Quotes About Truth

Because even if I should speak, no one would believe me. And they would not believe me precisely because they would know that what I said was true.

The author must destroy our myths and give us back our histories, which will destroy our attitudes and give us back our personalities.

Once one has begun to suspect this much about the world — once one has begun to suspect, that is, that one is not, and never will be, innocent, for the reason that no one is — some of the self-protective veils between oneself and reality begin to fall away.

SOMEONE ONCE SAID TO ME that the people in general cannot bear very much reality. He meant by this that they prefer fantasy to a truthful re-creation of their experience.

many of them indeed know better. But as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they know. To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger.

But, these days, of course, everybody knows everything, that's why so many people are lost.

I told her that I have loved her once and I made myself believe it.

White children, in the main, and whether they are rich or poor, grow up with a grasp of reality so feeble that they can very accurately be described as deluded. White people have managed to get through entire lifetimes in this euphoric state, but black people have not been so lucky: a black man who sees the world the way John Wayne, for example, sees it would not be an eccentric patriot, but a raving maniac.

It is for this reason that love is so desperately sought and so cunningly avoided. Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.

When Malcolm X, who is considered the movement's second-in-command, and heir apparent, points out that the cry of "violence" was not raised, for example, when the Israelis fought to regain Israel, and, indeed, is raised only when black men indicate that they will fight for their rights, he is speaking the truth.

A story is impelled by the necessity to reveal: the aim of the story is revelation, which means that a story can have nothing—at least not deliberately—to hide. This also means that a story resolves nothing. The resolution of a story must occur in us, with what we make of the questions with which the story leaves us. A plot, on the other hand, must come to a resolution, prove a point: a plot must answer all the questions which it pretends to pose.

He grinned. I could not tell whether he grinned because he thought I was lying or because he knew I was telling the truth.

But to try and find out what Americans mean is almost impossible because there are so many things they do not want to face.

To defend oneself against a fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced. As for one's wits, it is just not true that one can live by them – not, that is, if one wishes really to live.

When Malcolm X, who is considered the movement's second-in-command, and heir apparent, points out that the cry of "violence" was not raised, for example, when the Israelis fought to regain Israel, and, indeed, is raised only when black men indicate that they will fight for their rights, he is speaking the truth. The

I think you've got to be truthful about the life you have. Otherwise, there's no possibility of achieving the life you want.

nobody stays in the garden of Eden.

Someone once said to me that the people in general cannot bear very much reality. He meant by this that they prefer fantasy to a truthful recreation of their experience. People have quite enough reality to bear, by simply getting through their lives, raising their children, dealing with the eternal conundrums of birth, taxes, and death.

Writers are extremely important people in a country, whether or not the country knows it. The multiple truths about a people are revealed by that people's artists—that is what the artists are for.

Americans suffer from an ignorance that is not only colossal, but sacred.

Zaman krall?klara yetiÅŸir ve onlar? yerle bir eder, diÅŸlerini doktrinlere geçirerek onlar? parçalar; zaman krall?klar?n üzerine oturduÄŸu kurumlar? aç??a ç?kar?r ve o kurumlar? yer, yanl?? olduklar?n? kan?tlayarak doktrinleri yok eder.

We know, in the case of the person, that whoever cannot tell himself the truth about his past is trapped in it, is immobilized in the prison of his undiscovered self. This is also true of nations. We know how a person, in such a paralysis, in unable to assess either his weaknesses or his strengths, and how frequently indeed he mistakes one for the other.

We know, in the case of the person, that whoever cannot tell himself the truth about his past is trapped in it, is immobilized in the prison of his undiscovered self. This is also true of nations. We know how a person, in such a paralysis, is unable to assess either his weaknesses or his strengths, and how frequently indeed he mistakes one for the other.

The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don't see." ? James Baldwin