A lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies.
Interpretation
A partial truth can be more deceitful than a complete lie.
This quote implies that misleading information that contains elements of truth can be more dangerous than outright falsehoods. When a lie is presented alongside a truth, it can obscure reality and manipulate perceptions, making it harder for people to discern what is true and what is false. Thus, Tennyson warns against the insidious nature of such 'half-truths' which can corrupt understanding and lead to greater deception.
In practice
During a debate, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of honesty in arguments.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.
O Love! what hours were thine and mine, In lands of palm and southern pine; In lands of palm, of orange-blossom, Of olive, aloe, and maize and vine!
Earth is dry to the centre,_x000D_ But spring, a new comer,_x000D_ A spring rich and strange,_x000D_ Shall make the winds blow_x000D_ Round and round,_x000D_ Thro' and thro',_x000D_ Here and there,_x000D_ Till the air_x000D_ And the ground_x000D_ Shall be fill'd with life anew.
O love, O fire! once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul through My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
But thy strong Hours indignant work’d their wills, And beat me down and marr’d and wasted me, And tho’ they could not end me, left me maim’d To dwell in presence of immortal youth, Immortal age beside immortal youth, And all I was, in ashes. - Tithonus
Upon the glazen shelves kept watch Matthew and Waldo, guardians of the faith The army of unalterable law.
To a large extent, the American church has become merged with the world. It has adopted so many of the world's ideals and standards that it has lost its ability to stem the tide of crime, deception and immorality that is sweeping the nation. For millions of church members there is no deep commitment to the cause of Christ, no regularity of attendance at public worship, no sacrificial giving, no personal religious discipline.
...there is one thing that all Satan's cunning and all the snares of temptation cannot take by surprise - an undivided will.
Men will be just to men when they are kind to animals.
And he could not tell why the struggle was worthwhile, why he had determined to use the utmost himself and his heritage from the personalities he had passed... He stretched out his arms to the crystalline, radiant sky. I know myself," he cried, "But that is all.
The Church is a terrible engine of oppression, especially as concerns woman
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