I prefer a person who lies with full consciousness of what he is doing to a person who first sub-consciously deceives himself and then imagines that he is being virtuous and truthful. ... Nevertheless, I hold that the occasions when lying is justifiable are few -- much fewer than would be inferred from the practice of high-minded men.
Source: On Education, especially in early childhood, 1926, by Bertrand Russell
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https://russell-j.com/beginner/OE07-060.HTM