You must not lie about trilobites, nor yet about time.

“You must not lie about trilobites, nor yet about time.”

Richard Fortey

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

One must not lie about ancient creatures or about time itself.

In simple terms: Never falsify fossils or time.

Key Takeaway

Respect scientific truth.

Themes

science history ethics

Mood

inquisitive educational

Type

scientific academic

When to use this quote

research
education
museum c

Key Concepts

paleontology chronology integrity

Questions to Reflect On

How do we verify ancient evidence?
What limits our understanding of deep time?

A Different Perspective

Interpretations can vary.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

Lying Time

More by Richard Fortey

“Every new discovery about the genome is consistent with evolution having happened. Whether we find it appealing or not is another question, but personally…

Richard Fortey

“Without death there is little innovation. Extinction - death of a species - is part and parcel of evolutionary change. In the absence of…

Richard Fortey

“But, for now, I retreated back down the little hidden staircase into the familiar world of the basement of the Natural History Museum, and…

Richard Fortey

The great proliferation of museums in the nineteenth century was a product of the marriage of the exhibition as a way of awakening intelligent…

Richard Fortey

“Whether we find it appealing or not is another question, but personally I like being fourth cousin to a mushroom and having a bonobo…

Richard Fortey

“There is no final truth in palaeontology. Every new observer brings something of his or her own: a new technique, a new intelligence, even…

Richard Fortey

I believe profoundly in the importance of museums; I would go as far as to say that you can judge a society by the…

Richard Fortey

“Mankind is nothing more than a parasitic tick gorging himself on temporary plenty while the seas are low and the climate is clement. But…

Richard Fortey

“I attempted in vain to calculate the size of the holdings on the shelves, floor on floor, only to boggle hopelessly, baffled by bibliographic…

Richard Fortey

I wonder if we are seeing a return to the object in the science-based museum. Since any visitor can go to a film like…

Richard Fortey

A life accumulates a collection: of people, work and perplexities. We are all our own curators.

Richard Fortey

“When I meet some of my commuting acquaintances on the 6.21 home to Henley-on-Thames they occasionally enquire what I have done that day. I…

Richard Fortey

“Trilobites survived for a total of three hundred million years, almost the whole duration of the Palaeozoic era: who are we johnny-come-latelies to label…

Richard Fortey

“There might be symphonies of perfume, Mozarts of musk. Novelists might construct nasal narratives, versifiers sonnets of scent. Sculpture would entail subtleties of shape…

Richard Fortey

“In the Spirit Building there are thousands upon thousands of jars containing fish or snake, octopus or lobster, pickled to the life. ... As…

Richard Fortey

Explore all 24 Richard Fortey quotes

More Lying quotes

There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…

Lyndon B. Johnson

Against his own will, almost, Will felt himself understanding; he would have done anything, he thought, told any lie, taken any risk, to make…

Cassandra Clare

Heaven lies around us in our infancy.

William Golding

To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…

Natalie

Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…

Joseph Addison

Jobs and money are never the primary cause of stress. Thinking, negative thinking causes stress. The real cause of all problems lie in our…

Bob Proctor

“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…

Neil Gaiman

[Islam] Leaves no room of human legislation in an Islamic state, because herein all legislative functions vest in God and the only function left…

Abul A'la Maududi

What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.

Jean Cocteau

If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…

Jennifer Siebel Newsom

I just can’t, Nick, okay? Now, please give me a second to lie here in silence and bleed.” – Caleb

Sherrilyn Kenyon

The social [media channel] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,…

Umair Haque