Quotes / Believing Their Own Lies

"We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves."

— Eric Hoffer

"We humans are best defined not as 'the rational' but as 'the self-deceiving' animal."

— Richard Paul

"You know the hardest man to break? The type who's foolin' himself. That takes time."

— Ocelot on Huey Emmerich, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

"The problem with telling a good lie is that the liar may become so caught up in it that she loses sight of the true, and she starts to believe the lie herself. The Children hid their history so well that they took their own deceptions as reality. In doing so, they forget the soul of what they were made to be."

— Vampire: The Masquerade - Clanbook: Assamite (Revised)

"In fact, I was convinced that of all the millions on whom the Hitler Myth had fastened itself, the most carried away was Adolf Hitler, himself."

— Howard K. Smith, Last Train from Berlin

"You know what, Cartman? I believe you. I believe that you believe you helped write that joke. That's how people like you work! Your ego is so out of whack that it will do whatever it can to protect itself. And people with a messed up ego can do these mental gymnastics to convince themselves they're awesome, when really, they're just douchebags!"

— Kyle Broflovski, South Park

"You've lied to yourself so much you've come to believe an entire dream!"

— Karai to Shredder, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)

Shredder: You turned her against me! You brainwashed her! Karai is my daughter!
Splinter: How many lies can you tell yourself, Saki?!

— Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."

— Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night

"You really are a special kind of messed up aren’t you Lucks?! You lie SO MUCH you’ve even managed to convince yourself you’re not a monster!"

— Belle Fontiere, Meta Runner

"My God, you really believe it, don't you?"

— Trevor Belmont, Lampshading the Sinister Minister Bishop, Castlevania (2017)

"Jerry, just remember: it's not a lie if you believe it."

— George Costanza, Seinfeld

"You know, I thought that you were just another con artist. Seeking out people that were starved for anything that would give them meaning in their life. They're easy marks. You talk about God and the Apocalypse and they give you all of their money. But you are much more pathetic than that. You actually believe your own hype. You've conned yourself."

— Detective Olivia Benson to Abraham Ophion/Eugene Hoff, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

"We were doing the right thing. 400 years ago, these girls would have been burned at the stake. Forget 400 years ago, right now they'd be put on the talk show freak circus. I don't know which is worse. We were doing the right thing. Finding a use for their talents.
Who am I kidding? Myself or the girls?"

— Morgan Britt, The Secret World

"To understand Almalexia, you must first understand the value of fiction. Vivec fancies himself the poet, but in truth, Ayem is the greater storyteller. Vivec knows the boundaries that separate fact from fiction. He knows them so well that he's learned how to break them. He exists inside his verse, but recognizes the lies. The contradictions. He both does, and does not believe his own tales. [Almalexia] believes her tales implicitly. As does everyone else. Her capacity for deception appears limitless. She sows lies like a master gardener sows seeds, and the harvest of trust and adulation is breathtaking in scope."

— Sotha Sil, The Elder Scrolls Online

Robot Elder: Can they really breathe fire, or did we make that up?
Robot Elder 2: Gee, I can't remember anymore. Though it might just be from that stupid movie.
Robot Elder 3: Was that the original or the re-make?

— Futurama

"If you're committed enough, you can make any story work. I once told a woman I was Kevin Costner, and it worked because I believed it."

— Saul Goodman, Breaking Bad

SpongeBob: Patrick, could you let up on the insults just a little bit?
Patrick: Oh, were those too complicated for you? I'll try dumb-ing them down a bit.
SpongeBob: Patrick, I get the feeling that you think I really am dumb!
Patrick: [wears a shirt reading "I'm with the dummy"] That's just what I'd expect you to say. Dumb people are always blissfully unaware of how dumb they really are. [drools]
SpongeBob: I'm only pretending to be dumb! It was our plan, remember?!
Patrick: Oh, SpongeBob, if only you could see how stupid you sound right now, with your talk of imaginary "plans"... Tell you what. You've caught me at a good mood. I'll humor you. Go on, go out there and act "smart" for everyone.
SpongeBob: Okay, I will! [takes off his helmet and gives it to Patrick]
Patrick: [puts on the helmet] And don't worry, I'll keep this warm for ya!

— SpongeBob SquarePants

"Aah! I'm turning into a chicken!"

— Angelica Pickles (who had lied that chicken pox turns you into a chicken, only to catch it herself), Rugrats, "Chicken Pops"

"My mother died when I was a baby. All I have is pictures and the stories my father used to tell me about her. I begged him to tell me those stories over and over. When I was five and I went to school, I started to tell my new friends those same stories, pretending that she was alive. Then I started believing that she was alive; that she'd just gone away; that she was coming back."

— William T. Riker, Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Interface"

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