards the house, hoping to catch his mother's attention in the window where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-stott/stepping-into-the-smell-of-a-long-abandoned-aple-crop-cameron-called/) [Rebecca Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-stott/) > [“On July 29, six days after I had arrived in Paris, Fin and I moved into the new lodgings on the top floor of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-stott/on-july-29-six-days-after-i-had-arrived-in-paris-fin-and-i-moved-into/) [Rebecca Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-stott/) > [“Science doesn't reduce things, or explain mysteries away; it just discovers stranger and stranger things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-stott/science-doesn-t-reduce-things-or-explain-mysteries-away-it-just/) [Rebecca Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-stott/) > [“I didn't like crab. 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They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. 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