A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

leveller see DEATH is the great leveller.
A LIAR ought to have a good memory
Cf. QUINTILIAN Institutio Oratoria IV. ii. mendacem memorem esse oportet, a liar ought to have a good memory.

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  a 1542 T. WYATT in Poetical Works (1858) p. xxxvii. They say, ‘He that will lie well must have a good remembrance, that he agree in all points with himself, lest he be spied.’ c 1690 R. SOUTH Twelve Sermons (1722) IV. 167 Indeed, a very rational Saying, That a lyar ought to have a good Memory. 1721 J. KELLY Scottish Proverbs 50 A Lyar should have a good Memory. Lest he tell the same Lye different ways. 1945 F. THOMPSON Lark Rise xiii. ‘A liar ought to have a good memory,’ they would say. 1999 C. HITCHENS No One Left To Lie To (2000) i. 19 Just as the necessary qualification for a good liar is a good memory, so the essential equipment of a would-be lie detector is a good timeline, and a decent archive. ■ lying
  

libel see the GREATER the truth, the greater the libel.
lick see if you can’t BEAT them, join them.
A LIE is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on
The speed with which falsehood travels was a classical commonplace; e.g. VIRGIL Aeneid iv. 174 Fama, malum qua non aliud velocius alium, Rumour, than whom no other evil thing is faster. This whole passage was imitated by Shakespeare in the Induction to Henry IV, Pt. 2 (1597-8).

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  1859 C. H. SPURGEON Gems from Spurgeon 74 It is well said in the old proverb, ‘a lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on’. 1996 National Review 6 May 6 ‘A lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on.’ But, eventually, truth gets booted and spurred, and the lie gets a good licking. 2002 Times 21
  

Feb. 3 It is often said that a lie can get round the world quicker than the truth can get its shoes on. For Stephen McPherson, it was quicker than he could get his clothes on. ■ rumour; truth