Aphorism No. 2

When in doubt, tell the truth.

Always thought this one was mine. I only learned recently that Mark Twain said it first. Mixed emotions over that - sorry to lose the invention, glad it's one of the two greatest Missourians.*

I use the expression a lot in practice, when advising people how to respond to questioning. It's a cousin to the old maxim of lawyers - never ask a question to which you do not already know the answer.

Twain, of course, had a lot more to say about truth, much of it brilliant. My favorite is another cousin - If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.




*The other Missourian being, of course, Harry S Truman.