The word “truth” comes from the Old English triewð (West Saxon), and treowð (Mercian) “faith, faithfulness, fidelity, loyalty; veracity, quality of being true; pledge, covenant.”

The dictionary defines TRUTH as “that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality,” “ the body of real things, events, and facts,” “a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality,” and “sincerity in action, character, and utterance.”

Fidelity, constancy, trueness, verity, veridicality, veracity, veraciousness, exactness, exactitude, correctness, accuracy, true, veracity, truthfulness, reality, and factualness are all synonyms of truth.

Sometimes lying might feel like the easiest option, but honesty really is the best policy.

When you are truthful and embrace truth, you can enjoy more respect, trust, and self-confidence.

Concealing the truth, saying a lie, or choosing denial can lead to anxiety, stress, and depression, while saying the whole hard ugly truth makes life easier for everyone and helps you create deeper connections with people.

I put together a collection of my favorite truth quotes, the best positive quotes, sayings, and proverbs about truth, to inspire honesty, and to help you live a happier, wiser, less anxious, and more connected life. The truth shall truly set us free.

Positive Quotes About TRUTH

“Tell the truth, or someone will tell it for you.” ~ Stephanie Klein

“Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Morality is the basis of things and truth is the substance of all morality.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.” ― Maya Angelou

“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“On the mountains of truth, you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

“Cherish the friend who tells you a harsh truth.” ~ Robert Brault

“You can hate me. You can go out there and say anything you want about me, but you will love me later because I told you the truth.” ~Mary J. Blige

“For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth.” ~ Bo Bennett

“Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure there is one less rascal in the world.” ~ Thomas Carlyle

“First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” ~ Winston Churchill

“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“I know where I’m going and I know the truth, and I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want.” ~ Muhammad Ali

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” ~ Buddha

“Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.” ~ Isaac Newton

“Any truth is better than indefinite doubt.” ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

“As time goes by, what is true is revealed, and what is fake fades away.” ~ Ismail Haniyeh

“Truth is the most valuable thing we have.” ~ Mark Twain

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.” ~ William Faulkner

“Seek truth and you will find a path.” ~ Frank Slaughter

“Honest communication is built on truth and integrity and upon respect of the one for the other.”~ Benjamin E. Mays

“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” ~ John 8:32 (The Bible)

“The earth is supported by the power of truth; it is the power of truth that makes the sun shine and the winds blow; indeed, all things rest upon truth.” ~ Chanakya

“No legacy is so rich as Honesty. ~ William Shakespeare

“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.” ~ Spencer Johnson

“Truth is the only safe ground to stand on.” ~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton

“Standing courageously for an unpopular opinion isn’t easy, but the rewards of standing courageously for the truth will last forever.” ~ Rick Warren

“Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it.” ~ Confucius

“The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.”~ John F. Kennedy

“Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.“ ~ Abraham Lincoln

“Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all men.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth.” ~ C. S. Lewis

“The fact that a great many people believe something is no guarantee of its truth.” ~ W. Somerset Maugham

“Seek not greatness, but seek truth and you will find both.” ~ Horace Mann

“Let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth to see it like it is, and tell it like it is, to find the truth, to speak the truth, and to live the truth.” ~ Richard Nixon

“Lies get people into trouble, but honesty is its own defense.” ~ David Huddleston

“Free expression is the base of human rights, the root of human nature and the mother of truth. To kill free speech is to insult human rights, to stifle human nature and to suppress truth.” ~ Liu Xiaobo

“Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable.” ~ Albert Camus

“If you want to have a healthy mind, you must feed your mind with truth. You must feed your mind not with junk or poison but with truth.” ~ Rick Warren

“Whatever satisfies the soul is truth.” ~ Walt Whitman

“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” ~ W. Clement Stone

“Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.” ~ James E. Faust

“Peace if possible, but truth at any rate.” ~ Martin Luther

“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.” ~ Elvis Presley

“Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.” ~ Buddha

“The truth is effortless.” ~ Rashida Costa

“To live in the light of a new day and an unimaginable and unpredictable future, you must become fully present to a deeper truth – not a truth from your head, but a truth from your heart; not a truth from your ego, but a truth from the highest source.” ~ Debbie Ford

“Truth is the property of no individual but is the treasure of all men.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Stop hanging out with people that tell you what you want to hear. Hang out with people who tell you the truth.” ~ Eric Thomas

“Truth is such a rare thing, it is delighted to tell it.” ~ Emily Dickinson

“If I could persuade every single person in the world to accept all of my beliefs, it would not make those beliefs correct. Nor would it change what is actually true.” ~ David Bercot

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” ~ Mark Twain

“The truth…it is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.” ~ J.K. Rowling

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” ~ Oscar Wilde

“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

“When in doubt, tell the Truth.” ~ Mark Twain

“Stop holding your truth; speak your truth. Be yourself. It’s the healthiest way to be.” ~ Tiffany Haddish

“For though we love both the truth and our friends, piety requires us to honor the truth first.” ~ Aristotle

“Truth is the ultimate power. When the truth comes around, all the lies have to run and hide” ~ Ice Cube

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ~ George Orwell

“I am ignorant of absolute truth. But I am humble before my ignorance and therein lies my honor and my reward.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” ~ Socrates

“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” ~ Carl Sagan,

“The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.” ~ Lao Tzu

“Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world…would do this, it would change the earth.” ~ William Faulkner

“If you wish to astonish the whole world, tell the simple truth.” ~ Rahel

“Many a doctrine is like a window pane. We see truth through it but it divides us from truth.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” ~ Flannery O’Connor

“Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.” ~ James E. Faust

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.”

~ C.S. Lewis

“There is no greatness where there is no simplicity, goodness and truth.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ~ Soren Kierkegaard

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” ~ Malcolm X

“Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.” ~ Proverbs 12:19

“Devotion requires a willingness, openness and readiness to embrace the truth. It is a process of opening yourself to receive what already is. God’s goodness and love already exist. God’s love leads us to the truth.” ~ Iyanla Vanzant

“Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.” ~ Pablo Picasso

“I never lie because I don’t fear anyone. You only lie when you’re afraid. ~ John Gotti

“There is nothing so strong or safe in an emergency of life as the simple truth.”~ Charles Dickens

“The more I see, the less I know for sure.” ~ John Lennon

“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” ~ Winston Churchill

“I would rather be blamed for telling the truth than freed for telling a lie.” ~ Terry Mark

“Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine.”~ Nikola Tesla

“It’s enough for me to be sure that you and I exist at this moment.” ~ Gabriel García Márquez

“When a woman tells the truth, she creates the possibility for more truth around her.” ~ Adrienne Rich

“There are no facts, only interpretations.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

“Of life’s two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving heart and the second in a laborer’s hand.” ~ Khalil Gibran

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” ~ Ernest Hemingway

“Telling someone the truth is a loving act.” ~ Mal Pancoast

“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

“It’s essential to tell the truth at all times. This will reduce life’s pain. Lying distorts reality. All forms of distorted thinking must be corrected.” ~ John Bradshaw

“The truth needs so little rehearsal.” ~ Barbara Kingsolver

“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.” ~ Virginia Woolf

“Telling a truth is not only a matter of character, but is also a matter of appreciating factual situations and representing them without bias.” ~ M. K. Soni

“A truth that’s told with bad intent. Beats all the lies you can invent.” ~ William Blake

“Tell the truth boldly, whether it hurts or not. Never pander to weakness. If truth is too much for intelligent people and sweeps them away, let them go; the sooner the better.” ~ Swami Vivekananda

“When you stretch the truth, watch out for the snapback.” ~ Bill Copeland

“Be Impeccable with Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.” ~ Don Miguel Ruiz

“If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.” ~ Albert Einstein

“What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we have.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

“Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion.” ~ Edward Abbey

“Telling the truth and making someone cry is better than telling a lie and making someone smile.” ~ Paolo Coelho

“Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it.” ~ George R.R. Martin

“As mothers, our job, … is to help our sons seek knowledge and truth, because these are the things that bring true satisfaction of the soul.“ ~ Meg Meeker Md

“The man who fears no truth has nothing to fear from lies.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.” ~ Iris Murdoch

“The only people mad at you for telling the truth are those living a lie.” ~ Gaskin Jr.

“I believe there’s an inner power that makes winners or losers. And the winners are the ones who really listen to the truth of their hearts.”~ Sylvester Stallone

“Of life’s two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving heart and the second in a laborer’s hand.” ~ Khalil Gibran

“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” ~ George Washington

“That’s what fiction is for. It’s for getting at the truth when the truth isn’t sufficient for the truth.”

~ Tim O’Brien

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” ~ Buddha

“It is the teacher’s job to tell us the cold, hard truth, because the world certainly will! Better to face our demons when we’re in school and able to work on self-improvement full-time.” ~ Tim Gunn

“Speak the truth, but leave immediately after.” ~ Slovenian Proverb

“Always telling the truth is no doubt better than always lying, although equally pathological.” ~ Robert Brault

“The truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it.” ~ Ayn Rand

“There’s an old saying that if a lie is told often enough, it becomes the truth. Actually, it doesn’t. What happens is that people simply start believing that it’s true.” ~ Bailey Jackson

“The truth isn’t always beauty, but the hunger for it is.” ~ Nadine Gordimer

“It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.” ~ Henry Louis Mencken

“Always tell the truth – it’s the easiest thing to remember.” ~ David Mamet

“A lie is like a snowball, it starts off small and then grows and grows until a point were it gets so big it falls apart and then the truth is discovered.” ~ Chris Hughes

“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters… that you don’t take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules… and success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square.”~ Michelle Obama

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” ~ Albert Einstein

“There’s nothing so kingly as kindness, and nothing so royal as truth.” ~ Alice Cari

“A great man does not seek applause or place; he seeks for truth; he seeks the road to happiness, and what he ascertains, he gives to others.” ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

What is your favorite positive quote about Gratitude? Tell us which of these truth quotes resonated with you most!

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