No estimate is more in danger of erroneous calculations than those by which a man computes the force of his own genius.

The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.

The most common sort of lie is the one uttered to one's self.

Never can true courage dwell with them, Who, playing tricks with conscience, dare not look At their own vices.

Self-deception is sometimes as necessary a tool as a crowbar.

Nixon has not only developed the use of the platitude, he's raised it to an art form. It's mashed potatoes. It appeals to the lowest common denominator of American taste. It's a farce, a delicious farce; self-deception carried to the nth degree.

A woman wishes to mother a man simply because she sees into his helplessness, his need of an amiable environment, his touching self-delusion.

We are only falsehood, duplicity, contradiction; we both conceal and disguise ourselves from ourselves.

Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves.