--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You will find that the truth is often…" description: "\"You will find that the truth is often unpopular and the contest between agreeable fancy and disagreeable fact is unequal. For, in the vernacular, we Am..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/adlai-e-stevenson-2-26747_contests_you-will-find-that-the-truth-is-often-un_678013.png" --- # You will find that the truth is often unpopular and the… ![“You will find that the truth is often unpopular and the contest between agreeable fancy and disagreeable fact is unequal. For, in the vernacular, we Americans are suckers for good news.” quote by Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/adlai-e-stevenson-2-26747_contests_you-will-find-that-the-truth-is-often-un_678013.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/adlai-e-stevenson-2-26747_contests_you-will-find-that-the-truth-is-often-un_678013.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/adlai-e-stevenson-2-26747_contests_you-will-find-that-the-truth-is-often-un_678013.png) > “You will find that the truth is often unpopular and the contest between agreeable fancy and disagreeable fact is unequal. For, in the vernacular, we Americans are suckers for good news.” [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Truth often clashes with popular desire for comforting narratives, making honesty unpopular. **In simple terms:** Truth can be unpopular. Key Takeaway Value facts over pleasing stories. Themes politics media culture Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - public discourse - news reporting - education - policy debate Key Concepts cognitive bias truth bias Questions to Reflect On - How can we encourage acceptance of uncomfortable truths? - What role does media play in shaping preference for good news? A Different Perspective People may reject facts that challenge beliefs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Good news](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-news/) [Honesty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honesty/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Vernacular](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vernacular/) ## Related quotes > [“his fancy; for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/his-fancy-for-he-is-a-most-disagreeable-horrid-man-not-at-all-worth/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“Wasn't solving mysteries important? Didn't the truth matter? Of course, Silette had foreseen this. He knew the truth was, and always would be, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gran/wasn-t-solving-mysteries-important-didn-t-the-truth-matter-of-course/) [Sara Gran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gran/) > [Just because the truth is unpopular doesn't mean that it should not be proclaimed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/just-because-the-truth-is-unpopular-doesn-t-mean-that-it-should-not/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [Oh, this I have to see. I love it when you go for the vernacular. Jugular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/oh-this-i-have-to-see-i-love-it-when-you-go-for-the-vernacular-jugular/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“I nod seriously, "Supes." "You're mocking me." "A little bit." "People say supes!" "What people?" "I can't believe you're shaming me right now. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-miller/i-nod-seriously-supes-you-re-mocking-me-a-little-bit-people-say-supes/) [Lauren Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-miller/) > [When I write lyrics, I really do go into an automatic folk appropriation mode... I see the vernacular register of 20th century song as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/when-i-write-lyrics-i-really-do-go-into-an-automatic-folk/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [The older I got, the more willing I was to go into the Southern vernacular, because some of it's funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-jackson/the-older-i-got-the-more-willing-i-was-to-go-into-the-southern/) [Keith Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-jackson/) > [What's impossible not to notice, though - it's all around us - is the diminution of American prose: How pedestrian it has become. Pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/what-s-impossible-not-to-notice-though-it-s-all-around-us-is-the/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) > [I’m interested in vernacular cultures, where people lived a little closer to the source of materials and the making of objects for use. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-puryear/i-m-interested-in-vernacular-cultures-where-people-lived-a-little/) [Martin Puryear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-puryear/) > [I was deeply impressed and moved by his masterful playing. He was highly polished, profound, subtle, and intense. He was extremely fluent in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-la-roca/i-was-deeply-impressed-and-moved-by-his-masterful-playing-he-was/) Pete La Roca > [The Catholic Church has a dignity far surpassing that of every merely human society, for it was founded by Christ the Lord. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-xxiii/the-catholic-church-has-a-dignity-far-surpassing-that-of-every-merely/) [Pope John XXIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-xxiii/) > [I'm working on poems about work, I guess. Or related to work. Which sounds dull as drywall but I'm having great fun working the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-mann/i-m-working-on-poems-about-work-i-guess-or-related-to-work-which/) [Randall Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-mann/) > [Architectural kitsch is most common in the commercial pop vernacular - typified by the Big Duck of 1931 in Flanders, New York, a Long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/architectural-kitsch-is-most-common-in-the-commercial-pop-vernacular/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [Writers today must navigate the shifting verbal currents of the post-Gutenberg era. When does jargon end and a new vernacular begin? Where's the line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constance-hale/writers-today-must-navigate-the-shifting-verbal-currents-of-the-post/) [Constance Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constance-hale/) > [I'm motivated by injustice, which is embedded and constant and wrong - not by a vernacular soundboard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-richards/i-m-motivated-by-injustice-which-is-embedded-and-constant-and-wrong/) [Amy Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-richards/) ## More by Adlai E Stevenson > [In youth, everything seems possible; but we reach a point in the middle years when we realize that we are never going to reach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/in-youth-everything-seems-possible-but-we-reach-a-point-in-the-middle/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [Respect for intellectual excellence, the restoration of vigor and discipline to our ideas of study, curricula which aim at strengthening intellectual fiber and stretching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/respect-for-intellectual-excellence-the-restoration-of-vigor-and/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [When you leave here, don't forget why you came. ( to college graduates)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/when-you-leave-here-don-t-forget-why-you-came-to-college-graduates/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [Nature is neutral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/nature-is-neutral/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [Man is a strange animal. He generally cannot read the handwriting on the wall until his back is up against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/man-is-a-strange-animal-he-generally-cannot-read-the-handwriting-on/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [Flattery is all right if you don't inhale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/flattery-is-all-right-if-you-don-t-inhale/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [The elephant has a thick skin, a head full of ivory, and as everyone who has seen a circus parade knows, proceeds best by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/the-elephant-has-a-thick-skin-a-head-full-of-ivory-and-as-everyone/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [Those who corrupt the public mind are just as evil as those who steal from the public](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/those-who-corrupt-the-public-mind-are-just-as-evil-as-those-who-steal-2/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [We mean by 'politics' the people's business - the most important business there is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/we-mean-by-politics-the-people-s-business-the-most-important-business/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [After four years at the United Nations I sometimes yearn for the peace and tranquillity of a political convention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/after-four-years-at-the-united-nations-i-sometimes-yearn-for-the/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [A diplomat's life is made up of three ingredients: protocol, Geritol and alcohol.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/a-diplomat-s-life-is-made-up-of-three-ingredients-protocol-geritol/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/a-free-society-is-one-where-it-is-safe-to-be-unpopular/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [The free press is the mother of all our liberties and of our progress under liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/the-free-press-is-the-mother-of-all-our-liberties-and-of-our-progress/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [Let us talk sense to the American people. Let us tell them the truth, that there are no gains without pains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/let-us-talk-sense-to-the-american-people-let-us-tell-them-the-truth/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) > [The definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson-2/the-definition-of-a-free-society-is-a-society-where-it-is-safe-to-be/) [Adlai E Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) [Explore all 21 Adlai E Stevenson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson-2/) ## More Contests quotes > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. 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It is all about tolerance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-franz/elections-are-not-a-beauty-contest-it-is-all-about-tolerance/) Vladimir Franz > [Competing is intense among humans, and within a group, selfish individuals always win. But in contests between groups, groups of altruists always beat groups…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/competing-is-intense-among-humans-and-within-a-group-selfish/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [My family was musical on both sides. My father's family had a famous flautist and a classical pianist. My mother won a contest to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-estefan/my-family-was-musical-on-both-sides-my-father-s-family-had-a-famous/) [Gloria Estefan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-estefan/) > [I didn't get hurt in the contest. I hurt it the next day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-piersall/i-didn-t-get-hurt-in-the-contest-i-hurt-it-the-next-day/) [Jimmy Piersall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-piersall/) > [To try something longer, I entered a half-hour radio drama contest with the national public broadcaster, CBC. To my surprise, I won. And that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-walton/to-try-something-longer-i-entered-a-half-hour-radio-drama-contest/) [Karen Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-walton/) > [In the case of The Thin Blue Line, I was surprised actually by many things. 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