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Quotes about truth and lies

458 quotes from 240 people

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It is better to be unhappy and know the worst, than to be happy in a fool’s paradise!
Fyodor Dostoyevsky1821–1881The Idiot (1869), Part IV, Chapter VIn context
- Happiness
I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and incur my own abhorrence.
Frederick Douglass1817–1895Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845), Ch. 5In context
- Character
Mankind are not held together by lies. Trust is the foundation of society.
Frederick Douglass1817–1895“Our Composite Nationality”, speech in Boston (1869)
The more outré and grotesque an incident is the more carefully it deserves to be examined, and the very point which appears to complicate a case is, when duly considered and scientifically handled, the one which is most likely to elucidate it.
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), Chapter 15In context
- Facts
- Thinking
It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930A Study in Scarlet (1887), Part I, Chapter IIIIn context
- Facts
- Thinking
When a fact appears to be opposed to a long train of deductions, it invariably proves to be capable of bearing some other interpretation.
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930A Study in Scarlet (1887), Part I, Chapter VIIIn context
- Facts
- Thinking
What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence,” returned my companion, bitterly. “The question is, what can you make people believe that you have done.
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930A Study in Scarlet (1887), Part II: The Country of the Saints, Chapter VIIIn context
- Fame
How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930The Sign of the Four (1890), Chapter VIIn context
- Thinking
It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1891–1892), A Scandal in BohemiaIn context
- Facts
- Thinking
There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact
Arthur Conan Doyle1859–1930The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1891–1892), The Boscombe Valley MysteryIn context
- Facts
I am one who tells the truth and exposes evil and seeks with Beauty and for Beauty to set the world right.
W. E. B. Du Bois1868–1963“Criteria of Negro Art”, The Crisis (October 1926)
- Beauty
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,⁠—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Paul Laurence Dunbar1872–1906We Wear the Mask (1895)In context
- Emotion
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
Albert Einstein1879–1955Essay to Leo Baeck (1953), Ideas and Opinions
- Knowledge
I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.
Albert Einstein1879–1955Letter to Michele Besso (8 October 1952)
- Facts
- Science
Although I am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice keeps me from feeling isolated.
Albert Einstein1879–1955My Credo (1932)
- Justice