Prevarication

act that deceives by stating a true statement that is irrelevant or leads to a false conclusion

Prevarication (plural: Prevarications) is deviation from what is right or correct, transgression, perversion. It also means truth; deceit,evasiveness. In law it refers to the collusion of an informer with the defendant, for the purpose of making a sham prosecution, and a false or deceitful seeming to undertake a thing for the purpose of defeating or destroying it. Its related terms are prevaricate and prevaricator.

Quotes

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Anton Chekhov: Lying is the same as alcoholism. Liars prevaricate even on their deathbeds.
 
Jeremiah: Prevarications intertwined have ascended upon my neck, he hath thrust at my strength, God hath delivered me into hands, that I cannot rise up; prevarications intertwined ascending upon the neck, denotes that falses ascended towards things interior or rational.
 
Friedrich Nietzsche:All gods are poets' parables, poets' prevarications. Verily, it always lifts us higher— specifically, to the realm of the clouds: upon these we place our motley bastards and call them gods and overmen. For they are just light enough for these chairs –all these gods and overmen. Ah, how weary I am of all the imperfection which must at all costs become event! Ah! How weary I am of poets!
 
Pslam: Enquiry denotes evil against the goods of faith, sin denotes evil against the goods of charity and love, and prevarication denotes evil against the truths of faith: in as much as this latter is evil proceeding from a perverse understanding, and is thus known from the truths of faith; it is therefore said, I acknowledge my prevarications. Again ‘Remember thy mercies Jehovah, and thy compassions, remember not the sins of my childhood and my prevarication.
 
Pslam:Wash me from mine enquiry, and cleanse me from my sin; for I acknowledge my prevarications and my sin continually before Thee.
 
Goldwin Smith: If it were a real effort to live in the Middle Ages, your life would be one perpetual prevarication.
  • You come from one of the latter and you're being asked to explain yourself to one of the former. Prevarication will be more difficult than you might imagine; neutrality is probably impossible. You cannot choose not to have the politics you do; they are not some separate set of entities somehow detachable from the rest of your being; they are a function of your existence.
  • The difference between [perjury and prevarication] consists in this, that perjury is a distinct assertion of that which can be proved not to be, or a denial of that which can be proved to be; whereas prevarication is the giving of contradictory or inconsistent evidence, which affects the credibility of the evidence, though neither the extent of the witness’s falsehood, nor the precise points in which he has departed from the truth be capable of ascertainment.
  • I am clearly at opinion that they had no other power, and they could not lawfully do, what I think the record shows they did, constitute themselves a court to try and condemn you for prevarication.
    • F.S. Key in case of a court martial in the case of Purser Zantzinger, in "Army and Navy Chronicle, Volume 3 (Google eBook)", p. 170
  • But I'm not experienced!' 'You're not home yet!' 'I've been struggling for years to get a fur coat. How did you get yours?' 'I left off struggling.'
    Judge: You are prevaricating, sir. Did you or did you not sleep with this woman?'
    Co-respondent: ‘Not to wink, my Lord!
  • Inquiry denotes evil against the goods of faith, sin denotes evil against the goods of charity and love, and prevarication denotes evil against the truths of faith: in as much as this latter is evil proceeding from a perverse understanding, and is thus known from the truths of faith; it is therefore said, I acknowledge my prevarications. Again ‘Remember thy mercies Jehovah, and thy compassions, remember not the sins of my childhood and my prevarication.
    • Pslam xxv,6,7, in "Heavenly Arcana which are in the Sacred Scripture Or Word of the ..., Volume 11", pp.30-31
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