Big lie
gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth
The big lie is a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth, used especially as a propaganda technique. According to historian Jeffrey Herf, the Nazis used the idea of the original big lie to turn sentiment against Jews and justify the Holocaust. Scholars say that constant repetition in many different media is necessary for the success of the big lie technique, as is a psychological motivation for the audience to believe the extreme assertions.
Quotes
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- It was called ‘the Big Lie’ technique...Just sound like you know what you’re talking about — as if you’re reciting facts. Talk very fast. Weave your lies... and repeat your assertions over and over again. Those who want an excuse to hate or blame — those with big but weak egos — will leap at a simple, neat explanation for the way the world is. Those types will never call you on the facts.
- David Brin, The Postman, Chapter 13, (1985)
- As Lenin, Goebbels and other masters of lies knew, it is sufficient to repeat a big lie often enough, to make it pass as truth.
- Koenraad Elst, Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society (1991)
- One should not as a rule reveal one's secrets, since one does not know if and when one may need them again. The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. the English follow the principle that when one lies, it should be a big lie, and one should stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.
- Joseph Goebbels, "Aus Churchills Lügenfabrik" ("Churchill's Lie Factory"), 12 January 1941, Die Zeit ohne Beispiel (Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP., 1941), pp. 364-369
- All effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands.
- Joseph Goebbels quoted by Zachary Jonathan Jacobson in Many are worried about the return of the 'Big Lie.' They're worried about the wrong thing. The Washington Post, 21 May 2018
- ..this was inspired by the principle - which is quite true in itself - that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie... It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.
- Adolf Hitler, in Mein Kampf (1925)
- Mike Lindell: "'The Big Lie' is the big lie."
Steve Bannon: [Laughter] Is that like a Zen koan? Like "the sound of one hand clapping in the forest"?!- War Room Pandemic, ep. 747 Feb. 22 2021 at 18min. Regarding news of Dominion's lawsuit vs. Lindell which accused him of pushing "the Big Lie" Feb. 22 2021
- The American Psychological Society (APS) defines a "big lie" as “a propaganda device in which a false statement of extreme magnitude is constantly repeated to persuade the public. The assumption is that a Big Lie is less likely to be challenged than a lesser one because people will assume that evidence exists to support a statement of such magnitude.”
- The American People will take Socialism, but they won't take the label. I certainly proved it in the case of EPIC. Running on the Socialist ticket I got 60,000 votes, and running on the slogan to "End Poverty in California" I got 879,000. I think we simply have to recognize the fact that our enemies have succeeded in spreading the Big Lie. There is no use attacking it by a front attack, it is much better to out-flank them.
