What phrase is famously associated with Gregory House in House M.D.?

“Everybody lies” is the phrase famously associated with Gregory House in House M.D. House uses it to express his belief that patients and other people routinely conceal, distort, or misunderstand important facts.

The idea shapes his diagnostic method. Rather than accepting a patient’s account at face value, House searches for omitted details, tests competing explanations, and observes behavior. The phrase functions as both a medical principle and a broader statement about human nature.

It is not the show’s only recurring maxim. House also emphasizes that unusual cases require skepticism and that apparent symptoms may not reveal their true cause. Still, “Everybody lies” became the character’s signature line and one of the series’ most recognizable quotations.

The saying should not be read as a literal claim that every person lies constantly. Within the drama, it is House’s deliberately provocative shorthand for the unreliability of testimony and the need to verify evidence.