It was amazing, this mystic business. You tell them a lie and then when you don't need it anymore, you tell them another lie and tell them they're progressing along the road to wisdom. Then instead of laughing, they follow you even more, hoping that at the heart of all the lies they'll find the truth. And bit by bit, they accept the unacceptable. Amazing.
Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards! (via Supreme Grandmaster of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night)
............
I couldn't stop thinking how bone-chillingly real this line about manipulation and propaganda is. It is so well crafted. And worth quoting.
[from Batman/Hellboy/Starman #1 (January, 1999) by James Robinson (script), Mike Mignola (pencils & inks), Matt Hollingsworth (colors) and Willie Schuber (letters)]