--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are only two things. Truth and…" description: "\"There are only two things. Truth and lies. Truth is indivisible, hence it cannot recognize itself; anyone who wants to recognize it has to be a lie.\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/franz-kafka-214_lies-truth_there-are-only-two-things-truth-and-lies_1224446.jpg" --- # There are only two things. Truth and lies. Truth is… ![“There are only two things. Truth and lies. Truth is indivisible, hence it cannot recognize itself; anyone who wants to recognize it has to be a lie.” quote by Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/franz-kafka-214_lies-truth_there-are-only-two-things-truth-and-lies_1224446.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/franz-kafka-214_lies-truth_there-are-only-two-things-truth-and-lies_1224446.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ec/franz-kafka-214_lies-truth_there-are-only-two-things-truth-and-lies_1224446.jpg) > “There are only two things. Truth and lies. Truth is indivisible, hence it cannot recognize itself; anyone who wants to recognize it has to be a lie.” [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Truth cannot be fully known because recognizing it requires a falsehood, highlighting paradoxes in epistemology. **In simple terms:** Truth is elusive and self‑contradictory. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about absolute truth. Themes philosophy paradox truth Mood thought‑provoking critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - legal systems - personal belief - scientific theory - media reporting Key Concepts epistemology self‑reference logic existentialism Questions to Reflect On - Can truth exist without contradiction? - How does this paradox affect moral judgments? A Different Perspective The statement may oversimplify complex truth‑seeking processes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) [Lies truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies-truth/) [Recognize Lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recognize-lie-3762001/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth and lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-and-lies/) [Truth Indivisible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-indivisible-3762000/) [Truth is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-is/) [Truth Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-lies/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) ## Related quotes > [“It was entirely taken for granted that there wasn't any lying in our family, and I was advanced in adolescence before I realized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/it-was-entirely-taken-for-granted-that-there-wasn-t-any-lying-in-our/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Before the truth can set you free, you need to recognize which lie is holding you hostage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/before-the-truth-can-set-you-free-you-need-to-recognize-which-lie-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/a-single-lie-destroys-a-whole-reputation-for-integrity/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [If you tell the truth, you don't need a long memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ventura/if-you-tell-the-truth-you-don-t-need-a-long-memory/) [Jesse Ventura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ventura/) > [A lie may take care of the present, but it has no future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/croft-m-pentz/a-lie-may-take-care-of-the-present-but-it-has-no-future/) [Croft M. Pentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/croft-m-pentz/) > [If a lie is only printed often enough, it becomes a quasi-truth, and if such a truth is repeated often enough, it becomes an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isa-blagden/if-a-lie-is-only-printed-often-enough-it-becomes-a-quasi-truth-and-if/) [Isa Blagden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isa-blagden/) > [A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-haddon/a-lie-will-go-round-the-world-while-truth-is-pulling-its-boots-on/) [Charles Haddon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-haddon/) > [“Please remember always... In a contest between the Truth and lies; Truth will always win. Truth is Eternal; and connected to Forever. Lies are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leland-lewis/please-remember-always-in-a-contest-between-the-truth-and-lies-truth/) [Leland Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leland-lewis/) > [Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/falsehood-flies-and-the-truth-comes-limping-after-it/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [Children and fools always speak the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/children-and-fools-always-speak-the-truth/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Always tell the truth. That way you don't have to remember what you said.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/always-tell-the-truth-that-way-you-don-t-have-to-remember-what-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A lie will easily get you out of a scrape, and yet, strangely and beautifully, repute possesses you when you have taken the scrape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-edward-montague/a-lie-will-easily-get-you-out-of-a-scrape-and-yet-strangely-and/) [Charles Edward Montague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-edward-montague/) > [Those who think it is permissible to tell white lies soon grow color-blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/those-who-think-it-is-permissible-to-tell-white-lies-soon-grow-color/) [Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/) > [The truth is the greatest enemy of the State.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-the-greatest-enemy-of-the-state/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/give-him-a-mask-and-he-will-tell-you-the-truth/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Franz Kafka > [ “The tremendous world I have inside my head. But how \[to\] free myself and free it without being torn to pieces. And a thousand… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/the-tremendous-world-i-have-inside-my-head-but-how-to-free-myself-and/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [What I write is different from what I say, what I say is different from what I think, what I think is different from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/what-i-write-is-different-from-what-i-say-what-i-say-is-different/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“A fine setting for a fit of despair,” it occurred to him, “if I were only standing here by accident instead of design.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/a-fine-setting-for-a-fit-of-despair-it-occurred-to-him-if-i-were-only/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“Ali svi se slažu u tome da se ne podižu lakomislene optužbe i da se sud, kad jedanput nekog optuži i kad je uvjeren…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/ali-svi-se-sla-u-u-tome-da-se-ne-podi-u-lakomislene-optu-be-i-da-se/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [My job is unbearable to me because it conflicts with my only desire and my only calling, which is literature. Since I am nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/my-job-is-unbearable-to-me-because-it-conflicts-with-my-only-desire/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Faith, like a guillotine. As heavy, as light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/faith-like-a-guillotine-as-heavy-as-light/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [You need not even listen, just wait...the world will offer itself freely to you, unmasking itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/you-need-not-even-listen-just-wait-the-world-will-offer-itself-freely/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“I will cross hundreds of seas and oceans without sinking to reach you, see your eyes and sink completely into their depths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/i-will-cross-hundreds-of-seas-and-oceans-without-sinking-to-reach-you/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [I have no memory for things I have learned, nor things I have read, nor things experienced or heard, neither for people nor events;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/i-have-no-memory-for-things-i-have-learned-nor-things-i-have-read-nor/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“This sounds crazy, but it is so. Nor is it perhaps really love when I say that for me you are the most beloved;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/this-sounds-crazy-but-it-is-so-nor-is-it-perhaps-really-love-when-i/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [The more horses you yoke the quicker everything will go - not the rending of the block from its foundation, which is impossible, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/the-more-horses-you-yoke-the-quicker-everything-will-go-not-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Martyrs do not underrate the body, they allow it to be elevated on the cross. In this they are at one with their antagonists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/martyrs-do-not-underrate-the-body-they-allow-it-to-be-elevated-on-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [The true way goes over a line that, rather than spanning heights, is hardly above the ground. It appears more decidedly to make one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/the-true-way-goes-over-a-line-that-rather-than-spanning-heights-is/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [Every new discovery is assumed at once into the sum total of knowledge, and with that ceases in a sense to be a discovery;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/every-new-discovery-is-assumed-at-once-into-the-sum-total-of/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“Sou de pedra. Sou a minha própria pedra tumular, sem nenhum interstício para a dúvida ou para a fé, para o amor ou para…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/sou-de-pedra-sou-a-minha-pr-pria-pedra-tumular-sem-nenhum-interst-cio/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) [Explore all 741 Franz Kafka quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) ## More Lies quotes > [I'm Fine!, the most common LIE in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punkinhead-abhishek/i-m-fine-the-most-common-lie-in-the-world/) [Punkinhead Abhishek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punkinhead-abhishek/) > [Heaven lies around us in our infancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/heaven-lies-around-us-in-our-infancy/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“What shapes us is not always our achievements but our omissions. Not lies; simply the truths we don’t tell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-tudor/what-shapes-us-is-not-always-our-achievements-but-our-omissions-not/) [C.J. Tudor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-tudor/) > [He is almost a statesman. He lies well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/he-is-almost-a-statesman-he-lies-well/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/we-lie-the-loudest-when-we-lie-to-ourselves/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [The greatest gift you can give to those around you is honesty. Sometimes honest words may sting the heart, but dishonesty pierces deep into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-to-those-around-you-is-honesty/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“It's the basic truth of the human condition: everybody lies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/house/it-s-the-basic-truth-of-the-human-condition-everybody-lies/) [house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/house/) > [A lie always needs a truth for a handle to it. The worst lies are those whose blade is false, but whose handle is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/a-lie-always-needs-a-truth-for-a-handle-to-it-the-worst-lies-are/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Words To Remember: Nobody's phone is ever off. They're lying...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/words-to-remember-nobody-s-phone-is-ever-off-they-re-lying/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Those who know New York City primarily through tourism or mass culture may think of us natives as possessing certain shared characteristics, not all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-dee/those-who-know-new-york-city-primarily-through-tourism-or-mass/) [Jonathan Dee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-dee/) > [“I'm over your lies and I'm over your games. I'm over you asking me when you know I'm not okay.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-mcphee/i-m-over-your-lies-and-i-m-over-your-games-i-m-over-you-asking-me/) [Katharine McPhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-mcphee/) > [“DIGITAL TRUTH DIGITAL LIES • Searches • Social media posts • Views • Social media likes • Clicks • Dating profiles • Swipes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-stephens-davidowitz/digital-truth-digital-lies-searches-social-media-posts-views-social/) [Seth Stephens-Davidowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-stephens-davidowitz/) > [You said you loved me, You said you cared for me, you said you wouldn't let anything happen to me. Then we got into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nohaterzz/you-said-you-loved-me-you-said-you-cared-for-me-you-said-you-wouldn-t/) [NoHaterzz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nohaterzz/) [Browse all 4,881 Lies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are only two things. Truth and lies. 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