67 Hypocrite Quotes to Deal with Imposters in Your Life

Why Read Hypocrite Quotes

The media, political opponents, and people engaged in heated disagreements are keen to call each other hypocrites, but what exactly is one? Most dictionary definitions boil down to someone who is trying to create the appearance of high standards or lofty beliefs, but their actions demonstrate otherwise.

In modern times where social media and branding reign, hypocrites are more on display than ever before. There is a great advantage to being seen as a noble individual – but not all are willing to walk the walk.

Why will these hypocrite quotes help? Perhaps you’re feeling frustrated by those in your life who you’re fully aware aren’t what they say they are. Perhaps you find yourself on the defensive – slandered or gossiped about by individuals who you know aren’t faultless.

While we may not be able to get hypocritical individuals to see reality, we can shape our attitude towards their words and actions. Often these people can serve as valuable inspiration to reflect on our actions, as after all, nobody is perfect.

These quotes can help you develop a more robust attitude and perhaps see the funny side of a hypocrite.

67 Hypocrite Quotes to Deal with Imposters in Your Life

“Goodie-goodies are the thieves of virtue.” – Confucious
“There are three things in the world that deserve no mercy, hypocrisy, fraud and tyranny” – Frederik William Robertson
“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 I
“A humanitarian is always a hypocrite.” – George Orwell
“It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.” – Noël Coward

“In some sense, we are all hypocrites in transition.” – Erwin McManus
“The three kinds of people I dislike most are Gossips, Liars, and Hypocrites.” – Carole Radziwill
“We are all hypocrites. We cannot see ourselves or judge ourselves the way we see and judge others.” – José Emilio Pacheco
“Hypocrite: The man who murdered his parents, and then pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan.” – Abraham Lincoln
“The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation.” – George Orwell
“Counting other people’s sins does not make you saint.” – Hussein Nishah
“People are quick to judge but slow to correct themselves.” – Anonymous
“Hypocrisy in anything whatever may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognizes it, and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it may be disguised.” – Leo Tolstoy
“Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite.” – Charles Spurgeon
“Hypocrisy begins at home.” – Janneker Lawrence Daniel

“We ought to see far enough into a hypocrite to see even his sincerity.” – Thomas Fuller
“I thought of the sleeping pills in my bag and wondered just how great a hypocrite I was. It was so easy to advise other people to live with their pain.” – Octavia E. Butler
“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
“For the highest reach of injustice is, to be deemed just when you are not.” – Plato
“The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy” – William Hazlitt
“Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.” – Warren Wiersbe
“There is no vice so simple but assumes Some mark of virtue on his outward parts.” – William Shakespeare
“And what sort of lives do these people, who pose as being moral, lead themselves? My dear fellow, you forget that we are in the native land of the hypocrite.” – Oscar Wilde
“I think we need to look at ourselves first. We should practice what we’re preaching. Otherwise, we are hypocrites.” – Mo Ibrahim
“Force may make hypocrites, but it can never make converts.” – William Penn

“Trying not to believe things when in your heart you are almost sure they are true, is as bad for the temper as anything I know.” – E Nesbitt
The louder he talked of his honour, the faster we counted our spoons.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“What hypocrites we seem to be whenever we talk of ourselves! Our words sound so humble, while our hearts are so proud.” – Augustus Hare
“Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo.” – Ambrose Bierce
“Ostentation is the signal flag of hypocrisy.” – Edwin Hubbel Chapin
“Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.” – Walter Kirn
“Hypocrisy is the essence of snobbery, but all snobbery is about the problem of belonging.” – Alexander Theroux
“No power can be maintained when it is only represented by hypocrites.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“Liberty is the right of every man, to be honest, to think and to speak without hypocrisy.” – Jose Marti
“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

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

“The self-righteous scream judgments against others to hide the noise of skeletons dancing in their own closets.” – John Mark Green
“Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing.” – Edmund Burke
“Keep thy smooth words and juggling homilies for those who know thee not.” – Lord Byron
“People appear like angels until you hear them speak. You must not rush to judge people by the colour of their cloaks, but by the content of their words!” – Israelmore Ayivor
“Comedy actually works best when you're living in an OK world, and you are pointing out the hypocrisy in apathy.” – Tim Minchin
“I'm annoyed by those who love mankind but are discourteous to people.” – John Howard Griffin
“If you cultivate piety as an end and not a means, you will become a hypocrite.” – Austin O'Malley
“To win the people, always cook them some savoury that pleases them.” – Aristophanes
“Godliness is more easily feigned in words than in actions” – Jonathan Edwards
“Often a noble face hides filthy ways.” – Euripides

“Whatever you condemn, you have done yourself.” – Georg Groddeck
“People who shout joy from the rooftops are often the saddest of all.” – Milan Kundera
“You cannot play the hypocrite before God; and to obtain pardon you must cease to sin, as well as to be exercised by a spirit of repentance” – Henry Ward Beecher
Avoid those who seek friends in order to maintain a certain social status or to open doors they would not otherwise be able to approach.” – Paulo Coelho
“Hypocrites get offended by the truth” – Jess C. Scott
“There are many who are lip servants but not life servants.” – William Jenkyn
“Clean your finger before you point at my spots.” – Benjamin Franklin
“The truth has become an insult.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“Live truth instead of professing it” – Elbert Hubbard
“Hypocrisy is the scarlet letter in politics.” – Mark McKinnon
“Hypocrites are those who apply to others the standards that they refuse to accept for themselves.” – Noam Chomsky
“Art, like religion, arises from the spirit, but alas, the formalizing of spiritual life all too often ends in hypocrisy.” – Michael Leunig
“He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.” – Sigmund Freud
“Either you look back and deal with your hypocrisy, or you dismiss it.” – Jose Padilha
“The truth is, the hypocrisy of humans is everywhere” – Jeremy Griffith

“The difference between a saint and a hypocrite is that one lies for his religion, the other by it.” – Minna Antrim
“It is the mark of a hypocrite to be a Christian everywhere except at home.” – Robert Murray M'Cheyne
“The truth is, the hypocrisy of humans is everywhere” – Jeremy Griffith
“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
“Between ourselves, there are two things that I have always observed to be in singular accord: supercelestial thoughts and subterranean conduct.” – Michel de Montaigne
“A hypocrite is more dangerous than a dishonest man. A dishonest man deceives and cheats, and a hypocrite betrays and swindles.” – Dr T.P Chia
“For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.” – Noam Chomsky

Final Thoughts on Hypocrite Quotes

That’s the end of our hypocrite quotes compilation. We hope these give you some food for thought or insights into handling the imposters in your life. While it can be frustrating to deal with hypocrites, it’s also an opportunity for you to grow as a person.

Learning how to deal with a hypocrite also involves learning how to read people by their actions and not their words. Check out these 109 growth mindset affirmations and statements for 2022, to help make this a year you get closer to your full potential.

And if you want more inspirational quotes, be sure to check out these blog posts:

Finally, if you want to use these quotes to make a lasting change to your life, then check out and recite these 57 affirmations for success.

Tom Smith is a creative writer with over 6 years of professional experience. He discovered the joy of writing after covering some furniture in his childhood home with graffiti. In later years, he got himself a BA in creative writing and hasn’t looked back. After discovering the power of positive thinking and discovering the spiritual side of life, he believes it's a huge privilege to be able to write about all things personal development.