Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Facts remain unchanged regardless of how people want to interpret them.
In plain terms
Facts do not change to suit our desires.
What can you take from it?
Base decisions on reality, not wishes.

Where it applies

  • debate
  • argument
  • fact-checking

Putting it to work

  • verify sources
  • stick to evidence

Questions to consider

  • Can facts change over time?
  • How do you handle inconvenient facts?

Another view

It does not address how facts are perceived.

More from Tobias Smollett

  1. Thy spirit, Independence, let me share, Lord of the lion-heart and eagle-eye. Thy steps I follow with my bosom bare, Nor heed the storm that howls along the sk…

    Permalink to quote #2
  2. Writing is all a lottery -- I have been a loser by the works of the greatest men of the age.

    Permalink to quote #3
  3. Thy fatal shafts unerring move, I bow before thine altar, Love!

    Permalink to quote #4

Related quotes

  1. In the real world, mice do exist and they generally go about their business whether we see them or not.

    Robert HughesRobert Hughes quote #3
  2. I have thought it my duty to exhibit things as they are, not as they ought to be.

    Alexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton quote #9
  3. Something I was not aware had happened suddenly turned out not to have happened.

    John MajorJohn Major quote #12