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Wit & Attitude Quote by Ariel Sharon

"A lie should be tried in a place where it will attract the attention of the world"

About this Quote

Sharon’s line reads like a cold field manual for the information age: if you’re going to spread a lie, don’t hide it in the margins. Stage it at the center of the map, where everyone is watching and the sheer scale of attention makes verification harder, not easier. The cunning is in the inversion. We like to think publicity disinfects; Sharon suggests publicity can be the solvent that dissolves accountability.

The intent is tactical, not philosophical. A lie launched “where it will attract the attention of the world” exploits a basic asymmetry: global audiences process narratives faster than they process evidence. Once a claim becomes an international event, it gains insulation from refutation because institutions (media, governments, NGOs) must react immediately, often with partial information. Even a later correction can’t compete with the first blast; the lie has already drafted reality into its orbit.

The subtext is the grimmer part: legitimacy can be manufactured through spectacle. If the world is forced to look, it is also forced to choose sides, to issue statements, to “do something.” That pressure converts a questionable claim into a diplomatic object - and diplomatic objects, unlike rumors, have staying power. Sharon isn’t admiring deception so much as describing the strategic environment leaders operate in: perception is terrain.

Context matters. Sharon’s career unfolded amid wars, uprisings, and relentless scrutiny of Israel/Palestine, a conflict where international opinion is not background noise but a lever. The quote’s bite is its realism: in high-stakes politics, the loudest story often becomes the one everyone must govern around, true or not.

Quote Details

TopicTruth
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Sharon, Ariel. (2026, January 17). A lie should be tried in a place where it will attract the attention of the world. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-lie-should-be-tried-in-a-place-where-it-will-40721/

Chicago Style
Sharon, Ariel. "A lie should be tried in a place where it will attract the attention of the world." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-lie-should-be-tried-in-a-place-where-it-will-40721/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"A lie should be tried in a place where it will attract the attention of the world." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-lie-should-be-tried-in-a-place-where-it-will-40721/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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A Lie's Power in Global Attention - Ariel Sharon
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About the Author

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Ariel Sharon (February 27, 1928 - January 11, 2014) was a Leader from Israel.

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