Quotes about truth and lies
458 quotes from 240 people
Baruch Spinoza1632–1677Ethics (1677), Part II, Prop. XLIII, Scholium
Ludwig Wittgenstein1889–1951Culture and Value (1980), p. 64e
Ben Jonson1572–1637Catiline His Conspiracy (1611), Act III, scene ii
Richard Bachborn 1936There’s No Such Place As Far Away (1978)
Robert Browning1812–1889Men and Women (1855), “Bishop Blougram’s Apology”, line 996.
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax1633–1695Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections
Oscar Wilde1854–1900“The Portrait of Mr. W. H.”, in Blackwood’s Magazine (July 1889)
Ambrose Bierce1842–1914The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)The first and last thing demanded of genius is love of truth.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe1749–1832Maxims and Reflections (1833), Maxim 382, trans. StoppThere are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.
Voltaire1694–1778Letter to François-Joachim de Pierre, cardinal de Bernis (23 April 1764)The nearest each of us can come to God is by loving the truth.
Buckminster Fuller1895–1983Critical Path (1981)A kiss may not be the truth, but it is what we wish were true.
Steve Martinborn 1945As Harris K. Telemacher in L.A. Story (1991)Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading.
Tertullian150–220Adversus Valentinianos (Against the Valentinians), 1.4The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.
Thomas Jefferson1743–1826A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.
Rudyard Kipling1865–1936Epitaphs of the War (1914-1918) (1918), Common Form