Source: Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884), PART II: OTHER WORLDS, Chapter 22. How I Then Tried to Diffuse the Theory of Three Dimensions by Other Means, and of the Result
Context: After I had concluded my defence, the President, perhaps perceiving that some of the junior Circles had been moved by my evident earnestness, asked me two questions: —1. Whether I could indicate the direction which I meant when I used the words "Upward, not Northward"?2. Whether I could by any diagrams or descriptions (other than the enumeration of imaginary sides and angles) indicate the Figure I was pleased to call a Cube?I declared that I could say nothing more, and that I must commit myself to the Truth, whose cause would surely prevail in the end.The President replied that he quite concurred in my sentiment, and that I could not do better. I must be sentenced to perpetual imprisonment; but if the Truth intended that I should emerge from prison and evangelize the world, the Truth might be trusted to bring that result to pass. Meanwhile I should be subjected to no discomfort that was not necessary to preclude escape, and, unless I forfeited the privilege by misconduct, I should be occasionally permitted to see my brother who had preceded me to my prison.
“Concerning the truth at hand he (Socrates) was saying, yes, surely, it is a truth a reason or a truth of fact, but before I offer it I must discover whether it is a personal truth and a part of myself, for otherwise I must leave its enunciation to others.”
Source: Personal Destinies: A Philosophy of Ethical Individualism (1976), pp. 7-8
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David L. Norton 13
American philosopher 1930–1995Related quotes
Source: Personal Destinies: A Philosophy of Ethical Individualism (1976), p. 7
Letter to Benjamin Bailey (November 22, 1817)
Letters (1817–1820)
1960s, Address to Cornell College (1962)
N.Y. Herald Tribune (September 9, 1956)
“I must speak the truth, and nothing but the truth.”
Source: Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605–1615), Part I, Book IV, Ch. 3.
Source: The Name of the Rose (Everyman's Library
“Whatever the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth -whether it existed before or not”
“What is truth?” retorted Pilate.
John 18:37-38 NIV