--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I try to, in my own fallible way, speak…" description: "\"I try to, in my own fallible way, speak the truth.\" — Cornel West" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/cornel-west-708_my-own_i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-th_1814857.jpg" --- # I try to, in my own fallible way, speak the truth. ![“I try to, in my own fallible way, speak the truth.” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/cornel-west-708_my-own_i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-th_1814857.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/cornel-west-708_my-own_i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-th_1814857.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/cornel-west-708_my-own_i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-th_1814857.jpg) > “I try to, in my own fallible way, speak the truth.” [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Speaking truth is an effort despite personal fallibility. **In simple terms:** Try to speak truth despite flaws. Key Takeaway Commit to honest expression. Themes truth fallibility integrity Mood serious reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - public discourse - personal journaling - debate Key Concepts ethics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What truth is most important to you? - How to handle truth that hurts? A Different Perspective Truth may be subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fallible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fallible/) [Fallible Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fallible-way-2144650/) [Liar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liar/) [My own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-own/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Speak the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak-the-truth/) [Speak Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak-truth/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Try Fallible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/try-fallible-2144651/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [I just speak the truth. I keep it real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlon-vera/i-just-speak-the-truth-i-keep-it-real/) [Marlon Vera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlon-vera/) > [Therefore, let me in honesty speak the truth about our epoch and people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-sander/therefore-let-me-in-honesty-speak-the-truth-about-our-epoch-and-people/) [August Sander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-sander/) > [As far as I'm concerned, I just speak the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-mcgregor/as-far-as-i-m-concerned-i-just-speak-the-truth/) [Conor McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-mcgregor/) > [At the end of the day, I always speak the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-jackson/at-the-end-of-the-day-i-always-speak-the-truth/) [Mark Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-jackson/) > [Im starting to feel as though I should give up now to not risk what we have. keep silent what I want to speak.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaliyah-owens/im-starting-to-feel-as-though-i-should-give-up-now-to-not-risk-what/) [Aaliyah Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaliyah-owens/) > [It is so difficult - at least, I find it difficult - to understand people who speak the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster/it-is-so-difficult-at-least-i-find-it-difficult-to-understand-people/) [E. M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster/) > [I have found that in fiction one is freer to speak the truth, if only because in fiction the truth is not expected or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sington/i-have-found-that-in-fiction-one-is-freer-to-speak-the-truth-if-only/) [Philip Sington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sington/) > [“Sometimes distortions can speak the truth. They confirm for me what is real by troubling me with something false.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-overstreet/sometimes-distortions-can-speak-the-truth-they-confirm-for-me-what-is/) [Jeffrey Overstreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-overstreet/) > [I would rather speak the truth to ten men than blandishments and lying to a million. Try it, ye who think there is nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/i-would-rather-speak-the-truth-to-ten-men-than-blandishments-and/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Speak the truth, even if you voice shakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unknow/speak-the-truth-even-if-you-voice-shakes/) [Unknow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unknow/) > [I am tired of talk that comes to nothing It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-joseph/i-am-tired-of-talk-that-comes-to-nothing-it-makes-my-heart-sick-when/) [Chief Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-joseph/) > [Sinners often speak the truth. And saints have led people astray. Examine what is said, not the one who says it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-mello/sinners-often-speak-the-truth-and-saints-have-led-people-astray/) [Anthony de Mello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-mello/) > [They're only words. You can't be afraid of words that speak the truth, even if it's an unpleasant truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/they-re-only-words-you-can-t-be-afraid-of-words-that-speak-the-truth/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [Speak the truth even if its against your self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/speak-the-truth-even-if-its-against-your-self/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-rogers/it-is-better-to-be-divided-by-truth-than-to-be-united-in-error-it-is/) [Adrian Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-rogers/) ## More by Cornel West > [There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-has-certainly-been-ugly-right-wing-hatred-targeting-barack-obama/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-feel-as-if-i-have-been-blessed-to-undergo-a-transformation-from/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-king-we-need-to-put-on-our-cemetery-clothes-and-be-coffin-ready/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ “You can't really move forward until you look back. \[From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you-look-back-from-remaking/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-challenge-artists-face-today-is-whether-to-be-an-underground/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. In this regard, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-need-of-black-conservatives-to-gain-the-respect-of-their-white/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I don't draw any distinctions between forms of bigotry or forms of ideology that lose sight of the humanity of people. I can't stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-don-t-draw-any-distinctions-between-forms-of-bigotry-or-forms-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Barack Obama has domesticated the left in such a way that we feel as if we have no alternative but him...I refuse to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/barack-obama-has-domesticated-the-left-in-such-a-way-that-we-feel-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-see-it-in-terms-of-the-obsession-on-wall-street-with-not-just/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Explore all 400 Cornel West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More Fallible quotes > [It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/it-is-true-that-from-a-behavioral-economics-perspective-we-are/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [Pleasure is by no means an infallible critical guide, but it is the least fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/pleasure-is-by-no-means-an-infallible-critical-guide-but-it-is-the/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Both men and women are fallible. The difference is, women know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-bron/both-men-and-women-are-fallible-the-difference-is-women-know-it/) [Eleanor Bron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-bron/) > [Editors are extremely fallible people, all of them. Don't put too much trust in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxwell-perkins/editors-are-extremely-fallible-people-all-of-them-don-t-put-too-much/) [Maxwell Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxwell-perkins/) > [Tennessee Williams was so adept at portraying characters who are both fallible and vulnerable. Women were a huge influence in his life, his mother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-cattrall/tennessee-williams-was-so-adept-at-portraying-characters-who-are-both/) [Kim Cattrall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-cattrall/) > [“The...act of surrender—or devotion, as the case may be—was, to him, a kind of lifeline for those who sought a quick answer and didn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/the-act-of-surrender-or-devotion-as-the-case-may-be-was-to-him-a-kind/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [I love fallible characters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-jones/i-love-fallible-characters/) [Ruth Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-jones/) > [I've always very earnestly tried to do my best, so I just have to trust that and forgive myself for being fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-danes/i-ve-always-very-earnestly-tried-to-do-my-best-so-i-just-have-to/) [Claire Danes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-danes/) > [A fallible being will fail somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/a-fallible-being-will-fail-somewhere/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“The need to impress is gradually replaced with the thrill of being embraced as a fallible human being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-spiegelman/the-need-to-impress-is-gradually-replaced-with-the-thrill-of-being/) [Erica Spiegelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-spiegelman/) > [“Van, Van, we’re only simple, fallible mortals - we aren’t saints, we aren’t angels - we fall on our faces and make errors and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercedes-lackey/van-van-we-re-only-simple-fallible-mortals-we-aren-t-saints-we-aren-t/) [Mercedes Lackey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercedes-lackey/) > [Published papers may omit important steps and the memory of men of science, even the greatest, is sadly fallible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-desmond-bernal/published-papers-may-omit-important-steps-and-the-memory-of-men-of/) [John Desmond Bernal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-desmond-bernal/) > [I recognize that I'm human, and the older I get, the more I realize how fallible I am, how fallible we all are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-recognize-that-i-m-human-and-the-older-i-get-the-more-i-realize-how/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [“If only one didn't know that at the secret heart of all such organizations, corporations and governments alike, it still came down to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-mcmaster-bujold/if-only-one-didn-t-know-that-at-the-secret-heart-of-all-such/) [Lois McMaster Bujold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-mcmaster-bujold/) > [There is a fallible quality even in the greatest ones,everyone fails once in a while, be it Shah Rukh Khan or Ronaldhino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahrukh-khan/there-is-a-fallible-quality-even-in-the-greatest-ones-everyone-fails/) [Shahrukh Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahrukh-khan/) [Browse all 49 Fallible quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fallible/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I try to, in my own fallible way, speak the truth.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-the-truth/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fallible" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-the-truth/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/cornel-west-708_my-own_i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-th_1814857.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/cornel-west-708_my-own_i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-th_1814857.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/cornel-west-708_my-own_i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-th_1814857.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I try to, in my own fallible way, speak the truth.” — Cornel West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Cornel West", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I try to, in my own...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-the-truth/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-try-to-in-my-own-fallible-way-speak-the-truth/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```