Some Proverbs on Truth and Lies
Yesterday, Nassim Taleb posted this tweet, observing a contradiction in some well-known sayings about lies being fast to spread/hard to refute on the one hand, and on the other hand limited.
In Armenian popular aphorisms there does not seem to be a contradiction between these notions. All proverbs on lies that I could find are of the latter type, emphasizing their limits, and that the one who tends to spread lies will (sooner or later) pay the price for it:
Սուտը ոտք կ’ելլէ, ամա չերթար։
[The lie stands up but does not walk.]
Ստի ոտները կարճ են։
[Lies have short legs.]
Սուտը սուտ ասողի տունն է քանդում։
[The lie destroys the home of a liar.]
But the key is to also look at proverbs on truth, which emphasize that
(i) those who speak the truth tend, at minimum, not to have a[n earthly] master:
Շիտակ ըսողը տէր չունի։
[The truth-teller has no master.]
(ii) must have balls (or, as this aphorist put it, must be at least a little foolish for voluntarily putting oneself in harm’s way):
Դուզ խօսողի գլուխը ծակ ա։
[The truth-teller has a hole in his head.]
and/or have an escape route prepared:
Դրուստ ըսողին մի ձի, որ ասի ու փախչի։
[A horse for the truth-teller, so he can speak and get away.]
(iii) the audience is not always ready to accept the truth:
Ճշմարտութիւնը միշտ ընդունելի չէ։
[Truth is not always welcome.]
In part, perhaps, because (iv):
Շիտակ խօսքը կատակով կ’ըսեն։
[The truth is said jokingly.]
Therefore, (v) we arrive at the resolution in the following proverb:
Մինչեւ ղորդը գայ, սուտը աշխարհ կ'ուտէ։
[By the time the truth is revealed, the lie is already feeding on the world.]
As we are dealing here in the rational domain, as I see it, another problem with lies is that, in our urge to dispel them, we often replace one lie with another, more plausible sounding lie, as in a heated argument—a problem that is exacerbated by the speed of interaction and desire for engagement on social media, where it is less painful to be wrong than to be ignored.
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