"When lying, be emphatic and indignant, thus behaving like your children"
About this Quote
A line of mock advice, Feather turns the mechanics of deception into a wry study of human nature. Emphasis and indignation are not just tones; they are tactics. Sound certain, sound offended, and you enlist social cues that signal innocence and righteousness. People routinely mistake confidence for credibility and moral heat for moral right. The performance matters as much as the content.
Children model this instinctively. Corner a child about a broken vase, and what erupts is not a measured explanation but an outraged denial: How dare you accuse me! The intensity is a smokescreen, an attempt to flip the script so the accuser feels guilty and the accused seems wronged. Feather’s jab, “thus behaving like your children,” works on two levels. It appeals to the shared humor of parenting, where such theatrics are familiar, and it underlines the immaturity of the strategy when adults adopt it.
The line also speaks to the marketplace of persuasion in public life. In business, politics, and media, emphatic delivery and indignation often outmuscle evidence. A brash press conference, a fiery tweet, a thunderous speech can make a shaky claim feel solid. The confidence heuristic kicks in: we take certainty as a proxy for truth. Indignation drapes the lie in the posture of victimhood, making scrutiny look like persecution.
Feather, a publisher and aphorist known for crisp observations, is not endorsing deceit but exposing its stagecraft. The advice is satirical, a warning disguised as a tip. If you feel tempted to raise your voice and your outrage to sell a story, you are not being canny so much as childish. And if you are listening, resist the urge to equate volume with veracity. The quip lands because it is both funny and diagnostic: the most practiced liars are often the best actors, and their act is one you have already seen at home.
Children model this instinctively. Corner a child about a broken vase, and what erupts is not a measured explanation but an outraged denial: How dare you accuse me! The intensity is a smokescreen, an attempt to flip the script so the accuser feels guilty and the accused seems wronged. Feather’s jab, “thus behaving like your children,” works on two levels. It appeals to the shared humor of parenting, where such theatrics are familiar, and it underlines the immaturity of the strategy when adults adopt it.
The line also speaks to the marketplace of persuasion in public life. In business, politics, and media, emphatic delivery and indignation often outmuscle evidence. A brash press conference, a fiery tweet, a thunderous speech can make a shaky claim feel solid. The confidence heuristic kicks in: we take certainty as a proxy for truth. Indignation drapes the lie in the posture of victimhood, making scrutiny look like persecution.
Feather, a publisher and aphorist known for crisp observations, is not endorsing deceit but exposing its stagecraft. The advice is satirical, a warning disguised as a tip. If you feel tempted to raise your voice and your outrage to sell a story, you are not being canny so much as childish. And if you are listening, resist the urge to equate volume with veracity. The quip lands because it is both funny and diagnostic: the most practiced liars are often the best actors, and their act is one you have already seen at home.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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