And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With odd old ends stol'n out of holy writ;
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

Disguise, I see thou art a wickedness,/ Wherein the...enemy does much.

When people say they do not care what others think of them, for the most part they deceive themselves. Generally they mean only that they will do as they choose, in the confidence that no one will know their vagaries; and at the utmost only that they are willing to act contrary to the opinion of the majorities because they are supported by the approval of their neighbors. It’s not difficult to be unconventional in the eyes of the world when your unconventionality is but the convention of your set.

Life is the art of being well deceived; and in order that the deception may succeed it must be habitual and uninterrupted

Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.

Clouds that thunder do not always rain.