Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Truth
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“It's my lie and I believe in it It's my lie and I wanted it It's my bed and I'll bleed in it It's my bed, and I'll lie And I sit on the corner And I drink drown soda I wanna bomb the whole state of Minnesota”
Courtney Love (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If God does not lie at the end of any telescope, neither does he lie at the end of any syllogism. I can never starting from the natural order prove the divine order. The proof of the divine order must lie, somehow, within itself. It must be its own witness. For it, like the natural order, is complete within itself, self-contained.”
Walter Terence Stace (1886–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A Pioneering man does not lie to his family, Not joking, no serious, neither in April nor anytime, the worst lie is that the man has lied to his family "a lie of hope".”
Hisham al-Hashimi (1973–2020) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 31 March 2020
“[T]hey are a flash in the pan if I have anything to do with it. We cannot have people running our country who lie and lie and lie so easily, deceive their colleagues and people around them. We need to have honest people and that is what I am doing.”
Kemi Badenoch (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The courage to cooperate or initiate are based entirely on the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as the divine mind within you tells you the truth is. It really does require a courage and a self-disciplining to go along with that truth.”
Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no divine Truth, and no impure Truth. There is no secular Truth, the Truth taught in the college or the school house is as sacred as Truth taught from the pulpit”
Benjamin Fish Austin (1850–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Don't forget that few people are likely to tell more than a small part of the truth: no one tells much of the truth, let alone the whole truth. Spoken words are facts in themselves, whether true or false. When people talk they reveal themselves, whether they're lying or telling the truth.”
Halldór Laxness (1902–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Truth is what is true, and it's not necessarily factual. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth does not contradict or deny facts, but it goes through and beyond facts. This is something that it is very difficult for some people to understand. Truth can be dangerous.”
Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...You shouldn't clap, that [was] a lie... I like to tell lies. According to Shakira, hips don't lie. Which makes me a bundle of contradictions.”
Hannah Gadsby (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I know you do not mean this. Context allows me to infer what you truly mean. In a way, the very phrase is a lie.” “It’s not a lie,” Shallan said, “if everyone understands and knows what it means.” “Those are some of the best lies.”
Brandon Sanderson (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“mktg case study #9: mktg lies OCCASIONALLY, JUST OF COURSE, YOUR COMPANY WILL BE CAUGHT IN A LIE. THIS IS NOT GOOD. IF POSSIBLE, IMMEDIATELY FIRE SOMEONE EXPENDABLE AND PUBLICLY APOLOGIZE. IF NOT, YOU MUST STICK TO THE LIE. PERCEPTION IS REALITY.”
“Most of my poetry lies beyond the SF field, yet here I am corralled into 'SF poetry' as part of this poetry weekend. Of course, some might say, 'you've made your own bed — now you must lie in it!' But, while fully accepting that dictum, I'm not yet quite prepared to lie down...”
Brian Aldiss (1925–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A life free of lies! Ah, but that, too, was, by definition, a lie. Surely a lie already dwelled in the heart of anyone who sought to make such distinctions and stand in judgment.”
Osamu Dazai (1909–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On Charlie Kirk: He was as close to not a hypocrite as I've seen in a while. Did he lie about stuff? I don’t know. Was he trying out new personalities and personas for social—I truly don’t know. Did he spread lies? I don't know. And by the way, neither do you, because nobody can prove what a lie is.”
Whitney Cummings (born 1982) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Charlie Kirk Ruminations | Good For You Podcast with Whitney Cummings | EP 307, Sep 21, 2025
“Have the Presbyterians any truth? Yes. Have the Baptists, Methodists, &c., any truth? Yes. They all have a little truth mixed with error. We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true "Mormons.”
Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–1844) first seen 1843 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: History of the Church, 5:517 (23 July 1843)
“Every truth—if it really is truth—presents itself as universal, even if it is not the whole truth. If something is true, then it must be true for all people and at all times.”
Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Encyclical Fides et Ratio, 14 September 1998
“The most natural Beauty in the World is Honesty, and Moral Truth. For all Beauty is Truth. True Features make the Beauty of a Face; and true Proportions the Beauty of Architecture; as true Measures that of Harmony and Musick.”
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671–1713) said by 1713 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Women, you don't want to try to be pretty, it's a lie. You want to be beautiful, to tell the truth. Pretty is a manipulation. You want to be beautiful. To tell the truth. Truth is beauty.”
Alonzo King (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you speak the truth, you die, when you lie, you die; so it is better to speak the truth and die. I may sound very unpopular but I will speak the truth.”
Dino Melaye (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Either something is authentic or it is unauthentic, it is either false or true, make-believe or spontaneous life; yet here we are faced with a prevaricated truth and an authentic fake, hence a thing that is at once the truth and a lie.”
Stanisław Lem (1921–2006) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gruppenführer Louis XVI", in A Perfect Vacuum (1971), tr. Michael Kandel (1978)
“We writers – and especially writers for children, but all writers – have an obligation to our readers: it's the obligation to write true things, especially important when we are creating tales of people who do not exist in places that never were – to understand that truth is not in what happens but what it tells us about who we are. Fiction is the lie that tells the truth, after all.”
Neil Gaiman (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As reported by Quoteinvestigator on January 11, 2011 the quote appeared in "Meditations in Wall Street" (1940) by Wall Street trader Henry Stanley Haskins, "a Wall Street trader with a checkered background. The phrase w…
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are but tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Henry S. Haskins (1875–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To paraphrase Mark Twain, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and the number of Armenians who are claimed by Armenians and their echo chambers to have died in an alleged World War I genocide.”
Bruce Fein (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics.”
Benjamin Disraeli (misattributed) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed to Disraeli by Mark Twain in "Chapters from My Autobiography — XX", North American Review No. DCXVIII (JULY 5, 1907) . His attribution is considered unreliable, and the actual origin is uncertain, with one of…
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
Mark Twain (misattributed) first seen 1904 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Often attributed to Twain, but he said it was attributed to Benjamin Disraeli and this itself is probably a misattribution: see Lies, damned lies, and statistics and Leonard H. Courtney. Twain did, however, popularize t…
“What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen.”
Henry David Thoreau (disputed) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed to Thoreau, in The Life You Were Born to Live: A Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose (1995) by Dan Millman, p. xi, and to Ralph Waldo Emerson in Promotion of Pharmaceuticals: Issues, Trends, Options (1993) by …
“And the supreme glory of all this, my love, is to think that maybe this isn't true, neither may I believe it true.And when lying starts giving us pleasure, let's speak the truth so that we lie to it.”
Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tell all the Truth but tell it slant – Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surpriseAs Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind –”
Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is truth and then again there is truth. For all that the world is full of people who go around believing they've got you or your neighbor figured out, there really is no bottom to what is not known. The truth about us is endless. As are the lies.”
Philip Roth (1933–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It has been said that man lives by truth, and that the truth will make us free. Nearly the opposite seems to me to be the case. Mankind has managed to live only by means of lies, and the truth may very well destroy us.”
Walter Terence Stace (1886–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Deep gratitude to all who fearlessly speak truth to power in these times of widespread deceit. If war can be started by lies, maybe peace can be started by truth. Keep using your voice to make sure the truth gets out.”
Jill Stein (born 1950) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter Post (22 Dec 2018)
“Man consists in Truth. If he exposes Truth, he exposes himself. If he betrays Truth, he betrays himself. We speak not here of lies, but of acting against Conviction.”
Novalis (attributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have no way of knowing that your story is not true — but you have no way of knowing that my story isn't true. So I will choose the one that I love. I will close the one that, if it's true, makes this reality one worth living in. I'll act as if the life I hope for is real life, and the life that disgusts me — your life, your view of life — is the lie.”
Orson Scott Card (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not decided by votes what is true; otherwise we could never come to any truth, ever. People will vote for what is comfortable — and lies are very comfortable because you don't have to do anything about them, you just have to believe. Truth needs great effort, discovery, risk, and it needs you to walk alone on a path that nobody has traveled before.”
Rajneesh (1931–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Your Answers Questioned (2003)
“On his central point, the £350m a week, this is a lie. He knows it is a lie and endlessly repeating it does not make it the truth.”
Vince Cable (born 1943) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Boris Johnson insists he is 'all behind' May over Brexit BBC News (16 September 2017)
“Go, Soul, the body’s guest, Upon a thankless arrant: Fear not to touch the best; The truth shall be thy warrant: Go, since I needs must die, And give the world the lie.Say to the court, it glows. And shines like rotten wood; Say to the church, it shows What’s good, and doth no good: If church and court reply, Then give them both the lie.”
Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) first seen 1608 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Lie (1608)
“Semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie. If something cannot be used to tell a lie, conversely it cannot be used to tell the truth: it cannot in fact be used "to tell" at all.”
Umberto Eco (1932–2016) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Trattato di semiotica generale (1975); [A Theory of Semiotics] (1976)
“A fact never went into partnership with a miracle. Truth does not need the assistance of miracle. A fact will fit every other fact in the Universe, because it is the product of all other facts. A lie will fit nothing except another lie made for the express purpose of fitting it.”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The child who defines a lie as being a "naughty word" knows perfectly well that lying consists in not speaking the truth. He is not, therefore, mistaking one thing for another, he is simply identifying them one with another by what seems to us a quaint extension of the word "lie".”
Jean Piaget (1896–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We of Es Toch tell a little myth, which says that in the beginning the Creator told a great lie. For there was nothing at all, but the Creator spoke, saying, It exists. And behold, in order that the lie of God might be God’s truth, the universe at once began to exist.”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In this age of mounting disinformation all over the world, when it is easy to dress up a lie so nicely that it starts to take on the glow of truth, the solution is not to hide the lie but to expose it, and scrub from it its false glow”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born 1977) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Reith Lectures 2022
“There are some men who lie even when telling the truth, for they tell it with their lips whilst they lie in their hearts.”
Francisco de Quevedo (1584–1645) said by 1645 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The halfway point between the truth and a lie is still a lie.”
Lee McIntyre first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Amanpour and Company (January 14, 2020)
“I speak the truth, that the system is built on a lie. They simply do not want to be exposed. The lie is that everything is well in Rwanda and I just talk about [the reality] which is the high level of unemployment, the high level of poverty, the disappearances, the killings, all that, and they are not ready for that to be exposed.”
Diane Rwigara (born 1981) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diane Rwigara: Woman faced 22 years in jail for criticising her government news .sky.com (7 December 2018)
“Never lie. Lying never pays. Don’t make your life difficult by lying. When you lie, you have to create different versions of the story to different people. Make your life easier by seeking and telling the truth.”
Raul Roco (1941–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In my show I announce, ‘People say Lady Gaga is a lie, and they are right. I am a lie. And every day I kill to make it true.’”
“I'm telling you a lie in a vicious effort that you will repeat my lie over and over until it becomes true.”
“I didn’t hire you to come here and lie! That’s a true note. I signed it. I’ll pay it.… What I employed you for was to get this business put over to the next court — not come here and lie and juggle about it!”
Ethan Allen (1738–1789) said by 1789 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Courtroom exclamation to his lawyer, who had begun to deny that Allen's signature on a document was genuine, as quoted in "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!" - American Heritage magazine Vol…