Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceiv'd, it is too late" -- Jonathan Swift (b. 1667-11-30, d. 1745-10-19), 1710

"Falsehood will fly, as it were, on the wings of the wind, and carry its tales to every corner of the earth; whilst truth lags behind; her steps, though sure, are slow and solemn" -- Thomas Francklin (b. 1721, d. 1784-03-15), 1787

"a Lie would travel from Maine to Georgia while Truth was getting on his boots" attributed to Fisher Ames (b. 1758-04-09, d. 1808-07-04) by William Tudow in 1821

"error will run half over the world while truth is putting on his boots to pursue her" -- The New-England Magazine, 1834

"A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots." -- posthumously attributed to Mark Twain (b. 1835-11-30, d. 1910-04-21)

"A lie will gallop halfway round the world before the truth has time to pull its breeches on." -- Cordell Hull (b. 1871-10-02, d. 1955-07-23), 1948

I pulled all of these from Quote Investigaror -- Garson O'Toole, quoteinvestigator.com -- who summarized, "there exists a family of expressions contrasting the dissemination of lies and truths, and these adages have been evolving for more than 300 years. Jonathan Swift can properly be credited with the statement he wrote in 1710. Charles Haddon Spurgeon popularized the version he employed in a sermon in 1855, but he did not craft it. At this time, there is no substantive support for assigning the saying to Mark Twain or Winston Churchill." At that page there are more quotations like this, plus discussion and footnotes. I just snagged some convenient bits.)

[I don't remember whether I've used this/these before, but in light of that recent study about the relative reach of fake news and accurate reporting on social media, and reminded by the weird tale from Blue Lives Matter yesterday about Chicago youth running riot at a strip mall during their seventeen minute walkout, this saying was on my mind. I was surprised to hear multiple podcasts that discussed that study fail to bring up this saying.]

The longer passages quoted at Quote Investigator from Swift and Charles Haddon Spurgeon that contain versions of this saying, are worth an extra look:

"Besides, as the vilest Writer has his Readers, so the greatest Liar has his Believers; and it often happens, that if a Lie be believ'd only for an Hour, it has done its Work, and there is no farther occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it; so that when Men come to be undeceiv'd, it is too late; the Jest is over, and the Tale has had its Effect..." -- Swift

"If you want truth to go round the world you must hire an express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go round the world, it will fly; it is as light as a feather, and a breath will carry it. It is well said in the old Proverb, 'A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on.'" -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon (b. 1834-06-19, d. 1892-01-31), 1859