In the preface to the first "Poor Richard's Almanack," Saunders addressed his "Courteous Reader": "I might in this place attempt to gain thy Favour, by declaring that I write Almanacks with no other View than that of the publick Good; but in this I should not be sincere; and Men are now a-days too wise to be deceiv'd by Pretences how specious soever.
Living by cheerful pretence, she has removed 14 years from her age, and tells no one about her illegitimate (criminal, banged-up) son, or the lovers she took during her marriage.
The most recent intervention, from the cabinet minister and out campaigner Iain Duncan Smith, highlights the fragility of a cabinet when its ministers are no longer bound by the pretence of unity.
Is it worth making a complaint against senior men who may end up deciding whether your work gets published or not, all the while covered by the pretence of anonymity?
Thus for EO Wilson, a "soft-core altruist" expects reciprocation from either society or family; his byzantine calculations are characterised by "lying, pretence and deceit, including self-deceit, because the actor is more convincing who believes that his performance is real".
In the parallel passage (EU, 8.26/96 97), he again objects to any effort to refute a hypothesis "by a pretence to its dangerous consequences to religion and morality" (my emphasis).
Reserves of trust have been depleted by years of pretence that simple solutions are available, followed by painful collision with complex reality.
Do not, he told them, "suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberty by any pretences of politeness, delicacy, or decency.
The detention notification stated that he had come to the country without proper documents and "had tried to obtain money by false pretences using a credit card".
