“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”

—  Mark Twain

Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." by Mark Twain?
Mark Twain photo
Mark Twain 637
American author and humorist 1835–1910

Related quotes

Joe Hill photo

“You can't let facts get in the way of the truth.”

Joe Hill (1879–1915) Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World

Source: NOS4A2

Jennifer Donnelly photo

“Isn't that what a good story does? It pulls you in and never lets you go.”

Jennifer Donnelly (1963) American writer

Source: Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book

China Miéville photo

“A scholar can never let mere wrongness get in the way of the theory.”

Source: “And there aren’t any.”
“Mmm,” I said. “Awkward.”
“That’s defeatist talk. I’ll cobble something together. A scholar can never let mere wrongness get in the way of the theory.”
Source: Embassytown (2011), Chapter 0.3 (p. 37)

Stanisław Lem photo

“Good books tell the truth, even when they're about things that never have been and never will be. They're truthful in a different way.”

Stanisław Lem (1921–2006) Polish science fiction author

"Pirx's Tale" in More Tales of Pirx The Pilot (1983)
Context: Oh, I read good books, too, but only Earthside. Why that is, I don't really know. Never stopped to analyze it. Good books tell the truth, even when they're about things that never have been and never will be. They're truthful in a different way. When they talk about outer space, they make you feel the silence, so unlike the Earthly kind — and the lifelessness. Whatever the adventures, the message is always the same: humans will never feel at home out there.

Lev Grossman photo

“The truth doesn't always make a good story, does it?”

Source: The Magicians

Walter Cronkite photo

“In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story.”

Walter Cronkite (1916–2009) American broadcast journalist

Source: Free the Airwaves! (2002)

John P. Kotter photo

“Never underestimate the power of a good story.”

John P. Kotter (1947) author of The heart of Change

Step 3, p. 80
The Heart of Change, (2002)

John Wooden photo

“Tell the truth. That way you don't have to remember a story.”

John Wooden (1910–2010) American basketball coach

Source: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

R. A. Lafferty photo

Related topics