--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was as though, so long as the deceit…" description: "\"“It was as though, so long as the deceit ran along quiet and monotonous, all of us let ourselves be deceived, abetting it unawares or maybe through cow..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/william-faulkner-306_betrayal_it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-r_2855480.png" --- # It was as though, so long as the deceit ran along quiet… ![“It was as though, so long as the deceit ran along quiet and monotonous, all of us let ourselves be deceived, abetting it unawares or maybe through cowardice, since all people are cowards and naturally prefer any kind of treachery because it has a bland outside.” quote by William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/william-faulkner-306_betrayal_it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-r_2855480.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/william-faulkner-306_betrayal_it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-r_2855480.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/william-faulkner-306_betrayal_it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-r_2855480.png) > ““It was as though, so long as the deceit ran along quiet and monotonous, all of us let ourselves be deceived, abetting it unawares or maybe through cowardice, since all people are cowards and naturally prefer any kind of treachery because it has a bland outside.”” [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Deceit becomes normalized when people prefer comfort over confronting betrayal, leading to collective cowardice and passive complicity. **In simple terms:** People accept lies to avoid discomfort. Key Takeaway Challenge complacency and confront truth. Themes morality deception cowardice Mood somber critical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - political discourse - personal relationships - media consumption Key Concepts social conformity ethical blindness Questions to Reflect On - Why do we accept comfortable lies? - What costs arise from collective cowardice? A Different Perspective Truth‑seeking can be socially risky and isolating. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Betrayal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betrayal/) [Cowardice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice/) [Cowardice People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice-people-930062/) [Deceit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceit/) [Deceit Ran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deceit-ran-3823711/) [Enabling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enabling/) [People Cowards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-cowards-859969/) ## Related quotes > [So long as the deceit ran along quiet and monotonous, all of us let ourselves be deceived, abetting it unawares or maybe through cowardice...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/so-long-as-the-deceit-ran-along-quiet-and-monotonous-all-of-us-let/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [No police or military in the world can protect people who are cowards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-police-or-military-in-the-world-can-protect-people-who-are-cowards/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In any case, it's the cowardice of people like you who give dictators the chance to install themselves!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/in-any-case-it-s-the-cowardice-of-people-like-you-who-give-dictators/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [Most people are cowards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-von-nothaus/most-people-are-cowards/) [Bernard von NotHaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-von-nothaus/) > [Ridicule is a weak weapon when pointed at a strong mind; but common people are cowards and dread an empty laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-farquhar-tupper/ridicule-is-a-weak-weapon-when-pointed-at-a-strong-mind-but-common/) [Martin Farquhar Tupper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-farquhar-tupper/) > [Some people are cowards... I think by and large a third of people are villains, a third are cowards, and a third are heroes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/some-people-are-cowards-i-think-by-and-large-a-third-of-people-are/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [I have never cared much for people. Most of them are cowards, conformists, muddleheads, moneygrubbers, and they infect each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cees-nooteboom/i-have-never-cared-much-for-people-most-of-them-are-cowards/) [Cees Nooteboom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cees-nooteboom/) > [Cruel people are ever cowards in emergency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/cruel-people-are-ever-cowards-in-emergency/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [Like a fellow running from or toward a gun ain't got time to worry whether the word for what he is doing is courage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/like-a-fellow-running-from-or-toward-a-gun-ain-t-got-time-to-worry/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [Good ideas are not good enough. They need to be God ideas. Just because someone else’s methods work does not mean they will work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-pringle/good-ideas-are-not-good-enough-they-need-to-be-god-ideas-just-because/) [Phil Pringle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-pringle/) > [When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to assume that their president, hostile to the principles that formed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shapiro/when-in-the-course-of-human-events-it-becomes-necessary-for-one/) [David Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shapiro/) > [Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom. By enabling people to cooperate with one another without coercion or central direction, it reduces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/economic-freedom-is-an-essential-requisite-for-political-freedom-by/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [We must regard Sarah Palin as the Carmella Soprano of the GOP -- an enabling wife of organized crime, who sees, hears and speaks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cintra-wilson/we-must-regard-sarah-palin-as-the-carmella-soprano-of-the-gop-an/) [Cintra Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cintra-wilson/) > [If you want to make a substantial reduction in your carbon footprint, doing it on your own is virtually impossible, especially if you're driving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-arnold/if-you-want-to-make-a-substantial-reduction-in-your-carbon-footprint/) [Tom Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-arnold/) > [Close contact between science and the practice of collective farms and State farms creates inexhaustible opportunities for the development of theoretical knowledge, enabling us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trofim-lysenko/close-contact-between-science-and-the-practice-of-collective-farms/) [Trofim Lysenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trofim-lysenko/) ## More by William Faulkner > [“The river itself is not a hundred yards across, and pa and Vernon and Vardaman and Dewey Dell are the only things in sight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/the-river-itself-is-not-a-hundred-yards-across-and-pa-and-vernon-and/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [The quality an artist must have is objectivity in judging his work, plus the honesty and courage not to kid himself about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/the-quality-an-artist-must-have-is-objectivity-in-judging-his-work/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“Luster returned, wearing a stiff new straw hat with a colored band and carrying a cloth cap. The hat seemed to isolate Luster's skull,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/luster-returned-wearing-a-stiff-new-straw-hat-with-a-colored-band-and/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [It is easy enough to say that man is immortal simply because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/it-is-easy-enough-to-say-that-man-is-immortal-simply-because-he-will/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“What matters is at the end of life, when you're about to pass into oblivion, that you've at least scratched 'Kilroy was here,' on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/what-matters-is-at-the-end-of-life-when-you-re-about-to-pass-into/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [I've got to feel the pencil and see the words at the end of the pencil,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/i-ve-got-to-feel-the-pencil-and-see-the-words-at-the-end-of-the-pencil/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [And sure enough, even waiting will end...if you can just wait long enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/and-sure-enough-even-waiting-will-end-if-you-can-just-wait-long-enough/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/i-believe-that-man-will-not-merely-endure-he-will-prevail-he-is/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/never-be-afraid-to-raise-your-voice-for-honesty-and-truth-and/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/to-understand-the-world-you-must-first-understand-a-place-like/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“What modren ideas?” pap said. “I didn’t know there was but one idea about work—until it is done, it ain’t done, and when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/what-modren-ideas-pap-said-i-didn-t-know-there-was-but-one-idea-about/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“It was only as he put his hand on the door that he became aware of complete silence beyond it, a silence which he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/it-was-only-as-he-put-his-hand-on-the-door-that-he-became-aware-of/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“She has no mother because fatherblood hates with love and pride, but motherblood with hate loves and cohabits.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/she-has-no-mother-because-fatherblood-hates-with-love-and-pride-but/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“Byron listened quietly, thinking to himself how people everywhere are about the same, but that it did seem that in a small town, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/byron-listened-quietly-thinking-to-himself-how-people-everywhere-are/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“It was too late. Maybe yesterday, while I was still a child, but not now. I knew too much, had seen too much, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/it-was-too-late-maybe-yesterday-while-i-was-still-a-child-but-not-now/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) [Explore all 673 William Faulkner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) ## More Betrayal quotes > [“That's the catch about betrayal, of course: that it feels good, that there's something immensely pleasurable about moving from a complicated relationship which involves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/that-s-the-catch-about-betrayal-of-course-that-it-feels-good-that/) [Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/) > [God’s faithfulness is stronger than our unfaithfulness and our infidelities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/god-s-faithfulness-is-stronger-than-our-unfaithfulness-and-our/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“Flattery looks like friendship, just like a wolf looks like a dog.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-auliq-ice/flattery-looks-like-friendship-just-like-a-wolf-looks-like-a-dog/) [Oscar Auliq-Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-auliq-ice/) > [There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though ... betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/km-ii/there-is-no-deceit-in-death-it-delivers-precisely-what-it-has/) [KM II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/km-ii/) > [If you leave someone for another person, don't be surprised if that person leaves you for someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-leave-someone-for-another-person-don-t-be-surprised-if-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“As they say in New York, Get over it and, if you can't get over it, Get over talking about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/as-they-say-in-new-york-get-over-it-and-if-you-can-t-get-over-it-get/) [Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/) > [“He returned her gaze, yearning for sentimental solace; love which emanated from a familiar source, mattered little how bedevilling. They shared an intimate moment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-h-septimius/he-returned-her-gaze-yearning-for-sentimental-solace-love-which/) [A. H. Septimius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-h-septimius/) > [I was always here for you,you knew you could count on me and trust me blindly, and you knew that I would never tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hayssus/i-was-always-here-for-you-you-knew-you-could-count-on-me-and-trust-me/) [Michael Hayssus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hayssus/) > [Joy doesn't betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/joy-doesn-t-betray-but-sustains-activism-and-when-you-face-a-politics/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“Betrayal and love are not mutually exclusive." (Mordred)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-mercer/betrayal-and-love-are-not-mutually-exclusive-mordred/) [Aldous Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-mercer/) > [Love comes exactly... To those who still hope, even though they've been disappointed. To those who still believe, even though they've been betrayed and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mizhan/love-comes-exactly-to-those-who-still-hope-even-though-they-ve-been/) [Mizhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mizhan/) > [For some people, a one-night stand doesn't make any difference in a seven-year love affair. I don't believe the degree of betrayal is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/for-some-people-a-one-night-stand-doesn-t-make-any-difference-in-a/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [Betrayal is a serious thing in this world,you know what else is serious? Being lied to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina/betrayal-is-a-serious-thing-in-this-world-you-know-what-else-is/) [Sabrina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina/) > [The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-greatest-temptation-for-the-like-of-us-is-to-renounce-violence-to/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [“Sarai, you never know who might betray you until it’s too late.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-redmerski/sarai-you-never-know-who-might-betray-you-until-it-s-too-late/) [J.A. Redmerski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-redmerski/) [Browse all 2,050 Betrayal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betrayal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was as though, so long as the deceit ran along quiet and monotonous, all of us let ourselves be deceived, abetting it unawares or maybe through cowardice, since all people are cowards and naturally prefer any kind of treachery because it has a bland outside.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Faulkner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-ran-along-quiet-and-monotonous/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Betrayal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-ran-along-quiet-and-monotonous/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/william-faulkner-306_betrayal_it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-r_2855480.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/william-faulkner-306_betrayal_it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-r_2855480.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8c/william-faulkner-306_betrayal_it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-r_2855480.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was as though, so long as the deceit ran along quiet and monotonous, all of us let ourselves be deceived…” — William Faulkner", "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": "William Faulkner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It was as though, so long...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-ran-along-quiet-and-monotonous/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/it-was-as-though-so-long-as-the-deceit-ran-along-quiet-and-monotonous/#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 } } ] } ```