Mendacious mendicant

There are beggars in Los Angeles. Some mendicants run a business by tricking the wealthy into giving them money, begging for more by offering the illusion that something new is about to happen, and that the donor will be universally recognized as a genius.

A straightforward beggar will say he needs food, the cunning mendicant will tell a tale of assistance urgently needed to fix the world, so open your purse right now!

Both live on alms, both practice beggary, one is more honest than the other. If there is such a thing as degrees of honesty. Some hold that once a liar, always a liar. Something the liar hates to hear.