Phrases for fake, self-interested and envious people

Shakespeare, Cicero and many other prominent figures reflected on falsehood, hypocrisy and envy. Check out this selection of phrases to think about and learn to identify those who are not sincere.
Phrases for fake people help you reflect on those around you and the attitudes they have. And it is normal to find self-interested or hypocritical people throughout life who pretend to be something they are not. Whether it is because they want to obtain a benefit or because they are envious, their attitudes can hurt you.

However, this list of statements about falsehood, hypocrisy and envious people would help you to discover them and act accordingly. In fact, great thinkers and artists, such as Aristotle, Cervantes and Bonaparte, have reflected on the same thing. Discover them, as well as some tips to stay away from these individuals.

For false friends

There are different types of fake friends , from those who disappear at crucial moments to those who manipulate you, and the following quotes are for them. You can reflect on them and, why not, publish them on WhatsApp or some social network:

“A friend to all is a friend to none” (Aristotle).
“Friendship that ends has not begun” (Publilio Siro).
“A sure friend is known by an unsure action” (Ennio).
“True friends stab you in the front” ( Oscar Wilde ).
“Prosperity makes friends and adversity tests them” (Anonymous).
“There is no worse enemy than the one who wears the face of a friend” (Juan Ruiz de Alarcón).
“Don’t settle for a relationship that doesn’t allow you to be yourself” (Oprah Winfrey).
“The cruelest lies are told in silence” (Robert Louis Stevenson).
“A false friend is like the shadow that follows us as long as the sun lasts” (Carlo Dossi).
“If you can’t live without treating me well, you’ll have to learn to live far from me” (Frida Kahlo).
“What’s the point of being pretty on the outside when you’re so ugly on the inside?” (Jess C. Scott).
“A friend is like money, before you need it you must know its value” ( Socrates ).
“Friends often pervert us by flattering us, and enemies often correct us by insulting us” (Saint Augustine).
“I do not need friends who change when I change and nod when I nod. My shadow does it much better” (Plutarch).
“Always sleep with one eye open. Never take anything for granted. Your best friends can be your enemies.” (Sara Shepard)
“I prefer to surround myself with people who reveal their imperfection rather than people who falsify their perfection” (Charles F. Glassman).
“Only the human species constantly fosters false friends, usurpers, vile, selfish people, and as many men, as many enemies” (Juan Bautista Arriaza).
“I learned to identify false love from true love by their fruits, humility and freedom from worldly desires” (Santosh Avvannavar).
“But what a strange world it is: someone you really dislike treats you kindly, while someone who seems to be your friend ends up screwing you over” (Natsume Soseki).
“True friendship is a slow-growing plant, which must endure and overcome the ravages of misfortune before its fruits can reach full maturity” (George Washington).
“The more time we spend interconnected through a myriad of devices, the less time we have left to develop real friendships in the real world” (Alex Morritt).

On falsehood

We have seen some quotes to think about regarding lying friendships and now we will see what personalities from history think about this type of attitude. Falsehood can be very cruel, but it can also be unmasked quickly, and this can be seen in these statements:

“Falsehood has a perennial spring” (Edmund Burke).
“Falsehood is as old as the tree of Eden” ( Orson Welles ).
“Everyone is master of his silences and slave of his words” (Aristotle).
“There are three things that cannot be hidden for long: the sun, the moon and the truth” (Buddha).
“Falsehoods not only oppose truth, but often contradict each other” (Voltaire).
“Falsehood is so close to truth that the prudent man must not place himself on slippery ground” (Cicero).
“Sometimes people do not want to hear the truth because they do not want their illusions to be destroyed” ( Friedrich Nietzsche ).
“Some men are disguised not by disguises, but by revelations. Each man disguises himself as what he is inside” (Chesterton).
“Falsehood has wings and flies, and truth follows it crawling, so that when people realize the deception it is too late” ( Miguel de Cervantes ).
“What a mansion vices possess and have chosen for their habitation! A beautiful veil covers every ugly stain, and all things that one can look upon seem pleasant” (William Shakespeare).
«Remove the energy vampires from your life, clear out all complexity, create a team around you that frees you to fly, eliminate anything toxic, and value simplicity. Because that’s where genius lives» (Robin S. Sharma).

Phrases for “two-faced” people

Dealing with toxic people can be a challenge. Sometimes, they pretend to like you or praise you highly, while they talk badly about you behind your back. Usually, their actions don’t match their words and that’s a clue to spotting them. Here are some statements that deal with traitors:

“It is better to be alone than in bad company” (Spanish proverb).
“In one hand he carries the stone and with the other he shows the bread” (Plautus).
“There is no falsehood so foolish that it is not supported by any witness” (Pliny).
“The tongue is like a sharp knife, it kills without drawing blood” (Buddha).
“I love fake people, as long as they are mannequins” (Pushpa Rana).
“It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not” (André Gide).
“Man is ice for truth and fire for falsehood” (Jean de La Fontaine).
“Most people pray with the same lips they use to lie” (José Ingenieros).
“Nature gave you one face, and you make another” (William Shakespeare).
“Vain pretensions fall to the ground like flowers. Falsehood does not last long” ( Cicero ).
“People are not ridiculous until they want to appear or be what they are not” (Giacomo Leopardi).
“The best way to live with honor in this world is to be what we appear to be” (Socrates).
“Life is too short to eat fake butter or deal with fake people” (Karen Salmansohn).
“The only wolves we have to fear are those wearing human skin” ( George RR Martin ).
“Falsehood is so close to truth that the prudent man should not stand on slippery ground” (Cicero).
“If you want to get rid of a fake person in your life, follow this advice: do exactly the opposite of what he or she expects of you” (Marta Gárgoles).
“Some people are so false that they are no longer aware that they think exactly the opposite of what they say” (Marcel Aymé).
“Toxic people attach themselves like cement blocks tied to your ankles and then invite you to swim in their poisoned waters” (John Mark Green).
“Of all the guilty acts, none is so great as that of those who, when they are most deceiving us, try to appear good” (Cicero).
“Let go of negative people who only share complaints, problems, disastrous stories, fear and judge others. If someone is looking for a garbage can, make sure it is not your mind” (Dalai Lama).
“A scoundrel does not laugh as an honest man, a hypocrite does not cry as a man of good faith. All falsehood is a mask, and however well made the mask may be, one can always, with a little attention, distinguish it from the face” (Alexander Dumas).

On hypocrisy

Perhaps we have all fallen into hypocrisy at some point, but there are those who practice it frequently. Hypocritical people tend to criticize others and act contrary to what they say. With this in mind, we invite you to review these short phrases dedicated to fake people:

“They praise some and read others” (Martial).
“Good manners before morals!” (Oscar Wilde).
“Hypocrisy is the height of all evil” (Moliére).
“I am not sincere, even when I say I am not” (Jules Renard).
“Modesty is the most innocent of lies” (Nicolas Chamfort).
“Customs are the hypocrisy of nations” (Honoré de Balzac).
“There is nothing more hypocritical than the elimination of hypocrisy” (Friedrich Nietzsche).
“You cannot be and not be something at the same time and under the same aspect” (Aristotle).
“A minute of frank and sincere life is better than a hundred years of hypocrisy” (Ángel Ganivet).
“Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue” (Francis de La Rochefoucauld).
“The only thing worse than a liar is a hypocritical liar” (Tennessee Williams).
“Hateful to me, like the gates of Hades, is the man who conceals one thing in his bosom and says another” ( Homer ).
“When hypocrisy becomes very poor quality, it is time to start telling the truth” (Bertolt Brecht).
“Man uses hypocrisy to deceive himself, perhaps more to deceive others” (Jaime Luciano Balmes).
“Neither men nor angels can discern hypocrisy, an invisible vice in heaven or earth, except God who is aware of it” (John Milton).
“I hope you haven’t been leading a double life, pretending to be both evil and good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.” (Oscar Wilde)
“The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of the hypocrite is hypocrisy itself” (William Hazlitt).
“Hypocrites pretend to be doves, politicians, writers, eagles… But don’t be fooled by their appearance, they are not eagles, they are rats” (Anton Chekhov).

For envious people

Disloyal people may feel envy of others. This emotion is composed of feelings of inferiority, hostility and resentment. Thus, constant comparison with others causes harmful behaviors towards them. Here are some phrases about envy , how to recognize it and its effects:

“Envy is the fruit of ignorance” (Anonymous).
“The envious person may die, but envy never does” (Molière).
“The envious man loses weight when his neighbor gains weight” (Horace).
“The silence of the envious is full of noise” ( Khalil Gibran ).
“Envy is the religion of the mediocre” (Carlos Ruiz Zafón).
“Envy is the worm that eats away at success and glory” (Francis Bacon).
“Envy is a declaration of inferiority” (Napoleon Bonaparte).
“Jealousy is a mixture of love, hate, greed and pride” (Alphonse Karr).
“Pity is for the living. Envy is for the dead.” (Mark Twain)
“Envy is the homage that mediocrity pays to talent” (Jackson Brown).
“I will not allow anyone to walk in my mind with dirty feet” ( Mahatma Gandhi ).
“Envy is so thin and yellow because it bites and does not eat” (Francisco de Quevedo).
“Oh, envy, root of infinite evils and canker of virtues!” (Miguel de Cervantes).
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you do not possess” (Ann Brashares).
“If you can’t live without treating me well, you’ll have to learn to live far from me” (Frida Kahlo).
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here” (William Shakespeare).
“All the tyrants of Sicily have never invented a greater torment than envy” (Horace).
“Envy is the art of counting other people’s blessings instead of your own” (Harold Coffin).
“Resentment is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die” (Frank McCourt).
“Envy is a thousand times more terrible than hunger, because it is spiritual hunger” ( Miguel de Unamuno ).
“What is an envious person? An ungrateful person who hates the light that illuminates and warms him” (Francisco de Quevedo).
“Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy” (Francis de La Rochefoucauld).
“The disqualifier aims to control our self-esteem, to make us feel nothing in front of others, so that in this way he can shine and be the center of the universe” (Bernardo Stamateas).
“Stay away from those who try to hold back your ambitions. Small people always do that, but only those who are really great make you feel that you too can become great.” (Mark Twain)

Phrases for interested people

Do you think someone is with you to get a benefit? One of the characteristics of self-interested people is to manipulate you to get what they want. This list of thoughts from famous people will give you some clues in this regard:

“Nor will he who seeks his own interest give sound advice” (Alonso de Barros).
“Friendship is powerful when it is not for self-interest” (Santiago Posteguillo).
“Friendship begins where interest ends” (Cicero).
“There is self-love in love as there is self-interest in friendship” (George Sand).
“Success has its price and it is often paid for with the hostility of others” (Ramón Ayala).
“Interest, which blinds some, enlightens others” (Francis de La Rochefoucauld).
“There are no uninteresting things. Only people who are incapable of being interested.” (Gilbert Keith Chesterton)
“A self-interested friend looks at his own self-love; a true friend only at the good of his friend” (Francisco de Quevedo).
“Do not imagine that others are as interested in listening to you as you are in speaking” (Antisthenes).
“Only good feelings can unite us. Interest has never forged lasting unions” (Auguste Comte).
“There are daggers in men’s smiles. The closer they are, the bloodier they are.” (William Shakespeare)
“The woman who chooses a man by his pocketbook cannot complain if she is later treated like merchandise” ( Bob Marley ).
“The secret of the man who is universally interesting is that he is universally interested” (William Dean Howells).
“Interest speaks all sorts of languages and represents all sorts of characters, even that of the disinterested” (Francis de La Rochefoucauld).
“Everything great in the world has been done under the banner of duty; everything base has been done in the name of self-interest” (Enrique Lacordaire).
“What differentiates the honest man from the scoundrel is that the former is only a fraud when he cannot help it, and the latter seeks opportunities to play his false role” (Nicolas Chamfort).
“I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, even if he is wrong, than for one who comes as an angel, but turns out to be a devil” (Malcolm X).
“He’s like everyone else: a self-interested pig who looks out for himself and then for others. It’s human nature. If you don’t believe me, look at how you’ve gotten to the point of theft and maybe murder” (Fernando Trujillo Sanz).
“Because I am not fit to flatter, nor speak plainly, nor smile in people’s faces, to cajole, to deceive, and to cheat, to bow with obeisance in French and simian politeness, I must be feared as a spiteful enemy” (William Shakespeare).
«Most animals are loyal. They do not know betrayal or lies. The human being is a lying species: he lies with words, with sermons, with speeches, with mathematics, with newspaper editorials; he plays the saint by being a profiteer» (Fernando Vallejo Rendón).

How to identify and get away from toxic people

Sometimes it’s hard to spot a friend who isn’t a friend or someone who is cheating on you. Even if you suspect that he is only with you out of selfishness or interest, he can confuse you with his attitudes. Some of his dazzling actions hide lies, deceptions and manipulations that are usually revealed over time.

These are individuals with a difficult and egocentric character. Because of this, they tend to be interested in their own well-being and care little for others. In addition, they use aggression, manipulation or criticism. As a result, they negatively impact the emotional health of those around them.

Reading the above quotes, dedicated to ungrateful and false people, can be a starting point to recognize them. However, knowing how to protect yourself from someone toxic is essential to avoid unpleasantness.

To deal effectively with these individuals, it is important to pinpoint common traits and behaviors, understand their possible motives, and adopt effective communication. According to an article in the PIRLC Journal , some common attitudes they display include:

They exhibit a need for attention.
They lack empathy with others.
They believe they deserve special treatment or privileges without earning them.
They tend to deflect blame or shift responsibility for their actions.
They tend to prioritize their needs and interests over those of others.

Use these phrases as a driving force to deal with fake people

Keep in mind that in order to deal with or free yourself from toxic people , it is essential to set boundaries, work on self-esteem, and communicate assertively . The important thing is to prevent their negative energy from controlling your emotions. In addition, compassion and empathy help promote positive interactions.

These phrases about falsehood, hypocrisy, self-interest, or envy are useful for reflecting on your relationships with others. Review the list and analyze: do any of these phrases bring to mind a person you consider insincere? Then take the necessary measures so that it does not affect your life.