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A petty reason perhaps why novelists more and more try to keep a distance from journalists is that novelists are trying to write the truth and journalists are trying to write fiction.

— Graham Greene

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More quotes by Graham Greene

There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.

The Power and the Glory (1940)

Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and the simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and corrupt.

The Human Factor (1978)

The world is not black and white. More like black and grey.

Cynicism is cheap—you can buy it at any Monoprix store—it’s built into all poor-quality goods.

The Comedians (1966)

A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment from which to look back or from which to look ahead.

The End of the Affair (1951)

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You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion.

Julian Assange

False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.

Socrates

I believe in evil. It is the property of all those who are certain of truth. Despair and fanaticism are only differing manifestations of evil.

Edward Teller

Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.

Ulysses S. Grant Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Graham Greene (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.