First there was silence. And within this silence, language evolved to communicate truth. The deliberate misrepresentation of truth came later when dishonesty took on evolutionary significance and deception offered a survival advantage: an advantage that relied absolutely upon the assumption of truth. But lies have proliferated. And there is now every fear that, if this proliferation continues, the assumption of truth will cease to be valid and language itself will no longer be trusted. Communication will become meaningless and mankind will be returned to silence.
From A Natural History of Lies by J. Clarke