The truth is always something that is told, not something that is known. If there were no speaking or writing, there would be no truth about anything. There would only be what is.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Truth exists only when communicated through speech or writing; without language, there is only existence. Truth is a narrative construct.
- In plain terms
- Truth requires words to exist; without speech, only reality remains.
- What can you take from it?
- Truth depends on language and communication.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is truth always spoken?
- Can facts exist without words?
Another view
Some truths may exist independently of human expression.
More from Susan Sontag
The need for truth is not constant; no more than is the need for repose. An idea which is a distortion may have a greater intellectual thrust than the truth; i…
Permalink to quote #2 The truth is that Mozart, Pascal, Boolean Algebra, Shakespeare, parliamentary government, baroque churches, Newton, the emancipation of women, Kant, Marx, and …
Permalink to quote #4 Ours is an age which consciously pursues health, and yet only believes in the reality of sickness. The truths we respect are those born of affliction. We measu…
Permalink to quote #1
Related quotes
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…
Umberto EcoUmberto Eco quote #3 An aphorism can never be the whole truth; it is either a half-truth or a truth-and-a-half.
Karl KrausKarl Kraus quote #4 As they say in Discworld, we are trying to unravel the Mighty Infinite using a language which was designed to tell one another where the fresh fruit was.
Terry PratchettTerry Pratchett quote #4