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Quotes about truth and lies

458 quotes from 240 people

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There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false.
Harold Pinter1930–2008Writing for the Theatre (1962) (p. 11)
It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him.
Max Planck1858–1947Where Is Science Going? (1932), “Is the External World Real?”, p. 83
- Happiness
“Villains!” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed!⁠—tear up the planks!⁠—here, here!⁠—it is the beating of his hideous heart!”
Edgar Allan Poe1809–1849The Tell-Tale Heart (1843)In context
- Emotion
Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science.
Henri Poincaré1854–1912
- Facts
- Science
Scientists believe there is a hierarchy of facts and that among them may be made a judicious choice. They are right, since otherwise there would be no science…
Henri Poincaré1854–1912The Value of Science (1905)
- Facts
- Science
The Scientist must set in order. Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.
Henri Poincaré1854–1912Science and Hypothesis (1901), Ch. IX: Hypotheses in Physics, Tr. George Bruce Halsted (1913)
- Facts
- Science
A bare assertion is not necessarily the naked truth.
George D. Prentice1802–1870
Time passes, and little by little everything that we have spoken in falsehood becomes true.
Marcel Proust1871–1922
- Time
Lies are essential to humanity. They are perhaps as important as the pursuit of pleasure and moreover are dictated by that pursuit.
Marcel Proust1871–1922
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy Love.
Walter Raleigh1552–1618The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd (1600)In context
- Love
Unless one always speaks the truth, one cannot find God Who is the soul of truth.
Ramakrishna1836–1886Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (1960) (531)
- God
If devotion to truth is the hallmark of morality, then there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking…the alleged short-cut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short-circuit destroying the mind.
Ayn Rand1905–1982
- Faith
- Morality
A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.
Ronald Reagan1911–2004Television address (4 March 1987) on Iran-Contra affair
- Facts
I think we’re living through a very unique moment where again it proves that information is power. It’s a completely chaotic time where technology has helped make facts disputable, eroded truth, and crippled trust.
Maria Ressaborn 1963Time 100 Speech (April 24, 2019)
- Technology
The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has. Even when you make one out on the level, you don’t know when it’s through if you are a Crook or a Martyr.
Will Rogers1879–1935The Illiterate Digest (1924)
- Comedy
- Money