Quotes
Quotes about Truth
From principles is derived probability, but truth or certainty is obtained only from facts.
All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.
"Not to admire, is all the art I know (Plain truth, dear Murray, needs few flowers of speech) To make men happy, or to keep them so." (So take it in the very words of Creech) Thus Horace wrote we all know long ago; And thus Pope quotes the precept to re-teach From his translation; but had none admired, Would Pope have sung, or Horace been inspired?
And these vicissitudes come best in youth; For when they happen at a riper age, People are apt to blame the Fates, forsooth, And wonder Providence is not more sage. Adversity is the first path to truth: He who hath proved war, storm, or woman's rage, Whether his winters be eighteen or eighty, Has won experience which is deem'd so weighty.
Adversity is the first path to truth.
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, "The Beryl Coronet".
No one is entitled to the truth.
It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.
Euphemisms are not, as many young people think, useless verbiage for that which can and should be said bluntly; they are like secret agents on a delicate mission, they must airily pass by a stinking mess with barely so much as a nod of the head, make their point of constructive criticism and continue on in calm forbearance. Euphemisms are unpleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne.
A lie told often enough becomes truth.
Knowledge rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also.
To get rich never risk your health. For it is the truth that health is the wealth of wealth.
We live in the present, we dream of the future and we learn eternal truths from the past.
You are wholly complete and your success in life will be in direct proportion to your ability to accept this truth about you.
Truth and History involve nothing more than convincing the masses that you are right.
The Apes and the Two Travelers TWO MEN, one who always spoke the truth and the other who told nothing but lies, were traveling together and by chance came to the land of Apes. One of the Apes, who had raised himself to be king, commanded them to be seized and brought before him, that he might know what was said of him among men. He ordered at the same time that all the Apes be arranged in a long row on his right hand and on his left, and that a throne be placed for him, as was the custom among men. After these preparations he signified that the two men should be brought before him, and greeted them with this salutation: What sort of a king do I seem to you to be, O strangers?' The Lying Traveler replied, You seem to me a most mighty king. And what is your estimate of those you see around me?' These, he made answer, are worthy companions of yourself, fit at least to be ambassadors and leaders of armies. The Ape and all his court, gratified with the lie, commanded that a handsome present be given to the flatterer. On this the truthful Traveler thought to himself, If so great a reward be given for a lie, with what gift may not I be rewarded, if, according to my custom, I tell the truth?' The Ape quickly turned to him. And pray how do I and these my friends around me seem to you?' Thou art, he said, a most excellent Ape, and all these thy companions after thy example are excellent Apes too. The King of the Apes, enraged at hearing these truths, gave him over to the teeth and claws of his companions.
The Old Woman and the Physician An old woman having lost the use of her eyes, called in a Physician to heal them, and made this bargain with him in the presence of witnesses: that if he should cure her blindness, he should receive from her a sum of money; but if her infirmity remained, she should give him nothing. This agreement being made, the Physician, time after time, applied his salve to her eyes, and on every visit took something away, stealing all her property little by little. And when he had got all she had, he healed her and demanded the promised payment. The Old Woman, when she recovered her sight and saw none of her goods in her house, would give him nothing. The Physician insisted on his claim, and. as she still refused, summoned her before the Judge. The Old Woman, standing up in the Court, argued: This man here speaks the truth in what he says; for I did promise to give him a sum of money if I should recover my sight: but if I continued blind, I was to give him nothing. Now he declares that I am healed. I on the contrary affirm that I am still blind; for when I lost the use of my eyes, I saw in my house various chattels and valuable goods: but now, though he swears I am cured of my blindness, I am not able to see a single thing in it.
The Shepherd's Boy and the Wolf A sheperd boy, who watched a flock of sheep near a village, brought out the villagers three or four times by crying out, Wolf! Wolf! and when his neighbors came to help him, laughed at them for their pains. The Wolf, however, did truly come at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an agony of terror: Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep; but no one paid any heed to his cries, nor rendered any assistance. The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his leisure lacerated or destroyed the whole flock. There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.
The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, and even to murder, with the truth.
Between truth and the search for it, I choose the second.
I will tell you the truth as soon as I figure it out.
You never find yourself until you face the truth.
The pursuit of truth will set you free; even if you never catch up with it.
The greater the truth the greater the libel.
