Truth is a naked and open daylight, that doth not shew the masks and mummeries and triumphs of the world, half so stately and daintily as candlelights.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Truth reveals reality plainly, while worldly displays hide behind deception.
- In plain terms
- Truth shows things as they are without the flair of spectacle.
- What can you take from it?
- Value plain truth over flashy displays.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do we prefer spectacle over truth?
- How do you spot the masks of the world?
Another view
Sometimes truth is uncomfortable and people prefer comforting illusions.
More from Francis Bacon
No pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage-ground of truth.
Permalink to quote #64 It is not the lie that passeth through the mind, but the lie that sinketh in and settleth in it, that doth the hurt.
Permalink to quote #66 What is truth? said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.
Permalink to quote #63
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