"Two Men were buying meat at a Butcher's stall in the market-place, and, while the Butcher's back was turned for a moment, one of them snatched up a joint and hastily thrust it under the other's cloak, where it could not be seen. When the Butcher turned round, he missed the meat at once, and charged them with having stolen it: but the one who had taken it said he hadn't got it, and the one who had got it said he hadn't taken it. The Butcher felt sure they were deceiving him, but he only said, 'You may cheat me with your lying, but you can't cheat the gods, and they won't let you off so lightly.'

Prevarication often amounts to perjury."
— Aesop, The Butcher and His Customers

"God forbid that I should do this thing, and flee away from them: if our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren, and let us not stain our honour."
— Judas Maccabeus, First Book of Maccabees