--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are no whole truths: All truths are…" description: "\"There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths.\" — Alfred North Whitehead" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/alfred-north-whitehead-836_half_there-are-no-whole-truths-all-truths-are_765555.png" --- # There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths. ![“There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths.” quote by Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/alfred-north-whitehead-836_half_there-are-no-whole-truths-all-truths-are_765555.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/alfred-north-whitehead-836_half_there-are-no-whole-truths-all-truths-are_765555.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/alfred-north-whitehead-836_half_there-are-no-whole-truths-all-truths-are_765555.png) > “There are no whole truths: All truths are half-truths.” [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Truth is never absolute; every claim contains partial truth. **In simple terms:** No truth is whole. Key Takeaway Seek multiple perspectives. Themes philosophy epistemology relativism Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - debate - media analysis - scientific research Key Concepts truth theory critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What counts as half‑truth? - How to handle uncertainty? A Different Perspective Absolute truths may still guide action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Half truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half-truth/) [Half Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half-truths/) [Honest truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest-truth/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truths/) [Whole truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-truth/) ## Related quotes > [“There are no whole truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/there-are-no-whole-truths-all-truths-are-half-truths-it-is-trying-to/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Common sense, the half-truths of a deceitful society, is honored as the honest truths of a frank world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-jacoby/common-sense-the-half-truths-of-a-deceitful-society-is-honored-as-the/) Russell Jacoby > [Partial truths or half-truths are often more insidious than total falsehoods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-p-huntington/partial-truths-or-half-truths-are-often-more-insidious-than-total/) [Samuel P. Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-p-huntington/) > [ Both in verse and in prose \[Karl\] Shapiro loves, partly out of indignation and partly out of sheer mischievousness, to tell the naked truths… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/both-in-verse-and-in-prose-karl-shapiro-loves-partly-out-of/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [Aristotle discovered all the half-truths which were necessary to the creation of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/aristotle-discovered-all-the-half-truths-which-were-necessary-to-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Half truths were a wonderful way to inspire credibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baldacci/half-truths-were-a-wonderful-way-to-inspire-credibility/) [David Baldacci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baldacci/) > [The polls demonstrate that 50 percent of Americans who get their news from TV think Saddam Hussein was behind the Twin Towers attack. Man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/the-polls-demonstrate-that-50-percent-of-americans-who-get-their-news/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [One goes to Nature only for hints and half-truths. Her facts are crude until you have absorbed them or translated them ... It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/one-goes-to-nature-only-for-hints-and-half-truths-her-facts-are-crude/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Maxims are sharp-edged half-truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/maxims-are-sharp-edged-half-truths/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The truths that seem most truthful, if you look at them from all sides, if you look at them close up, turn out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/the-truths-that-seem-most-truthful-if-you-look-at-them-from-all-sides/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [What will a Hillary Clinton presidency look like? 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It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/philosophy-begins-in-wonder-and-at-the-end-when-philosophic-thought/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-pursuit-of-mathematics-is-a-divine-madness-of-the-human-spirit/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Without adventure all civilization is full of decay. Adventure rarely reaches its predetermined end. Columbus never reached China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/without-adventure-all-civilization-is-full-of-decay-adventure-rarely/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Aristotle discovered all the half-truths which were necessary to the creation of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/aristotle-discovered-all-the-half-truths-which-were-necessary-to-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [On the ostensible exactitude of certain branches of human knowledge, including mathematics. The exactness is a fake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/on-the-ostensible-exactitude-of-certain-branches-of-human-knowledge/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [It is this union of passionate interest in the detailed facts with equal devotion to abstract generalisation which forms the novelty in our present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/it-is-this-union-of-passionate-interest-in-the-detailed-facts-with/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of infinitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/our-minds-are-finite-and-yet-even-in-these-circumstances-of/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The many become one and are increased by one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-many-become-one-and-are-increased-by-one/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience, and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/art-is-the-imposing-of-a-pattern-on-experience-and-our-aesthetic/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The future belongs to those who can rise above the confines of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-future-belongs-to-those-who-can-rise-above-the-confines-of-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Common sense is genius in homespun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/common-sense-is-genius-in-homespun/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Everyone is a philosopher. Not everyone is good at it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/everyone-is-a-philosopher-not-everyone-is-good-at-it/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Do not teach too many subjects and what you teach, teach thoroughly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/do-not-teach-too-many-subjects-and-what-you-teach-teach-thoroughly/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. 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Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [I with borrow'd silver shine, What you see is none of mine. 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Once I'm past that phase, it doesn't really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/i-spend-a-lot-of-time-loathing-the-sentences-that-i-put-down-on-the/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-usually-write-from-the-rhythm-section-if-a-drummer-got-a-funky-beat/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [The thing about living alone is that it gives you a lot of time to think. 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