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hy·poc·ri·sy (hĭ-pŏkˈrĭ-sē)  noun pl. hypocrisies (hy·poc·ri·sies)

• The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

• An act or instance of such falseness.

Origin: from Late Latin hypocrisis, play-acting, pretense

“Hypocrite, n. One who, profession virtues that he does not respect secures the advantage of seeming to be what he despises.” – Ambrose Bierce

“The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity” – Andre Gide

“Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing” – Edward Burke

“Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today” – Mahatma Gandhi

“He (Thomas Paine) saw oppression on every hand; injustice everywhere; hypocrisy at the altar; venality on the bench, tyranny on the throne; and with a splendid courage he espoused the cause of the weak against the strong” – Robert Greene Ingersoll

“Woe unto you, scribes and *Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.” – (Matthew 23:14)

*(Note: the word “pharisee” has come into semi-common usage in English to describe a hypocritical and arrogant person who places the letter of the law above its spirit.)