4731. LIES, Folly of.—
It is of great
importance to set a resolution, not to be
shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is
no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible;
and he who permits himself to tell a lie once,
finds it much casier to do it a second and
third time, till at length it becomes habitual;
he tells lies without attending to it, and
truths without the world's believing him.
This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of
the heart, and in time depraves all its good
dispositions.—
To Peter Carr. Washington ed. i, 396.
(P.
1785)
