“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled” is a saying that has been credited to the writer Mark Twain (1835-1910). However, the saying appears to have been popularized in January 2011—well after Twain’s lifetime.
 
The saying means that it’s easy to fool people, but people are very reluctant to admit that they’ve been fooled. Convincing people that they’ve been fooled is very difficult to get them to admit. The saying has frequently been used in politics.
   
 
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Sara Rosinsky
‏@SaraRosinsky
So true! RT @Joreth: “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they’ve been fooled.” ~ Mark Twain
7:23 AM - 10 Jan 2011
 
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Hlwd Blvd
‏@HlwdBlvd
Happy Labor Day! ‎“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled”- Mark Twain @OTOOLEFAN @billmaher @joanwalsh
9:01 PM - 5 Sep 2011
   
Twitter
marta przysiecka
‏@marta_tweet
It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” ~ Mark Twain #quote
3:27 AM - 17 May 12
     
Ea O Ka Aina
Oil Addiction Denial
SUBHEAD: Yet many young people in particular seem to be culturally rejecting car ownership as a lifestyle goal. 
By Roger Baker on 23 May 2012 for The Rag Blog - 
It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.—Mark Twain
 
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Serfs UP! Sovereign
‏@RogerSayles
#SERFsUP! It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. ~ Mark Twain » http://serfs-up.net
6:00 PM - 26 May 12
 
Stop Making Sense
Mark Twain – ‘It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.’
By mrdsk on June 28, 2012
   
Scripturient: Blog & Commentary
And Again, More Mis-Attibuted Quotes Online
Posted on July 4, 2012 by Ian Chadwick
“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.” Allegedly by Mark Twain, but unlikely, and not found in any published source I have of Twain’s quotations. Online sources, of course, don’t count as authorities because they lack all credibility.
 
22 August 2012, Frederick (MD) News-Post, “Letters to the Editor,” pg. 6, col. 3:
Mark Twain said, “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
(Greg Talamini, Frederick.—ed.)