Quotes About Truth

Sincerity is impossible, unless it pervade the whole being, and the pretense of it saps the very foundation of character.

Truth, after all, wears a different face to everybody, and it would be too tedious to wait till all were agreed. She is said to lie at the bottom of a well, for the very reason, perhaps, that whoever looks down in search of her sees his own image at the bottom, and is persuaded not only that he has seen the goddess, but that she is far better looking than he had imagined.

Contact with reality is not an all-or-nothing condition.

He wouldn't try to make her feel better about something if it meant telling her a lie.

that pure science searches for the truth without worrying about its practical application,

Our duty is to believe that for which we have sufficient evidence, and to suspend our judgment when we have not.

True knowledge is not to be had solely through a combat against error, bad faith and untruth, but more generally, through a combat against the illusions inherent in the sensible world.

appellation

All autobiographies are alibi-ographies.

Each sex has a relation to madness. Every desire has a relation to madness. But it would seem that one desire has been taken as wisdom, moderation, truth, leaving to the other sex the weight of a madness that cannot be acknowledged or accommodated.

I am only astonished that, while so many women have intelligent things to say and so many men are still unknown, a publisher cared to print such a little book, and at such a price. That confirms what Schopenhauer reveals to us, among other truths: philosophy is a matter of death. A philosopher living and thinking life is a priori suspect in our philosophical culture.

I exaggerate a lot and I get fiction and reality mixed up, but I don't actually ever lie.

Ma wrote true stories; not necessarily autobiographical, but close enough for horseshoes. Our family stories and memories have been slowly reshaped, embellished, and edited to the extent that I'm not sure what really happened all the time. Lucia said this didn't matter: the story is the thing.

Nada importa mucho, ¿no? Me refiero a importar de verdad. Sin embargo a veces de pronto, durante apenas un segundo, se te concede la gracia de creer que sí, que importa muchísimo. (Del cuento Perdidos)

Tony no abrió los ojos. Cualquiera que diga que sabe cómo te sientes es un iluso.

I see no reason for resigning my right to that inventive freedom which others enjoy; and, as I have no truth to put on record, having lived a very humdrum life, I fall back on falsehood--but falsehood of a more consistent variety; for I now make the only true statement you are to expect--that I am a liar.

The only business of the historian is to relate things exactly as they are: this he can never do as long as he is afraid

Anch'io, pertanto, mi impegnai, per civetteria, a lasciare qualcosa di mio ai posteri [...]; e visto che non avevo a disposizione fatti veri da raccontare —perché purtroppo non mi era mai successo niente di interessante— mi decisi a dire le bugie, ma bugie che si potessero riconoscere molto meglio di quelle che dicono gli altri: perché, infatti, almeno su un punto dirò la verità, se dichiaro che sto mentendo! (Storia vera, I, 4)

You must know history. Even if you want to refuse, to reject things, you must be aware of what you are rejecting.

A voi giovani l'unica cosa che importa sapere è se ho raccontato un aneddoto vero o falso e sottovalutate il fatto che contenga la verità che cerchiamo».

Gli uomini, per vivere, hanno bisogno di certezze, e quando queste non ci sono, c'è sempre qualcuno che se le inventa per il bene comune.

Truth may resolve doubt, but it has never been an analgesic.

Time discovers truth.

No one can be happy who has been thrust outside the pale of truth. And there are two ways that one can be removed from this realm: by lying, or by being lied to.