Self-deception

"Statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting blame
upon the nation that is attacked, and every man
will be glad of those conscience-soothing
falsities, and will diligently study them, and
refuse to examine any refutations of them; and
thus he will by and by convince himself that the
war is just, and will thank God for the better
sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque
self-deception." --Mark Twain, Chronicle of Young
Satan

Thanks to simmeringfrogs