“It is commonly said, and more particularly by Lord Shaftesbury, that ridicule is the best test of truth.”

—  Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

6 February 1752
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman (1774)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "It is commonly said, and more particularly by Lord Shaftesbury, that ridicule is the best test of truth." by Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield?
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield photo
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield 65
British statesman and man of letters 1694–1773

Related quotes

Thomas Carlyle photo

“We have oftener than once endeavoured to attach some meaning to that aphorism, vulgarly imputed to Shaftesbury, which however we can find nowhere in his works, that "ridicule is the test of truth."”

Thomas Carlyle book Characteristics

Voltaire, Foreign Review, (1829); compare: "How comes it to pass, then, that we appear such cowards in reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the test of ridicule?", Shaftesbury, Characteristics. A Letter concerning Enthusiasm, sect. 2.; "Truth, 't is supposed, may bear all lights; and one of those principal lights or natural mediums by which things are to be viewed in order to a thorough recognition is ridicule itself", Shaftesbury, Essay on the Freedom of Wit and Humour, sect. 1.; "'T was the saying of an ancient sage [Gorgias Leontinus, apud Aristotle's "Rhetoric," lib. iii. c. 18], that humour was the only test of gravity, and gravity of humour. For a subject which would not bear raillery was suspicious; and a jest which would not bear a serious examination was certainly false wit", ibid. sect. 5.
1820s, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827–1855)

George Crabbe photo

“And took for truth the test of ridicule.”

George Crabbe (1754–1832) English poet, surgeon, and clergyman

Book viii, "The Sisters".
Tales of the Hall (1819)

H.L. Mencken photo

“The final test of truth is ridicule. Very few dogmas have ever faced it and survived.”

H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer

"On Truth" in Damn! A Book of Calumny (1918), p. 53
1910s
Context: The final test of truth is ridicule. Very few dogmas have ever faced it and survived. Huxley laughed the devils out of the Gadarene swine. Not the laws of the United States but the mother-in-law joke brought the Mormons to surrender. Not the horror of it but the absurdity of it killed the doctrine of infant damnation. But the razor edge of ridicule is turned by the tough hide of truth. How loudly the barber-surgeons laughed at Huxley—and how vainly! What clown ever brought down the house like Galileo? Or Columbus? Or Darwin?... They are laughing at Nietzsche yet...

Eugene J. Martin photo

“Truth rides best In that which looks ridiculous.”

Eugene J. Martin (1938–2005) American artist

Annotated Drawings by Eugene J. Martin: 1977-1978

Tryon Edwards photo

“Ridicule may be the evidence of wit or bitterness and may gratify a little mind, or an ungenerous temper, but it is no test of reason or truth.”

Tryon Edwards (1809–1894) American theologian

Source: A Dictionary of Thoughts, 1891, p. 497.

Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet photo

“It is commonly said that it was the Mahomedans whom the British displaced as rulers in India. This is true only in a restricted sense. It would be nearer the truth to say that it was the Mahrattas in the main, whom we displaced.”

Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet (1826–1902) British politician

Sir Richard Temple quoted in Vikram Sampath - Savarkar, Echoes from a Forgotten Past, 1883–1924 (2019)

Bobby Fischer photo

“Best by test.”

Bobby Fischer book My 60 Memorable Games

1960s, My 60 Memorable Games (1969)

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury photo

“How comes it to pass then, that we appear such Cowards in reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the Test of Ridicule?”

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671–1713) English politician and Earl

Vol. 1, p. 11; "A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm".
Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711)

“"If we give you a pistol, will you fight for the Lord?"
"But you can't kill the Devil with a gun or a sword!"
"Will you swear on the Bible?" "I will not!" said he,
"For the truth is more holy than the book, to me."”

Sydney Carter (1915–2004) British musician and poet

George Fox

H.L. Mencken photo

“But the razor edge of ridicule is turned by the tough hide of truth.”

H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer

"On Truth" in Damn! A Book of Calumny (1918), p. 53
1910s
Context: The final test of truth is ridicule. Very few dogmas have ever faced it and survived. Huxley laughed the devils out of the Gadarene swine. Not the laws of the United States but the mother-in-law joke brought the Mormons to surrender. Not the horror of it but the absurdity of it killed the doctrine of infant damnation. But the razor edge of ridicule is turned by the tough hide of truth. How loudly the barber-surgeons laughed at Huxley—and how vainly! What clown ever brought down the house like Galileo? Or Columbus? Or Darwin?... They are laughing at Nietzsche yet...

Related topics