“A little lie that's almost true.”

“Lady, I do not make up things. That is lies. Lies are not true. But the truth could be made up if yo know how. And that's the truth.”

“People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.”

“The sad truth is that... many people are, in fact- stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because they are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. Some people's heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true.”

“For a long time he watched her. When she was lost to sight, he was almost a little moved. But that's life, thought death.”

“Well, well, so you aren't going to be a maidservant this time?" said Pippi, stroking his back. "Oh, that was a lie, that's true," she continued. "But still, if it's true, how can it be a lie?" she argued. "You wait and see, it's going to turn out he was a maidservant in Arabie after all, and if that's the case, I know who's making the meatballs at our house hereafter!”