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Quotes about truth and lies

458 quotes from 240 people

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Hustlers of the world, there is one Mark you cannot beat: The Mark Inside.
William S. Burroughs1914–1997Naked Lunch (1959), “Rube”, p. 11
All Faith is false, all Faith is true: Truth is the shattered mirror strown
In myriad bits; while each believes his little bit the whole to own.
Richard Francis Burton1821–1890The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî (1870)
- Faith
’Tis strange,⁠—but true; for truth is always strange;
Stranger than fiction; if it could be told,
How much would novels gain by the exchange!
Lord Byron1788–1824Don Juan (1819–1824), Canto the FourteenthIn context
A lie cannot live.
Thomas Carlyle1795–1881Often credited to Martin Luther King Jr.
It is now almost my sole rule of life to clear myself of cants and formulas, as of poisonous Nessus shirts.
Thomas Carlyle1795–1881Letter to His Wife (1835).
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true.
Lewis Carroll1832–1898The Hunting of the Snark (1876), Fit the FirstIn context
The first duty of the revolutionaries is to tell the truth. Fooling the people, promoting illusions, always brings the worst consequences.
Fidel Castro1926–2016Camp Columbia, Havana (Jan. 8th, 1959), Fidel Castro Reader, pp. 133
- Politics
Artistic growth is, more than it is anything else, a refining of the sense of truthfulness. The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is.
Willa Cather1873–1947The Song of the Lark (1915), Part VI, Ch. 11
- Art
Lying is the same as alcoholism. Liars prevaricate even on their deathbeds.
Anton Chekhov1860–1904Letter to A.N. Pleshcheev (October 9, 1888)
When real life is wanting one must create an illusion. It is better than nothing.
Anton Chekhov1860–1904Uncle Vanya (1897), Act II, spoken by VoitskiIn context
- Life & Death
You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936In The Daily News (25 February 1905)
Truth is sacred; and if you tell the truth too often nobody will believe it.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936
Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936In The Illustrated London News (19 April 1930)
Great truths can only be forgotten and can never be falsified.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936
Truth must of necessity be stranger than fiction … for fiction is the creation of the human mind, and therefore is congenial to it.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936The Club of Queer Trades (1905), Ch. 4 “Speculation of the House Agent”