On the Decay of the Art of Lying

No fact is more firmly established than that lying is a necessity of our circumstances - the deduction that it is then a Virtue goes without saying. No virtue can reach its highest usefulness without careful and diligent cultivation - therefore, it goes without saying that this one ought to be taught in the public schools - even in the newspapers. What chance has the ignorant uncultivated liar against the educated expert?

- Taken from "On the Decay of the Art of Lying" written by Mark Twain