Sefer HaMiddot, Truth, Part I/ספר המדות·אמת·חלק ראשון

1A person who wants to attach himself to the Holy One—so that his thoughts travel from one chamber to the next, seeing these chambers with his mind’s eye—should avoid speaking falsely, even accidentally.

2One is permitted to distort the truth in order to preserve peace.

3Those who tell lies are not worthy of receiving the Divine Presence.

4A Tzaddik is permitted to act deceitfully with one who deceives others.

5All those who add, detract.

6Telling lies brings one to thoughts of idolatry.

7By being truthful, a person will not die before his time.

8The breath from a liar’s mouth gives rise to the evil inclination. When Mashiach comes, falsehood will cease to exist and so there will be no evil inclination in the world.

9A person of truth can recognize in another if he is speaking falsely or not.

10A sign that something is false is that it is opposed by the majority. The liar is one of the three types of people whom God despises.

11Reason cannot tolerate a rich person’s deceit. Even he finds himself despicable.

12Giving charity rectifies one’s speech.

13Truth protects the world from all manner of harm.

14Flattery leads to lying.

15A person who gives charity merits attaining the truth.

16The liar despises humility.

17One can tell from a person’s servants whether he is fond of falsehood. This is because the one is dependent upon the other. There are times when a person’s servants fall into sin because he is a liar, and other times when he stumbles into falsehood because his servants behave improperly.

18One who lacks truth lacks kindness. Such a person cannot deal {kindly} with people.

19Falsehood delays redemption, for it brings a person’s sins out into the open, thus preventing him from being saved.

20Truth redeems from all suffering.

21A person should rather die, than live and be considered a liar by others.

22Where there is truth, there is peace.

23One who is far from the truth is far from charity.

24Truth protects the sign of the brit.

25By telling the truth, a person earns everlasting esteem.

26When a husband and wife accustom themselves to lying, their children will be rebellious and sexually immoral.

27A person will speak falsely when he is afraid of other people.

28Falsehood causes a person to forget God.

29A person who does not trust in God speaks falsely, and by telling lies becomes incapable of trusting the truth.

30The further a person is from truth, the more he considers one who turns away from evil to be a fool.

31Seeing that there is no truth in the world, a person who wants to turn away from evil must play the fool.

32When a person does not speak falsely, God saves him in a time of misfortune. He will also be blessed with children.

33Idle talk brings harm to one’s children.

34A person steeped in idleness becomes forgetful.

35Falsehood leads to immorality and strengthens the hand of evildoers so that they do not return to God in repentance.

36A person who lies has no cure even with numerous medicines.

37A person who tells lies is cut down. He also becomes a fool.

38Fear of God brings a person to truth.

39A person who guards himself from falsehood is always victorious.

40It is permissible to alter the truth in order to save oneself from harm.

41A person who is fond of falsehood will disgrace the Tzaddik, and will himself be shamed.

42One who speaks falsely perishes.

43Truth saves a person from slander. By telling the truth his prayers are accepted, and when judged on high, he will be judged according to his merits.

44A person can tell from his dreams whether his heart is true with his God.

45A person who keeps his word can accomplish great things.

46One who has no haughtiness is saved from lies.

47Whoever guards against frivolity is clearly a person of truth.

48When someone who was a liar in a previous lifetime is reincarnated, he comes back left-handed.

49When a person is careful and always speaks truthfully, it is like he created heaven and earth, the seas and all that they contain.

50Falsehood applies only to the spoken word, not the written one.

51The Torah, the Prophets and the Sages made use of hyperbole [in their teachings].