The truth will set you free. But first it will piss you off. Gloria Steinem
Fictions are necessary to the people, and the Truth becomes deadly to those who are not strong enough to contemplate it all in its brilliance. In fact, what can there be in common with the vile multitude and sublime wisdom? The truth must be kept secret, and the masses need a teaching proportioned to their imperfect reason. Albert Pike, Sovereign Grand Commander, Mother Supreme Council of the World, the Supreme Council of the 33rd degree, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
And, spite of Pride, in erring Reason’s spite,
One truth is clear, ‘Whatever is, is RIGHT’. Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, 1711
It is not truth that matters, but victory. Adolf Hitler
To seek the light of truth while truth the while
Doth falsely blind the eyesight of his look.
Light, seeking light, doth light of light beguile. William Shakespeare, Love’s Labour’s Lost I i 75-78
Truth will come to light; murder cannot he hid long – a man’s son may, but in the end truth will out. William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice II ii 74-76, Lancelot to Gobbo
The seeming truth which cunning times put on
To entrap the wisest. ibid. III ii 100-101, Bassiano
Even so void is your false heart of truth. ibid. V i 189, Portia to Bassiano
Tell truth and shame the devil ... O, while you live, tell truth and shame the devil. William Shakespeare, I Henry IV III i 56 & 59, Hotspur to Glyndwr
This above all: to thine own self be true. William Shakespeare, Hamlet I iii 78, Polonius to Laertes
But what we do determine oft we break.
Purpose is but the slave to memory ...
Most necessary ’tis that we forget
To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt
... Our wills and fates do so contrary run
That our devices still are overthrown. ibid. III ii 180-181, Player King
He’s mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf, a horse’s health, a boy’s love, or a whore’s oath. William Shakespeare, The History of King Lear III vi 14-15, Fool
What, can the devil speak true? William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth I iii 105, Banquo
And oftentimes to win us to our harm
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles to betray’s
In deepest consequence. ibid. I iii @121
Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme. ibid. I iii 127
Their eyes do offices of truth. William Shakespeare, The Tempest V i 158, Prospero
Then where is truth if there be no self-trust? William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece 157
The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear. Herbert Agar, 1897-1980
It is unfortunate considering that enthusiasm moves the world that so few enthusiasts can be trusted to speak the truth. Stanley Baldwin, letter to Mrs Drew 19th May 1891
The dull mind rises to truth through that which is material. Abbot Suger
It takes two to speak the truth, – one to speak, and another to hear. Henry David Thoreau
Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me the truth. Henry David Thoreau
The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the greatest liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth. H L Mencken, 1880-1956
It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you would lie if were in his place. H L Mencken
An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody will see it. Mahatma Gandhi
Even if you are in a minority of one, the truth is still the truth. Mahatma Gandhi, attributions and variations
Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear. Mahatma Gandhi
When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it – always. Mahatma Gandhi
Truth never damages a cause that is just. Mahatma Gandhi
Truth is never illustrated through the use of violence. Mahatma Gandhi
I think the trick is to avoid the truth. Rab C Nesbitt s7e6: Back, Mary to Jamesie, BBC 1988
Love truth, and pardon error. Voltaire
The discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good are the two most important aims of philosophy. Voltaire
We owe respect to the living; to the dead we owe only truth. Voltaire
All great truths begin as blasphemies. George Bernard Shaw, Annajanska, 1919
Do you think that the things people make fools of themselves about are any less real and true than the things they behave sensibly about? They are more true: they are the only things that are true. George Bernard Shaw, Candida, 1898
Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information and the religions destroy spirituality. Michael Ellner
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. Martin Luther King
Untaught the noble end of glorious truth,
Bred to deceive even from their earliest youth. Anne Ingram, An Epistle to Mr Pope, 1736
In dictatorships we are more fortunate than you in the West in one respect. We believe nothing of what we read in the newspapers and nothing of what we watch on television, because we know it’s propaganda and lies. Unlike you in the West, we’ve learnt to look behind the propaganda and to read between the lines. Unlike you, we know that the real truth is always subversive. Zdenuk Urbanek, novelist & Charter 77, interview John Pilger
Since becoming a journalist I had often heard the advice to believe nothing until it has been officially denied. Claud Cockburn, A Discord of Trumpets p190
All things are subject to interpretation; whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth. Friedrich Nietzsche
Words are but symbols for the relations of things to one another and to us; nowhere do they touch upon absolute truth. Friedrich Nietzsche
As soon as you trust yourself you will know how to live. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
It’s not a matter of what is true that counts but a matter of what is perceived to be true. Henry Kissinger
Tell the children the truth. Bob Marley