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Quotes about truth and lies

458 quotes from 240 people

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There was a society of men among us, bred up from their youth in the art of proving, by words multiplied for the purpose, that white is black, and black is white, according as they are paid.
Jonathan Swift1667–1745Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Part IV: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms, Chapter VIn context
- Clever Jabs
- Laws
They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft, and therefore seldom fail to punish it with death; for they allege, that care and vigilance, with a very common understanding, may preserve a man’s goods from thieves, but honesty has no defence against superior cunning
Jonathan Swift1667–1745Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput, Chapter VIIn context
- Laws
Fear is not in the habit of speaking truth; when perfect sincerity is expected, perfect freedom must be allowed; nor has anyone who is apt to be angry when he hears the truth any cause to wonder that he does not hear it.
Tacitus55–120
- Fear
Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty.
Tacitus55–120
If you shut your door to all errors truth will be shut out.
Rabindranath Tagore1861–1941Stray Birds (1916), 130
The more data we have, the more likely we are to drown in it.
Nassim Nicholas Talebborn 1960Fooled by Randomness (2001)
- Facts
- Knowledge
Truth persuades by teaching, but does not teach by persuading.
Tertullian150–220Adversus Valentinianos (Against the Valentinians), 1.4
Of course it’s the same old story. Truth usually is the same old story.
Margaret Thatcher1925–2013
Platitudes? Yes, there are platitudes. Platitudes are there because they are true.
Margaret Thatcher1925–2013
I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours.
Hunter S. Thompson1937–2005Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century (2004)
- Work
Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.
Hunter S. Thompson1937–2005
- Journalism
- Writing
It takes two to speak the truth, — one to speak, and another to hear.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849), Wednesday
- Talking
The hero of my tale, whom I love with all the power of my soul, whom I have tried to portray in all his beauty, who has been, is, and will be beautiful, is Truth.
Leo Tolstoy1828–1910Sevastopol in May (1855), Ch. 16
- Writing
Men who can succeed in deceiving no one else will succeed at last in deceiving themselves.
Anthony Trollope1815–1882Miss Mackenzie (1865), Ch. 13
I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.
Harry S. Truman1884–1972Look