“Truth is in things, and not in words.”

Last update Nov. 2, 2021. History

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Herman Melville 144
American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet 1818–1891

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“From the first, in people and in things, there is no such thing as trash. These words point to the fundamental truth of Buddhism, a truth I could not as yet conceive in those days.”

Soko Morinaga (1925–1995) Japanese Zen buddhist monk

Reporting on receiving his first sermon from Gotō Zuigan, in Novice to Master : An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity (2002), p. 29; "There Is No Trash" — online excerpt published in Ashé Journal, Vol 4, Issue 2 (Summer 2005), p. 227-230 http://ashejournal.com/index.php?id=3.

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“Words from empty words they sever—
Words of Truth from words of Pride.”

James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) Scottish physicist

Part III Poems, "Reflection from Various Surfaces" (April 18, 1853)
The Life of James Clerk Maxwell (1882)
Context: By the hollow mauntain-side
Questions strange I shout for ever,
While echoes far and wide
Seem to mock my vain endeavour;
Still I shout, for though they never
Cast my borrowed voice aside,
Words from empty words they sever—
Words of Truth from words of Pride.

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“Is not that perhaps a thing worthy of admiration… that by means of the visible absurdity the soul may immediately feel that the words are veils and believe the truth to be a mystery?”

Sallustius Roman philosopher and writer

III. Concerning myths; that they are divine, and why.
On the Gods and the Cosmos

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“There is no truth which cannot be given in fifty words; the truth is always concise.”

Source: Beyond Apollo (1972), Chapter 16

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“It was a common saying of Myson that men ought not to investigate things from words, but words from things; for that things are not made for the sake of words, but words for things.”

Diogenes Laërtius (180–240) biographer of ancient Greek philosophers

Myson, 3.
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.), Book 2: Socrates, his predecessors and followers

“There is a deep power in words that speak the truth”

Source: Tempted

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“Truth is a new word in Europe (and elsewhere).”

Alain Badiou (1937) French writer and philosopher

Original French: La vérité est un mot neuf en Europe (et ailleurs).
From L'être et l'événement. Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1988. .
The quote is a variation on Louis de Saint-Just, "Happiness is a new idea in Europe".

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