--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In politics, being deceived is no excuse…" description: "\"“In politics, being deceived is no excuse. —LESZEK KOŁAKOWSKI”\" — Timothy Snyder" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7e/timothy-snyder-882_politics_in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse_2013614.jpg" --- # In politics, being deceived is no excuse. —LESZEK KOŁAKOWSKI ![“In politics, being deceived is no excuse. —LESZEK KOŁAKOWSKI” quote by Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7e/timothy-snyder-882_politics_in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse_2013614.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7e/timothy-snyder-882_politics_in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse_2013614.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7e/timothy-snyder-882_politics_in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse_2013614.jpg) > ““In politics, being deceived is no excuse. —LESZEK KOŁAKOWSKI”” [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Deception in politics is inevitable, but victims cannot claim ignorance as justification. **In simple terms:** Political lies demand vigilance, not excuses. Key Takeaway Stay informed and question narratives. Themes politics deception responsibility Mood skeptical serious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - elections - public debates - policy analysis Key Concepts critical thinking media literacy Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify political claims? - What responsibilities do citizens have? A Different Perspective Ignoring deception can erode democratic trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deceived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceived/) [Deceived Excuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceived-excuse-3610192/) [Excuse Leszek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excuse-leszek-3610193/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Politics Deceived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics-deceived-3610191/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) ## Related quotes > [“Kurti had believed in politics, and politics had deceived him, the way politics deceives everyone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imre-kert-sz/kurti-had-believed-in-politics-and-politics-had-deceived-him-the-way/) [Imre Kertész](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imre-kert-sz/) > [The man who while he gives thinks of what he will get in return, deserves to be deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-man-who-while-he-gives-thinks-of-what-he-will-get-in-return/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [In the long run it makes little difference how cleverly others are deceived; if we are not doing what we are best equipped to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-brande/in-the-long-run-it-makes-little-difference-how-cleverly-others-are/) [Dorothea Brande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-brande/) > [“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/) > [The intention of never deceiving often exposes us to deception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/the-intention-of-never-deceiving-often-exposes-us-to-deception/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Excessive distrust is not less hurtfJul than its opposite. Most men become useless to him who is unwilling to risk being deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/excessive-distrust-is-not-less-hurtfjul-than-its-opposite-most-men/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/it-is-sometimes-necessary-to-play-the-fool-to-avoid-being-deceived-by/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [We have been deceived into believing prayer is all about persuading God to release His power. We no longer need to beg or plead;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wommack/we-have-been-deceived-into-believing-prayer-is-all-about-persuading/) [Andrew Wommack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wommack/) > [Self-deceit is a sure defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/self-deceit-is-a-sure-defeat/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-may-the-outward-shows-be-least-themselves-the-world-is-still/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When self-interest inclines a man to print, he should consider that the purchaser expects a pennyworth for his penny, and has reason to asperse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shenstone/when-self-interest-inclines-a-man-to-print-he-should-consider-that/) [William Shenstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shenstone/) > [Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/mundus-vult-decipi-the-world-wants-to-be-deceived/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [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/) > [In any event, it is one thing to assert, then or now, that the Iraq war was ill-advised. It is quite another to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-silberman/in-any-event-it-is-one-thing-to-assert-then-or-now-that-the-iraq-war/) [Laurence Silberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-silberman/) > [You have been deceived by your own cold heart - a curse upon your house and all within it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beauty-and-the-beast/you-have-been-deceived-by-your-own-cold-heart-a-curse-upon-your-house/) [Beauty And The Beast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beauty-and-the-beast/) ## More by Timothy Snyder > [“Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/nationalism-is-relativist-since-the-only-truth-is-the-resentment-we/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite,/That ever I was born to set it right!” Thus Hamlet. Yet he concludes: “Nay, come,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-time-is-out-of-joint-o-cursed-spite-that-ever-i-was-born-to-set/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“the democracies that arose after the First World War (and the Second) often collapsed when a single party seized power in some combination of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-democracies-that-arose-after-the-first-world-war-and-the-second/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“salami tactics—slicing off layers of opposition one by one. Most people were distracted, some were imprisoned, and others were outmatched.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/salami-tactics-slicing-off-layers-of-opposition-one-by-one-most/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“We allowed ourselves to accept the politics of inevitability, the sense that history could move in only one direction: toward liberal democracy...We imbibed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/we-allowed-ourselves-to-accept-the-politics-of-inevitability-the/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“The key to this translation of ideology to politics in both cases was an effective appeal to human experience at the crucial time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-key-to-this-translation-of-ideology-to-politics-in-both-cases-was/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“Both of these positions, inevitability and eternity, are antihistorical. The only thing that stands between them is history itself. History allows us to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/both-of-these-positions-inevitability-and-eternity-are-antihistorical/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“The whole notion of disruption is adolescent: It assumes that after the teenagers make a mess, the adults will come and clean it up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-whole-notion-of-disruption-is-adolescent-it-assumes-that-after/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“As she observed, “the first essential step on the road to total domination is to kill the juridical person in man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/as-she-observed-the-first-essential-step-on-the-road-to-total/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“The first mode is the open hostility to verifiable reality, which takes the form of presenting inventions and lies as if they were facts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-first-mode-is-the-open-hostility-to-verifiable-reality-which/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“Once we subliminally accept that we are watching a reality show rather than thinking about real life, no image can actually hurt the president…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/once-we-subliminally-accept-that-we-are-watching-a-reality-show/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“Confidence in duration is the antidote to panic and the tonic of demagogy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/confidence-in-duration-is-the-antidote-to-panic-and-the-tonic-of/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/be-calm-when-the-unthinkable-arrives-modern-tyranny-is-terror/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“Life is political, not because the world cares about how you feel, but because the world reacts to what you do. The minor choices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/life-is-political-not-because-the-world-cares-about-how-you-feel-but/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“Extremism' certainly sounds bad, and governments often try to make it sound worse by using the word 'terrorism' in the same sentence. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/extremism-certainly-sounds-bad-and-governments-often-try-to-make-it/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) [Explore all 339 Timothy Snyder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) ## More Deceived quotes > [You have been deceived by your own cold heart - a curse upon your house and all within it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beauty-and-the-beast/you-have-been-deceived-by-your-own-cold-heart-a-curse-upon-your-house/) [Beauty And The Beast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beauty-and-the-beast/) > [In any event, it is one thing to assert, then or now, that the Iraq war was ill-advised. It is quite another to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-silberman/in-any-event-it-is-one-thing-to-assert-then-or-now-that-the-iraq-war/) [Laurence Silberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-silberman/) > [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/) > [Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/mundus-vult-decipi-the-world-wants-to-be-deceived/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [When self-interest inclines a man to print, he should consider that the purchaser expects a pennyworth for his penny, and has reason to asperse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shenstone/when-self-interest-inclines-a-man-to-print-he-should-consider-that/) [William Shenstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shenstone/) > [So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-may-the-outward-shows-be-least-themselves-the-world-is-still/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Self-deceit is a sure defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/self-deceit-is-a-sure-defeat/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [We have been deceived into believing prayer is all about persuading God to release His power. We no longer need to beg or plead;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wommack/we-have-been-deceived-into-believing-prayer-is-all-about-persuading/) [Andrew Wommack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wommack/) > [It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/it-is-sometimes-necessary-to-play-the-fool-to-avoid-being-deceived-by/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Excessive distrust is not less hurtfJul than its opposite. Most men become useless to him who is unwilling to risk being deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/excessive-distrust-is-not-less-hurtfjul-than-its-opposite-most-men/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [The intention of never deceiving often exposes us to deception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/the-intention-of-never-deceiving-often-exposes-us-to-deception/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [“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/) > [In the long run it makes little difference how cleverly others are deceived; if we are not doing what we are best equipped to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-brande/in-the-long-run-it-makes-little-difference-how-cleverly-others-are/) [Dorothea Brande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-brande/) > [The man who while he gives thinks of what he will get in return, deserves to be deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/the-man-who-while-he-gives-thinks-of-what-he-will-get-in-return/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [“The marquis de Carabas was not a good man, and he knew himself well enough to be perfectly certain that he was not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-marquis-de-carabas-was-not-a-good-man-and-he-knew-himself-well/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) [Browse all 605 Deceived quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceived/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In politics, being deceived is no excuse. —LESZEK KOŁAKOWSKI”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Timothy Snyder" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse-leszek-ko-akowski/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Deceived" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse-leszek-ko-akowski/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7e/timothy-snyder-882_politics_in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse_2013614.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7e/timothy-snyder-882_politics_in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse_2013614.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f7e/timothy-snyder-882_politics_in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse_2013614.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In politics, being deceived is no excuse. —LESZEK KOŁAKOWSKI” — Timothy Snyder", "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": "Timothy Snyder", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In politics, being deceived is no...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse-leszek-ko-akowski/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/in-politics-being-deceived-is-no-excuse-leszek-ko-akowski/#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 } } ] } ```