No mask like open truth to cover lies,As to go naked is the best disguise.

And diff'ring judgments serve but to declare that truth lies somewhere, if we knew but where

Lies are a little fortress; inside them you feel safe and powerful. Through your little fortress of lies you try to run your life and manipulate others. But the fortress needs walls, so you build some. These are justifications for your lies.

I don't like the word 'allegorical', I don't like the word 'symbolic' - the word I really like is 'mythic', and people always think that means 'full of lies', whereas of course what it really means is 'full of truth which cannot be told in any other way but a story'.

A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.

The most harmful lies and the most hurtful, always contain a grain of truth," he said. "But nevertheless, lies they do remain.