 They repeat things over and over again until they perpetuate what is called the big lie. Joseph Goebbels talked about the big lie. He says, if you tell a lie big enough, keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such a time as the state can shield the people from the political, economic, and military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the state to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus, by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the state.