"There are lies emanating from the inherent unreliability and fallibility of human testimony. No two people can relate the occurrence of a street accident so as to make the two stories tally. When bias and emotion are introduced, human testimony becomes quite valueless. In war-time such testimony is accepted as conclusive. The scrappiest and most unreliable evidence is sufficient - "the friend of the brother of a man who was killed", or, as a German investigator of his own liars puts it, "somebody who had seen it", or, "an extremely respectable old woman".
From Ponsonby's "Falsehood in Wartime":
"There are lies emanating from the inherent unreliability and fallibility of human testimony. No two people can relate the occurrence of a street accident so as to make the two stories tally. When bias and emotion are introduced, human testimony becomes quite valueless. In war-time such testimony is accepted as conclusive. The scrappiest and most unreliable evidence is sufficient - "the friend of the brother of a man who was killed", or, as a German investigator of his own liars puts it, "somebody who had seen it", or, "an extremely respectable old woman".
100% correct