Hypocrite Quotes for the Human Heart

Hypocrites are often regarded as some of the worst people in society. These hypocrite quotes work to display what exactly it is that turns people to hypocrisy, and what it means for us as human beings. Nearly everyone has hypocritical tendencies: it’s part of human nature. So why is it, then, that we feel so disheartened by hypocrites when we encounter one?

The thing is, of course, we humans are comforted by the truth, and we’re also comforted by being right, or appearing to be right in a discussion. This means that we’re constantly doing things to prove ourselves to be correct, even when we’re not, yet if we’re at the receiving end, it can break our hearts. Sounds, well, hypocritical, right? That’s because it is, and that’s okay! 

These quotes will expose these hypocritical tendencies, and even break down the chronic hypocrite’s actions into what they truly are: human.

After reading the quotes below, remember to also check out our collection of liar quotes.

Hypocrite Quotes for Understanding Hypocrites Themselves

1. “A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.” – Adlai Stevenson

2. “Often those that criticize others reveal what he himself lacks.” – Shannon L Alder

3. “I think I wear my hypocrisy on my sleeve. I would never say I’m not a complete hypocrite.” – Bo Burnham

4. “The man who is most aggressive in teaching tolerance is the most intolerant of all: he wants a world full of people too timid and ashamed to really disagree with anything.” – Criss Jami

5. “It’s better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite.” – George Harrison

6. “He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.” – Sigmund Freud

7. “Some people’s blameless lives are to blame for a good deal.” – Dorothy L Sayers

8. “Having then, once introduced an element of inconsistency into his system, he was far too consistent not to be inconsistent consistently, and he lapsed ere long into an amiable indifferentism which to outward appearance differed but little from their indifferentism.” – Samuel Butler

9. “To win the people, always cook them some savory that pleases them.” – Aristophanes

10. “And what sort of lives do these people, who post as being moral, lead themselves? My dear fellow, you forget that we are in the native land of the hypocrite.” – Oscar Wilde

11. “Hypocrisy is a tribute that vice pays to virtue.” – Francois Duc De La Rochefoucauld

12. “Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core.” – Hannah Arendt

13. “The lamb misused breeds public strife and yet forgives the butcher’s knife.” – William Blake

14. “He wears a mask, and his face grows to fit it.” – George Orwell

15. “Hypocrisy has its own elegant symmetry.” – Julie Metz

16. “A hypocrite despises those whom he deceives, but has no respect for himself. He would make a dupe of himself too, if he could.” – William Hazlitt

17. “The state calls its own violence law, but that of the individual, crime.” –Max Stirner

18. “Kids have what I call a built-in hypocrisy antenna that comes up and blocks out what you’re saying when you’re being a hypocrite.” – Ben Carson

19. “A hypocrite is a person who—but who isn’t?” – Don Marquis

20. “Everybody loves a witch hunt as long as it’s someone else’s witch being hunted.” – Unknown

Hypocrite Quotes for People Who Have Been Lied To

21. “The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy.” – William Hazlitt

22. “The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that’s also a hypocrite!” – Tennessee Williams

23. “It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” – Noel Coward

24. “I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.” – Oscar Wilde

25. “I care not for a man’s religion whose dog and car are not the better for it.” – Abraham Lincoln

26. “Your hypocrisy insults my intelligence.” – Toba Beta

27. “Hypocrisy annoys me, people need to look into mirrors. Let me hold a mirror in front of your face.” – C JoyBell C

28. “Armed neutrality makes it much easier to detect hypocrisy.” – Criss Jami

You might also like these quotes about lies and betrayal.

Hypocrite Quotes About Honesty

29. “We ought to see far enough into a hypocrite to see even his sincerity.” – Thomas Fuller

30. “Why lie? I’m not going to be a hypocrite and say the opposite of what I think, like some others do.” – Cristiano Ronaldo

31. “Compassion is a lifetime business. You can’t say something like, ‘I will have compassion on Monday, Thursdays, and Fridays only. But for the rest, I will be cruel.’ That is hypocrisy.” – Isrealmore Ayivor

32. “Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite.” – Charles Spurgeon

33. “I often wonder why the whole world is so prone to generalize. Generalizations are seldom if ever true and are usually utterly inaccurate.” – Agatha Christie

34. “The splinter in your eye is the best magnifying-glass available.” –Theodor W Adorno

35. “Never start a sentence with the words ‘no offense.’” – Gretchen Rubin

36. “People appear like angels until you hear them speak. You must not rush to judge people by the color of their cloaks, but the content of their words!” – Isrealmore Ayivor

37. “How furious she must be, now that she’s been taken at her word.” – Margaret Atwood

38. “Hypocrisy: noun. The moment you tell someone it is not important to be right, in order to look right to everyone else.” – Shannon L Alder

Hypocrite Quotes for Being Human

39. “Everybody is a hypocrite. You can’t live on this planet without being a hypocrite.” – Paul Watson

40. “None of us can claim to be fair and square in love—and I’m definitely not a hypocrite! Humans are built to evolve with time. It depends on the nature of the relationship you share with a person. It is there today, tomorrow it may be gone; c’est la vie.” – Randeep Hooda

41. “The difference between a saint and a hypocrite is that one lies for his religion, the other by it.” – Minna Antrim

42. “I was not a hypocrite, with one real face and several false ones. I had several faces because I was young and didn’t know who I was or wanted to be.” – Unknown

43. “We are all hypocrites. We cannot see ourselves or judge ourselves the way we see and judge others.” – Jose Emilio Pacheco

44. “Nothing that we despise in other men is inherently absent from ourselves. We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don’t do, and more in light of what they suffer.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

45. “I’m convinced that most men don’t know what they believe, rather, they only know what they wish to believe. How many people blame God for a man’s atrocities, but wouldn’t dream of imprisoning a mother for her son’s crime?” – Criss Jami

46. “People that have trust issues only need to look in the mirror. There they will meet the one person that will betray them the most.” – Shannon L Alder

47. “All of us have to prevaricators, hypocrites, and liars every day of our lives; otherwise the social structure would fall into pieces the first day. We must act in one another’s presence just as we must wear clothes. It is for the best.” – O Henry

48. “People who shout joy from the rooftops are often the saddest of all.” – Milan Kundera

49. “When it comes to judging individuals, I do not like remarks such as ‘too good to be true.’ They speak as though one is rewarding the nature of evil. Yet, ironically, we still wonder where all the good people have gone.” – Criss Jami

50. “Hypocrisy is the resin that holds the plywood of society together.” – Scott Meyer

More hypocrite quotes and sayings

51. “Hypocrites are those who apply to others the standards that they refuse to accept for themselves.” – Noam Chomsky

52. “The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.” – Andre Gide

53. “Clean your finger before you point at my spots.” – Benjamin Franklin

54. “Hypocrites get offended by the truth.” – Jess C Scott

55. “Those who make use of devotion as a means and end generally are hypocrites.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

56. “Keep thy smooth words and juggling homilies for those who know thee not.” – Lord Byron

57. “The hypocrite looks for faults; the believer looks for excuses.” – Al-Ghazali

58. “The hypocrite, certainly, is a secret atheist; for if he did believe there was a God, he durst not be so bold as to deceive Him to His face.” – Thomas Adams

59. “No power can be maintained when it is only represented by hypocrites.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

60. “The hypocrite who always plays one and the same part ceases at last to be a hypocrite.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Hypocrite quotes that are full of wisdom

61. “Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.” ― Warren Wiersbe

62. “I was not a hypocrite, with one real face and several false ones. I had several faces because I was young and didn’t know who I was or wanted to be.” ― Milan Kundera

63. “Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it’s someone else’s witch being hunted.” ― Walter Kirn

64. “Force may make hypocrites, but it can never make converts.” ― William Penn

65. “We are not hypocrites in our sleep.” ― William Hazlitt

66. “What hypocrites we seem to be whenever we talk of ourselves! Our words sound so humble, while our hearts are so proud.” ― Augustus Hare

67. “Hypocrisy annoys me, people need to look into mirrors. Let me hold a mirror in front of your face.” ― C. JoyBell C.

68. “I think we need to look at ourselves first. We should practice what we’re preaching. Otherwise, we are hypocrites.” ― Mo Ibrahim

69. “Our society is full of hypocrites and irrational people.” ― Vikrant Massey

70. “I have been known for some time as a person who speaks the truth and speaks it strongly. I have always called a liar a liar and a hypocrite a hypocrite.” ― Cindy Sheehan

What have you learned from these Hypocrisy quotes?

These Hypocrite quotes serve as an analysis of the human heart and our tendencies as people in society. Being lied to is hurtful, and deceit in the form of hypocrisy is simply a well constructed lie.

When hypocrites enter our lives, it’s easy to feel hurt, which can lead us to distrust many of the people around us. But the truth is, hypocrisy is simply part of human nature. 

What can we learn from these tendencies, then? The most important thing is to recognize that it’s simply human to want to prove yourself right. It’s nearly impossible to be human without being a little flawed. Recognizing this can change your life around, and see hypocrites in a whole new light. 

What’s your biggest takeaway from these hypocrisy quotes and sayings? Do you have any other thoughtful and inspirational quotes to add? Tell us in the comment section below.