Page:Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922).djvu/857

1

Natura inest mentibus nostris insatiabilis quaedam cupiditas veri videndi.

Our minds possess by nature an insatiable desire to know the truth.

Cicero—Tusadanarum Disputationum. I. 18.

2

Tell the truth or trump—but get the trick.

S. L. Clemens (Mark Twain)—Pudd'nhead Wilson.

3

For truth is unwelcome, however divine.

Cowper—The Flatting Mill. St. 6.

4

But what is truth? 'Twas Pilate's question put
To Truth itself, that deign'd him no reply.

Cowper—The Task. Bk. III. L. 270.

5

Nature * * * has buried truth deep in the bottom of the sea.

Democritus. Quoted by Cicero—Academic Questions. Bk. II. Ch. X. C. D. Yonge's trans. Credited to Democritus by Lactantius—Institutiones. Bk. III. Ch. XXVIII.

(See also Rabelais)

6

"It was as true," said Mr. Barkis, . . . "as taxes is. And nothing's truer than them."

Dickens—David Copperfield. Ch. XXI.

7

The first great work (a task performed by few)
Is that yourself may to yourself be true.

Wentworth Dillon—An Essay on Translated Verse. L. 71.

(See also Hamlet)

8

For truth has such a face and such a mien,
As to be lov'd needs only to be seen.

Dryden—The Hind and the Panther. Pt. I. L. 33.

(See also Pope under Vice)

9

Truth is immortal; error is mortal.

Mary B. G. Eddy—Science and Health. Ch. XIV.

10

Truth has rough flavours if we bite it through.

George Eliot—Armgart. Sc. 2.

11

The greater the truth the greater the libel.

 Attributed to Lord Ellenborough. (About 1789) Burns credits it to Lord Mansfield.

(See also Moore)

12

The nobler the truth or sentiment, the less imports the question of authorship.

Emerson—Letters and Social Aims. Quotation and Originality.

13

Though love repine and reason chafe,
There came a voice without reply,
'’Tis man's perdition to be safe,
When for the truth he ought to die."

Emerson—Quatrains. Sacrifice.

14

Vincer veris.

I am conquered by truth.

Erasmus—Diluculum.

15

But above all things truth beareth away the victory.

I Esdras. III. 12. Inscription on the New York Public Library.

16

Great is truth, and mighty above all things.

I Esdras. IV. 41.

17

Si je tenais toutes les vérités dans ma main, je me donnerais bien de garde de l'ouvrir aux hommes.

If I held all of truth in my hand I would beware of opening it to men.

Fontenelle.

18

Truth only smells sweet forever, and illusions, however innocent, are deadly as the canker worm.

Froude—Short Studies on Great Subjects. Calvinism.

19

Lest men suspect your tale untrue,
Keep probability in view.

Gay—The Painter who Pleased Nobody and Everybody.

20

Alius quidam veterum pœtarum cuius nomen mihi nunc memoriæ non est veritatem temporis filiam esse dixit.

There is another old poet whose name I do not now remember who said Truth is the daughter of Time.

Nodes Attica. XII. 11. Par. 2. Veritas temporis filia. Found on the reverse of several coins of Queen Mary I.

(See also Butler)

21

Her terrible tale
You can't assail,
With truth it quite agrees;
Her taste exact
For faultless fact
Amounts to a disease.

W. S. Gilbert—Mikado. Act II.

22

Truth like a torch, the more 'tis shook, it shines.

Sir William Hamilton—Discussions on Philosophy. Title Page.

(See also Logau)

23

One truth discovered is immortal, and entitles its author to be so: for, like a new substance in nature, it cannot be destroyed.

Hazlitt—The Spirit of the Age. Jeremy Bentham.

24

All truths are not to be told.

Herbert—Jacula Prudentum.

25

Dare to be true, nothing can need a he;
A fault which needs it most, grows two thereby.

Herbert—The Temple. The Church Porch.

26

Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day, like a foot-ball, and it will be round and full at evening.

Holmes—Professor at the Breakfast Table. V.