These hypocrisy quotes are fine to read with other people in-mind, but try reading them with yourself in-mind.
The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity. -Anre Gide
Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo. -Ambrose Bierce
Man is the only animal that learns by being hypocritical. He pretends to be polite and then, eventually, he becomes polite. -Jean Kerr
Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today. -Mahatma Gandhi
Hypocrisy: a lie in action – the legacy of indecency. -Unknown
Hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtue. -Moliere
One should examine oneself for a very long time before thinking of condemning others. -Moliere
He does not believe who does not live according to his belief. -Thomas Fuller
Here’s the main page of motivational quotes, in case you missed it.
Whatever you condemn, you have done yourself. -Georg Groddeck
Many of us believe that wrongs aren’t wrong if it’s done by nice people like ourselves. -Unknown
Hypocrite: the man who murdered both his parents… pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan. -Abraham Lincoln
The world is full of fools and faint hearts; and yet everyone has courage enough to bear the misfortunes, and wisdom enough to manage the affairs, of his neighbor. -Benjamin Franklin
They are not all saints who use holy water. -English Proverb
Live truth instead of professing it. -Elbert Hubbard
It is easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them. -Alfred Adler
We have two kinds of morality side by side: one which we preach but do not practice and another which we practice but seldom preach. -Bertrand Russell
The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be. -Socrates
What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
All humans are hypocrites; the biggest hypocrite of all is the one who claims to detest hypocrisy. -Peter Wastholm
Any of these hypocrisy quotes jump out at you?
Please share your thoughts below in the comments section.
-Shawn
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I take acceptation to the first quote by Anre Gide. The true hypocrite is not the one who lies with sincerity as Anre suggests, although the loss of the ability to perceive ones own lies is beyond sad. Such a person eventually finds themselves outcast, disrespected and unable to trust or be trusted. No, the word fool or even idiot better describes such a person since he no longer has the means or the ability to rise up out of his own ignorance.
The true hypocrite on-the-other-hand is one who is indeed aware of the lies he tells and knows full well the masks he wears for he wears them with intent. The true hypocrite knows his deception well but does not care because his deception is deliberate. He will lust after fame or recognition or women or wealth while condemning others for doing the same just to maintain his status in the public eye. He will purposefully guard his actions with great care in order to maintain a public image while privately harboring contradictory beliefs or desires.
Eventually, the true hypocrite trends towards idiocy as his deceptions become more and more complex or, as Jean Kerr points out, he actually becomes what he pretends.
I would like to ask Georg Groddeck what the point, or better yet, the intent of his quote. “Whatever you condemn, you have done yourself.” People like to pull quotes out like this in an attempt to quiet the decent of those who would “condemn” or speak out against bad behavior. While the quote itself, on the face of it, might sound quite profound, it lacks reason. A man, who might condemn rape for example can not by the evidence of his condemnations now be considered suspected rapist.
While it is true that most of us are often guilty of doing the very things we condemn, it does not mean we should stop condemning these acts, nor does it necessarily put us in the category of being a hypocrite whenever we pronounce our condemnations. The difference between the hypocrite and the upright is his willingness to admit his sins as being sins.
I think you misinterpreted his quote a little. Now, I haven’t actually read any of his work, so I’m just assuming this guy was smart as hell, but a way to look at this quote so it is more logically correct is to interpret it as a comment on the core of hypocrisy. What does hypocrisy stem from?
It stems from similar actions. I mean, someone says killing is wrong and then kills someone, that would be hypocritical, right?
So then, how do we decide if something’s similar? Seems like common sense stuff, however, every action has a core logic to it. Logic in this case is defined as a frame-work, a design if you will, and THAT is what allows us to call things as similar.
And, I believe that is what this guy is talking about. He’s say anything that you condemn, the core logic, the basic consistency at the basic level you have probably replicated yourself.
So, in the case of your question about condemning the act of rape. You may not have raped anyone, however, have you replicated the basic logic of the act? I think 9 times out of 10 the answer is yes.
So, we start with what is it that makes said act “wrong.” It would be the imposition of one’s will. That’s usually what people dislike about raping, right? The fact that it imposes against someone’s will due to selfish reasons. That’s the basic logic of it. Now tell me, have you never imposed against someone’s will? Exactly. On SOME level you have. It may not be the same act as rape, but the core LOGIC behind it is the same. What makes it any different is that we add preference to it. Some things are considered worse than others due to the fact that our preferences dictate so. But our emotional preferences do not change the LOGICAL framework of it. And thus, you have it that anything that we condemn, we are most likely guilty of doing in the core of it. Now think of anything else, and why it is you condemn it- the basic logic of it, without letting emotion interfere. I think you’ll find that the quote holds true when viewed in that light.
Now, is that what this guy was talking about? I have no freaking clue. But whether on purpose or on accident, this quote has great logical meaning and highlights the true hypocrisy with judging other’s when in reality it’s simply preference that seperates us- the core logic is the same.
The quote that jumped out at me was: One should examine oneself for a very long time before thinking of condemning others. -Moliere
eexamining oneself for a very long time before thinking of condemning others
The one that got me was the very last one; all humans are hypocrites, the biggest hypocrite of all is the one who claims to detest hypocrisy. A day ago, still could never fathom how people could’ve such hypocrites and my mom told me all humans are, I however chose not to believe because i thought, if at that point of time, I had that big question mark on hypocrisy and actually detested it, I am pretty sure out of the 7 billion population of homosapiens, there surely would be one thinking the same. After I saw this quote tho, I seem to be able to see the bigger picture, we are all hypocritical to a certain extend. From acting all nice and talking to arch enemy just to not feel left out, to even gossiping about your friends behind their backs. And I feel that the reason why all humans are hypocritical is because all humans are selfish as well. Think about it, who’d actually go to a person’s face and talk bad about that person and just ruin the whole friendship and possibly spend the whole time in school WITHOUT A FRIEND?! This example may sound really stupid and immature but that’s the best you can get from a 14 yr old who has a lame ass email address 🙂
You make some interesting comments, Sherlyn. After re-reading this page, I realized a lot of these quotes are a bit negative…but I do think many of they are to be taken with a grain of salt. Either way, I think I might go digging for some new ones so I can beef up the page. Either way, don’t be too down on the human race; after all, we’re only human. 🙂 Oh, and your email address isn’t too lame. 🙂 -Shawn
The hypocrisy I read these and I admit at first I thought wow some of them are about looking at yourself . Then I realised I say things to people who are going through situations I’ve found myself in and let it carry on until I drowned in self pity so I always make a point of stating I KNOW IM GONNA SOUND LIKE A HYPOCRITE AND I AM NO EXCUSES and I’ll say please dont do what I did do it your way but try avoiding falling so far that you have the expectation you dont think people will make you feel like a failure you can only do you do it your way dont fall ……cause your expectation has left you disappointed.