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Life & Wisdom Quote by Ovid

"Cunning leads to knavery. It is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery. Only lying makes the difference; add that to cunning, and it is knavery"

About this Quote

Cunning, in Ovid's hands, is not the sexy intelligence of the survivor; it's the gateway drug to moral rot. He draws a tight, almost legalistic line: cunning is a technique, knavery a character. The distance between them is "but a step" and, crucially, "very slippery" - a bodily metaphor that makes ethics feel less like a courtroom and more like losing your footing on wet stone. Virtue here isn't toppled by grand temptations; it slides.

The quote works because it refuses the comforting myth that corruption arrives as a single dramatic choice. Ovid is describing moral physics: once you start treating other people as pieces to be moved, the next move is lying, because manipulation demands a cover story. "Only lying makes the difference" sounds like an exculpation of cleverness, but it's really a warning about how quickly cleverness recruits dishonesty to protect itself. The subtext is psychological: the first lie rarely feels like villainy; it feels like efficiency.

Context matters. Ovid lived in a Rome that prized rhetorical skill and social maneuvering, then watched Augustus attempt to legislate morality while power itself remained an exercise in image management. A poet famous for playing with desire and deceit isn't preaching innocence; he's diagnosing a culture where persuasion can turn predatory. Cunning is celebrated until it needs a lie, and by then you're already skating.

Quote Details

TopicHonesty & Integrity
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Ovid. (2026, January 15). Cunning leads to knavery. It is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery. Only lying makes the difference; add that to cunning, and it is knavery. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/cunning-leads-to-knavery-it-is-but-a-step-from-8622/

Chicago Style
Ovid. "Cunning leads to knavery. It is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery. Only lying makes the difference; add that to cunning, and it is knavery." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/cunning-leads-to-knavery-it-is-but-a-step-from-8622/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Cunning leads to knavery. It is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery. Only lying makes the difference; add that to cunning, and it is knavery." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/cunning-leads-to-knavery-it-is-but-a-step-from-8622/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.

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Ovid on Cunning and Knavery
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About the Author

Ovid

Ovid (43 BC - 18 AC) was a Poet from Rome.

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