The chief deficiency I see in the skeptical movement is its polarization: Us versus Them – the sense that we have a monopoly on the truth; that those other people who believe in all these stupid doctrines are morons; that if you’re sensible, you’ll listen to us; and if not, to hell with you. This is nonconstructive. It does not get our message across. It condemns us to permanent minority status. ibid.
We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good. Carl Sagan
There are no forbidden questions in science, no matters too sensitive or delicate to be probed, no sacred truths. Carl Sagan
The significance of our lives and our fragile planet is then determined only by our own wisdom and courage. We are the custodians of life’s meaning. We long for a Parent to care for us, to forgive us our errors, to save us from our childish mistakes. But knowledge is preferable to ignorance. Better by far to embrace the hard truth than a reassuring fable. If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find ourselves a worthy goal. Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot
The eternal adventure of trying to discover moral truth in the world. Stephen Fry, with Christopher Hitchens v The Catholic Church, debate 2009
The truth is often a terrible weapon of aggression. It is possible to lie, and even to murder, for the truth. Alfred Adler, 1870-1937
The criterion which we use to test the genuineness of apparent statements of fact is the criterion of verifiability. A J Ayer, 1910-1989
Truth is the cry of all, but the game of the few. George Berkeley, Siris 1744
It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of truth. John Locke, An Essay concerning Human Understanding, 1690
There are very few lovers of truth, for truth-sake. ibid.
Few new truths have ever won their way against the resistance of established ideas save by being overstated. Isaiah Berlin, Vico and Herder, 1976
‘What is truth?’ said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer. Francis Bacon, Essays: ‘Of Truth’, 1625
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 Tolstoy, Sevastopol in May, 1855
There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth. Leo Tolstoy
The truth is out there. X-Files television series
Pray for ignorance, but strive for truth. Chaz Timberland
Truth sits upon the lips of dying men. Matthew Arnold, Sohrab and Rustum, 1853
Nagging is the repetition of unpalatable truths. Edith Summerskill
A few scattered persons which God hath chosen ... can set themselves sincerely and honestly to search after truth. Isaac Newton
I am too much of a sceptic to deny the possibility of anything. Thomas Henry Huxley, letter 22nd March 1886
History warns us, however, that it is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions; and, as matters now stand, it is hardly rash to anticipate that, in another twenty years, the new generation, educated under the influences of the present day, will be in danger of accepting the main doctrines of the ‘Origin of Species’ with as little reflection, and it may be with as little justification, as so many of our contemporaries, twenty years ago, rejected them. Against any such a consummation let us all devoutly pray; for the scientific spirit is of more value than its products, and irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors. Thomas Huxley, Collected Essays
Logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men. ibid.
A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude. To make them love it is the task assigned, in present-day totalitarian states, to ministries of propaganda, newspaper editors and schoolteachers ... The greatest triumphs of propaganda have been accomplished, not by doing something, but by refraining from doing. Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth. Aldous Huxley, Brave New World foreword 1946 edition
Man approaches the unattainable truth through a succession of errors. Aldous Huxley
Look, if you think any American official is going to tell you the truth, then you’re stupid. Did you hear that? – stupid. Arthur Sylvester, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, 1965
The news and truth are not the same thing. Walter Lippmann
If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him. We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth ... Artists are not engineers of the soul. It may be different elsewhere. But democratic society – in it, the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist is to remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may. In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation. John F Kennedy, October 1963
The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth. John F Kennedy
The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest – but the myth – persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. John F Kennedy, June 1962
If a man has no truth he is a jelly-fish. Charles Manson
They must find it difficult ... Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. Gerald Massey
By the power of eloquence old truth receives a new habit; though its essence be the same, yet its visage is so altered that it may currently pass and be accepted as a novelty. Michael Wigglesworth, 1650
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Arthur Conan Doyle
There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1884
Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it. Mark Twain, Following the Equator, 1897
If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. Mark Twain
A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. Mark Twain, attributions & variations inc Churchill
It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense. Mark Twain
Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms of science. Truth is what stands the test of experience. Albert Einstein, The Laws of Science and the Laws of Ethics, 1950
If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. Albert Einstein
The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with joy are goodness, beauty, and truth. Albert Einstein
Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either. Albert Einstein
Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth. Albert Einstein, letter to Jost Winteler, cited Highfield & Carter, The Private Lives of Albert Einstein
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei, 1564-1642
And differing judgements serve but to declare
That truth lies somewhere, if we knew but where. William Cowper, Hope, 1782
Seek not abroad; turn back into thyself, for in the inner man dwells the truth. Augustine of Hippo