Be bad, but at least don't be a liar, a deceiver!

The line contrasts ordinary moral failing (“be bad”) with the deeper corruption of dishonesty. It suggests that wrongdoing is, in a sense, human and visible, but lying and deception fracture the basic trust that makes moral repair possible. The imperative “at least” implies a hierarchy of vices: deception is portrayed as uniquely destructive because it falsifies reality, manipulates others, and prevents genuine self-knowledge. Read in a Tolstoyan key, the thought aligns with his ethical emphasis on sincerity and moral clarity: one may be flawed, but must not compound that flaw by masking it through hypocrisy or self-justifying falsehoods.