A quick way to embed literal HTML inside an HTML document is with an xmp tag. I would have put an actual example here, but apparently PerlMonks doesn't like the xmp tag. Here's how you would use it: 
<xmp>
HTML list example:
<ul>
  <li>Thing One</li>
  <li>Thing Two</li>
</ul>
</xmp>

[download]

Of course, if the literal HTML contains an XMP tag, you've got problems. Encoding the angle brackets and ampersands is the most robust solution.

In reply to Re: how to force HTML to display as text by chipmunk
in thread how to force HTML to display as text by Summers_Azin_pr0n

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
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  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.