- A Quote from William Hazlitt

What can we learn from this famous saying?

This is a saying about over-exaggeration and the betrayal of a secret affinity.

I think the first time we learned and revealed this was as kids, when a boy liked a girl and was therefore meaner or more anti-girl in front of others and that particular girl. Secretly in his heart he liked that very girl and betrayed the inner secret through obvious and exaggerated anti-behavior.

Notice that this says Violent…not in a physical sense but in a mental sense…in other words…in an extreme or exaggerated way.

There are other instances of true antipathies, and they may be strong, though not exaggerated in the extreme. The difference is the exaggeration.

When an individual tries to hide something, they may go through lengths to hide it, and actually reveal it instead by overdoing it. There are numerous other examples of this, from spies to those being overly friendly, and others I can think of.

What to do with this famous saying…

Know this principle and watch it played out from time to time…it’s interesting and more often holds true than not.

The usefulness comes when you need to know the truth The most obvious way to tell the truth is to put it to a test…once you do this the truth is usually revealed.