Definitions HQ

A Lie (n.) fathered ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠by a wish and then believed is a well-known hysterical symptom — as with the 'stab in the back' legend.

A Lie (n.) becomes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the operative principle of political action once the individual's ethical decision no longer counts and only the blind movement of the masses matters.

A Lie (n.) told ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠to save a life tests conscience against code: sticking to 'Thou shalt not lie' in all circumstances is not obeying conscience but merely the moral code.

A Lie (n.) about ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a religious experience is still a psychic fact — one could write a scientific treatise on the incidence of such lies.

A Lie (n.) the ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠child accuses her mother of — You're lying to me! — is the stork story she was told: love withdrawn from parents who refused her the truth turns inward into reverie.

A Lie (n.) can ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠avert a fatal row: Jung told Freud the skulls in his dream meant relatives he wished dead — neither elegant nor defensible, but it kept the peace.