Quotes About Truth

Once, on a sleepless night, I elaborated a whole theory of art predicated on simply reminding the ever-forgetful mind of the most basic truths: We float in water and revolve around the sun. We are born out of a woman's body and are made of meat and bone. One day, pretty soon, we will die.

For every subtle and complicated question, there is a perfectly simple and straightforward answer, which is wrong. — H. L. Mencken (slightly rephrased)

Henry Ford once remarked that if ordinary Americans ever found out how the banking system really worked, there would be a revolution tomorrow.)

In short, [Native Americans] say, the name of savages, which we bestow upon them, would fit ourselves better, since there is nothing in our actions that bears an appearance of wisdom.

it may be true that, if I could convince everyone in the world that I was the King of France, I would in fact become the King of France; but it would never work if I were to admit that this was the only basis of my claim.

If artistic avant-gardes and social revolutionaries have felt a peculiar affinity for one another ever since, borrowing each other's languages and ideas, it appears to have been insofar as both have remained committed to the idea that the ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently. In this sense, a phrase like "all power to the imagination" expresses the very quintessence of the Left.

Always remember it's all ultimately about value (or: whenever you hear someone say that what their greatest value is rationality, they are just saying that because they don't want to admit to what their greatest value really is).

One thing that will quickly become clear is that the prevalent 'big picture' of history – shared by modern-day followers of Hobbes and Rousseau alike – has almost nothing to do with the facts.

Let me explain what I mean by this. It is the peculiar feature of political life that within it, behavior that could only otherwise be considered insane is perfectly effective. If you managed to convince everyone on earth that you can breathe under water, it won't make any difference: if you try it, you will still drown. On the other hand, if you could convince everyone in the entire world that you were King of France, then you would actually be the King of France.

Un corpuscolo trasparente brillava in me, una scintilla, dorata, luminosa. Lo sapevo: ero io, la mia anima, la mia essenza, il senso della mia esistenza. È nata con me, pensavo, e con me morirà... e non sapevo che avrei potuto sopravviverle a lungo, divenire io stessa un'esiliata, un essere umano inaridito. E una bugiarda... che candidamente senza batter ciglio, osa dire: io.

Och han är död, jag förstår nästan betydelsen av dessa ljud: Barnet är dött. Jag erkänner att dessa ord rymmer en sanning. Han är död. Han är död. Men hans död, hans död är inte död.

Toate povestile sunt legate intr-un mod profund de un mare adevar, chiar daca acesta ramane de neinteles pentru noi.

voglio che tu sappia tutto di me, voglio che tu mi conosca nella mia nudità, nei miei piccoli calcoli e nelle mie ansie meschine, nella mia stupidità, nelle mie vergogne e nella mia infamia.

To deny that there was this dark side of life would be like pretending that the cold of winter was somehow only a temporary illusion, a way station on the way to the higher "reality" of long, warm, pleasant summers. But summer, it turned out, was no more real than the snow that melted in wintertime.

Knowing unconsciously is best; presuming to know what you don't know is sick."34

Thomas Merton once elo-quently stated, "To attain ... spiritual wisdom, one must first be liberated from servile dependence on the 'wisdom of speech' (1. Cor. 1:17).

The true men of old were not afraid When they stood alone in their views. They had no mind to fight Tao. They did not try, by their own contriving, To help Tao along. These are the ones we call true men. Minds free, thoughts gone All that came out of them Came quiet, like the four seasons. 24

Lao Tzu, likewise a model, gives us the basic truth: Let the Tao be present in your life and you will become genuine. Whoever is planted in the Tao will not be rooted up.122 These three [things] are your greatest treasures: simplicity, patience, [and] compassion. 123 Cultivated in the person, integrity is true.124

Tao's working of things is vague and obscure. Obscure! Oh vague! In it are images. Vague! Oh obscure! In it are things. Profound! Oh dark indeed! In it a seed. Its seed is [the] very truth. In it is trustworthiness. From the earliest Beginning until today Its name is not lacking By which to fathom the Beginning of all things. How do I know it is the Beginning of all things? Through it! —Lao Tzu2

Bob] Dylan said, "I don't have to B.S. anybody like those guys up on Broadway that're always writin' about 'I'm hot for you and you're hot for me--ooka dooka dicka dee.' There's other things in the world besides love and sex that're important too. People shouldn't turn their backs on 'em just because they ain't pretty to look at. How is the world ever gonna get any better if we're afraid to look at these things.

It really was truth or consequences, and Billy went with truth. It was just incredible." Forsaking public prominence, Strayhorn found personal freedom in service to the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Now there might not be a Billy Strayhorn Orchestra. But there was a Billy Strayhorn.

It was the strangest thing to me that Charlie Gaines was publishing all these Bible stories about love and kindness," said Klapper, "and he was the nastiest son of a bitch on the face of the earth.

Memory is often less about the truth than about what we want it to be.

The truth posed a great dilemma for a man who always had to be right, and yet, for all his grandeur, was often wrong.