“Major Major had lied, and it was good. He was not really surprised that it was good, for he had observed that people who did lie were, on the whole, more resourceful and ambitious and successful than people who did not lie.”

“...it was imaginative people who tended to lie. Lying required making stuff up, and only imaginative people were good at that.”

“To lie a little is not possible: he who lies, lies the whole lie.”

“Deep inside, the majority of people had the sneaking suspicion that evil was more powerful than good and could be counteracted only by more evil.”

“Major Major had been born too late and too mediocre. Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three. Even among men lacking all distinction he inevitably stood out as a man lacking more distinction than all the rest, and people who met him were always impressed by how unimpressive he was.”

“Were you lying?""I never lie," he said piously. "About what?""The sand, the snake."For a young man who never lied, he seemed surprisingly unoffended by the question.”