OT: Who said "One good lie..."

[bentcajungirl]

[tnfkajs]

"One good lie can save hours of explanation."

I heard this saying years ago, and have oft followed the advice! But, from time to time, I've looked for the author and not been able to find an accurate match.

You're an erudite lot - can you help?

[Sbtypesetter]

What Roseanne said was close... "We women don't intentionally lie to men, it just takes too long to explain the truth."

[Jack-of-all-trades - JOAT]

Mon, Jul 21, 2003, 4:00pm (EDT-2) [e-mail] (tnfkajs) claims: "One good lie can save hours of explanation."

Just remember, the truth shall set you free. Or something like that.

Man's wife asks him to go to the store to buy some cigarettes. So he walks down to the store only to find it closed. So he goes into a nearby bar to use the vending machine. At the bar he sees a beautiful woman and starts talking to her. They have a couple of beers and one thing leads to another and they end up in her apartment. After they've had their fun, he realizes its 3AM and says, "Oh no, its so late, my wife's going to kill me. Have you got any talcum powder?" She gives him some talcum powder, which he proceeds to rub on his hands and then he goes home. His wife is waiting for him in the doorway and she is pretty pissed. "Where the hell have you been?!?!" "Well, honey, its like this. I went to the store like you asked, but they were closed. So I went to the bar to use the vending machine. I saw this great looking chick there and we had a few drinks and one thing led to another and I ended up in bed with her." "Oh yeah? Let me see your hands!" She sees his hands are covered with powder and... "You damn liar!!! You went bowling again!!!"

JOAT Let's just take it for granted you don't know what the Hell you're talking about.

Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT Web Page Update 19 Jul 2003. Some tunes I like.

[mp]

It might have been GW himself. Apparently he's being lying a lot lately.

[Doug Miller]

Sounds like it might be Mark Twain.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

Save the baby humans - stop partial-birth abortion NOW

[CW]

when explaining Bill Clinton's actions.

[Pete Becker]

How about "A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation." Saki [Hector Hugh Munro], The Square Egg.

[Silvan]

LOL! This would never work for me though. I haven't been bowling for 20 years.

Feh. It's OK. Attractive women have better things to do than sleep with me anyway. ;)

[Traves W. Coppock]

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 16:00:32 -0600, "tnfkajs" Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:

i'v always heard it as follows

"it's easier to lie and ask for forgiveness, than to be honest and ask for permission"

Traves

[Jim Mc Namara]

Traves,

I heard it as "it's easier to get forgiveness than permission."

Must've been the Reader's Digest Condensed version.

Okay - I'm lying! LOL!

The actual author was Eric Stolz - a German author who was quoted in American literature by Carl Sandberg and the other literary geniuses of our time. His works can be found in most libraries across the country. Mr. Stolz was also a noted painter and of all things - a woodworker! If you do a google search for Eric Stolz wood crafting, you will see some amazing log style furniture that he built with an adz, chisels, and some very unique block planes. Very impressive.

Scroll down . . . .

Okay - I'm lying again! Can I have your forgiveness now? LOL!

Jums

[Larry Jaques]

brought up nothing for your full quote, "one good lie", and "a good lie". Fulltext search URL below.

---------------------------------------------- Never attempt to traverse a chasm in two leaps

Comprehensive Website Design ===========================================================

[tnfkajs]

That's it!!! Thank you!!!

[Ernie Jurick]

The exact quote is "An ounce of mistruth can save tons of explanation." The author is H. H. Munro(1870-1916), a Scots humorist who wrote under the pen name of Saki. The quote is in "The Square Egg: Clovis on the Alleged Romance of Business" published in a posthumous collection of his works in 1924.

-- Ernie

[Ernie Jurick]

Where did you find that version, Pete? My print copy of "Clovis" is somewhat different. See below.

-- Ernie

[Pete Becker]

I got it from Bartlett's. Eighth edition, I think.

[Ernie Jurick]

I should have read the introductory notes on my Penguin edition first. Apparently Munro was not an organized fellow. After he was killed in WWI, his friends collected his stuff. There are as many variations in his writings as there are with our own Mark Twain.

-- Ernie

[Pete Becker]

[PC]

The pronoun "I" is correct. It's a shame that US schools don't teach English anymore.

Phil

PC Gameplayer wrote:

[Traves W. Coppock]

On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 13:21:14 GMT, "Jim Mc Namara" Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:

snip

Snip

ok,,,but just this once...

well, now you got me doing it... i'm lying, and i would forgive you twice

lol

Traves