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Meaning
The quote suggests that dishonesty distorts a person's perception of reality. When someone is untrue, they cannot fully trust the world around them, and everything feels unstable or unreal. In that state, even what seems close and reachable loses substance.
When It Was Said
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Who It Was Said To
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Historical Context
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Source
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Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
Did They Really Say It?
No source found on Wikiquote; the quote is listed as attributed to Nathaniel Hawthorne.
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About Nathaniel Hawthorne
American novelist and short story writer
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer. He is known for fiction that explores history, morality, and religion, often through a reflective and uneasy lens. His work helped define the American short story and remains closely associated with themes of guilt, conscience, and the past. Across his novels and shorter fiction, he returns to questions of human nature and the moral weight of experience.
More from Nathaniel Hawthorne (113 quotes) →Other sayings from Nathaniel Hawthorne
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- “Accuracy is the twin brother of honesty; inaccuracy, of dishonesty.”Nathaniel Hawthorne
- “Death should take me while I am in the mood.”Nathaniel Hawthorne
- “In all her intercourse with society, however, there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it..…”Nathaniel Hawthorne
Reflections: more sayings
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Books by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter
1871
The Blithedale Romance
1999
Mosses from an Old Manse
2005
Tanglewood Tales
2007
The House of Seven Gables Readalong
2006