Get Smart Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Maxwell Smart, played by Don Adams, in the TV show Get Smart (1965-1970).

Secret Agent Maxwell Smart was the kind of a man who kept a phone in his shoe, but wasn't limber enough to use it while it was still on his foot. Smart had a habit of telling outlandish stories: Chinese water torture, surrounded by armed cavalry, stuff like that. People rarely believed any of those stories, so Smart would counter with "Would you believe…" followed by a slightly more believable version of the story.

And then he'd just keep going until the truth eventually came out.

Where you've heard it

You've probably heard this from your friend who is a pathological liar. Or, more likely, you've heard it from the original show, a Mel Brooks-created classic that spoofed James Bond and other spy films of the late 1960s. Steve Carell starred in a movie remake in 2008, if the big screen is more your thing.

And of course, the Get Smart fan website can be found at www.wouldyoubelieve.com.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

It would be more pretentious if it wasn't so funny.