lie « Quotenik

notes: The English Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon popularized this proverb in the nineteenth century. In a sermon from 1855, he preached: “If you want truth to go round the world you must hire an express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go round the world, it will fly: it is as light as a feather, and a breath will carry it. It is well said in the old Proverb, ‘A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on.’” In 1859, the same passage appeared in Spurgeon's Gems. According to Ralph Keyes, author of The Quote Verifier, similar versions appeared in print prior to Sturgeon's sermon. Fred Shapiro, editor of The Yale Book of Quotations, found “Falsehood travels seven leagues while truth is putting her boots on” in an 1854 edition of the Gettysburg Republican Compiler. Researcher Bonnie Taylor-Blake discovered “falsehood will fly from Maine to Georgia, while truth is putting her boots on” in a 1820 edition of the Boston Commercial Gazette. And in the 9 Nov. 1710 edition of the periodical The Examiner, Jonathan Swift wrote: “Falsehood flies and truth comes limping after it.”