With idle tales this fills our empty ears;
The next reports what from the first he hears;
The rolling fictions grow in strength and size,
Each author adding to the former lies.
Here vain credulity, with new desires,
Leads us astray, and groundless joy inspires;
The dubious whispers, tumults fresh designed,
And chilling fears astound the anxious mind.
— Ovid, Metamorphoses, XII 56-61
(Trans. Jonathan Swift, for his essay, “Political Lying,” 1710)
The Writing Expedition 