"Ye are like unto whited sepulchres..."

Via Justin Taylor:

Boston College philosopher Peter Kreeft:

The common, modern misunderstanding of hypocrisy [is] not practicing what you preach. ...Actually, we have misdefined “hypocrisy.” Hypocrisy is not the failure to practice what you preach but the failure to believe it. Hypocrisy is propaganda.

The great art critic William Hazlitt (1778-1830):

He is a hypocrite who professes what he does not believe; not he who does not practice all he wishes or approves.

The American Heritage Dictionary:

[Hypocrisy is] the practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

Inigo Montoya:

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

If we were honest with ourselves and hypocrisy actually meant "not practicing what you preach" then we would all be guilty. Each of us fails to a greater or lesser degree to consistently do what we honestly believe we should.

How to Stop Misusing the Word “Hypocrisy”