There are cases in which a man would be ashamed not to have been imposed upon. There is a confidence necessary to human intercourse, and without which men are often more injured by their own suspicions than they would be by the perfidy of others.
A picture is a thing which requires as much knavery, as much malice, and as much vice as the perpetration of a crime. Make it untrue and add an accent of truth.
Knaves will thrive when honest plainness knows not how to live.
Every knave is a thorough knave, and a thorough knave is a knave throughout.
Knavery is the best defense against a knave.
Zeno first started that doctrine, that knavery is the best defence against a knave.
A brave world, sir, full of religion, knavery, and change: we shall shortly see better days.
Now I will show myselfTo have more of the serpent than the dove;That is--more knave than fool.
Knavery's plain face is never seen till used.
Even knaves may be made good for something.