--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no original truth, only original…" description: "\"There is no original truth, only original error.\" — Gaston Bachelard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/gaston-bachelard-2318_error_there-is-no-original-truth-only-original_809511.png" --- # There is no original truth, only original error. ![“There is no original truth, only original error.” quote by Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/gaston-bachelard-2318_error_there-is-no-original-truth-only-original_809511.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/gaston-bachelard-2318_error_there-is-no-original-truth-only-original_809511.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/gaston-bachelard-2318_error_there-is-no-original-truth-only-original_809511.png) > “There is no original truth, only original error.” [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) ## 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 not a fixed original; errors are the starting points of knowledge. **In simple terms:** Truth is built from mistakes. Key Takeaway Question assumptions, learn from errors. Themes philosophy epistemology creativity Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - scientific research - creative writing - problem solving Key Concepts originality error knowledge construction Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate error from insight? - What role does mistake play in innovation? A Different Perspective Errors can mislead if not critically examined. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Error](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/error/) [Original](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/original/) [Original Error](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/original-error-237717/) [Original Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/original-truth-237718/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Original](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-original-237719/) ## Related quotes > [When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/when-we-discover-that-the-truth-is-already-in-us-we-are-all-at-once/) [Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/) > [“It’s a hundred generations removed from anything original, but the truth is aren’t we all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/it-s-a-hundred-generations-removed-from-anything-original-but-the/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Perhaps that is nearly the perfection of good writing which is original, but whose truth alone prevents the reader from suspecting that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/perhaps-that-is-nearly-the-perfection-of-good-writing-which-is/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Truth is error burned up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-o-brown/truth-is-error-burned-up/) [Norman O. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-o-brown/) > [“Between an Error and a Lie, there are Worlds – an Error is an unintended Mistake, a Lie is an intentional Audacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sino-melo/between-an-error-and-a-lie-there-are-worlds-an-error-is-an-unintended/) [Sino Melo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sino-melo/) > [Carve and polish it the way you like, error cannot be changed into a precious stone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ace-kid/carve-and-polish-it-the-way-you-like-error-cannot-be-changed-into-a/) [Ace Kid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ace-kid/) > [This idea that once you get into politics... you are now signed up for lifelong duty being in elective office, makes a fundamental error…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-gonzalez/this-idea-that-once-you-get-into-politics-you-are-now-signed-up-for/) [Matt Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-gonzalez/) > [After working with many nutritionists, reading books, and practicing trial and error on my own body, I have finally found a way to control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-somers/after-working-with-many-nutritionists-reading-books-and-practicing/) [Suzanne Somers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-somers/) > [Narrative drives most of economics. Everything seems to be part of a story, and how that story is told often leads to critical error.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/narrative-drives-most-of-economics-everything-seems-to-be-part-of-a/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [“Never give up your right to be wrong, and be sure to give others that right too.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-fargo/never-give-up-your-right-to-be-wrong-and-be-sure-to-give-others-that/) [Tim Fargo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-fargo/) > [Error is discipline through which we advance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/error-is-discipline-through-which-we-advance/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [“Error, failure, and being wrong are central to our development. We just aren’t using them as much as we should…yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-arnott/error-failure-and-being-wrong-are-central-to-our-development-we-just/) [Alastair Arnott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-arnott/) > [It's a base hit on the error by Roberts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-coleman/it-s-a-base-hit-on-the-error-by-roberts/) [Jerry Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-coleman/) > [“error,” and it is the best way to seek out a great result that fulfills your client’s business need.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sherwin/error-and-it-is-the-best-way-to-seek-out-a-great-result-that-fulfills/) [David Sherwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sherwin/) > [If we didn't have genetic mutations, we wouldn't have us. You need error to open the door to the adjacent possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/if-we-didn-t-have-genetic-mutations-we-wouldn-t-have-us-you-need/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) ## More by Gaston Bachelard > [Dreaming by the river, I dedicated my imagination to water, to clear, green water, the water that makes the meadows green.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/dreaming-by-the-river-i-dedicated-my-imagination-to-water-to-clear/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [If we did not have a feminine being within us, how would we rest ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/if-we-did-not-have-a-feminine-being-within-us-how-would-we-rest/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [The image can only be studied through the image, by dreaming images as they gather in reverie. It is a non-sense to claim to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/the-image-can-only-be-studied-through-the-image-by-dreaming-images-as/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [If there is any realm where distinction is especially difficult, it is the realm of childhood memories, the realm of beloved images harbored in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/if-there-is-any-realm-where-distinction-is-especially-difficult-it-is/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [In scientific thought, the concept functions all the better for being cut off from all background images. In its full exercise, the scientific concept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/in-scientific-thought-the-concept-functions-all-the-better-for-being/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [It is through the intentionality of poetic imagination that the poet's soul discovers the opening of consciousness common to all true poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/it-is-through-the-intentionality-of-poetic-imagination-that-the-poet/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [In writing, you discover interior sonorities in words. Dipthongs sound differently beneath the pen. One hears them with their sounds divorced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/in-writing-you-discover-interior-sonorities-in-words-dipthongs-sound/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Here we are at the very core of the thesis we wish to defend in the present essay: reverie is under the sign of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/here-we-are-at-the-very-core-of-the-thesis-we-wish-to-defend-in-the/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [There are children who will leave a game to go and be bored in a corner of the garret. How often have I wished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/there-are-children-who-will-leave-a-game-to-go-and-be-bored-in-a/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Ideas are refined and multiplied in the commerce of minds. In their splendor, images effect a very simple communion of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/ideas-are-refined-and-multiplied-in-the-commerce-of-minds-in-their/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [The poetic image is a sudden salience on the surface of the psyche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/the-poetic-image-is-a-sudden-salience-on-the-surface-of-the-psyche/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [In our view any awareness is an increment to consciousness, an added light, a reinforcement of psychic coherence. Its swiftness or instantaneity can hide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/in-our-view-any-awareness-is-an-increment-to-consciousness-an-added/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Imagination is a tree. It has the integrative virtues of a tree. It is root and boughs. It lives between earth and sky. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/imagination-is-a-tree-it-has-the-integrative-virtues-of-a-tree-it-is/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Two half philosophers will probably never a whole metaphysician make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/two-half-philosophers-will-probably-never-a-whole-metaphysician-make/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [Irony gives us, at little expense, the impression that we are experienced psychologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/irony-gives-us-at-little-expense-the-impression-that-we-are/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) [Explore all 166 Gaston Bachelard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) ## More Error quotes > [Truth is error burned up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-o-brown/truth-is-error-burned-up/) [Norman O. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-o-brown/) > [“Between an Error and a Lie, there are Worlds – an Error is an unintended Mistake, a Lie is an intentional Audacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sino-melo/between-an-error-and-a-lie-there-are-worlds-an-error-is-an-unintended/) [Sino Melo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sino-melo/) > [This idea that once you get into politics... you are now signed up for lifelong duty being in elective office, makes a fundamental error…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-gonzalez/this-idea-that-once-you-get-into-politics-you-are-now-signed-up-for/) [Matt Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-gonzalez/) > [“Error, failure, and being wrong are central to our development. We just aren’t using them as much as we should…yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-arnott/error-failure-and-being-wrong-are-central-to-our-development-we-just/) [Alastair Arnott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-arnott/) > [Carve and polish it the way you like, error cannot be changed into a precious stone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ace-kid/carve-and-polish-it-the-way-you-like-error-cannot-be-changed-into-a/) [Ace Kid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ace-kid/) > [“error,” and it is the best way to seek out a great result that fulfills your client’s business need.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sherwin/error-and-it-is-the-best-way-to-seek-out-a-great-result-that-fulfills/) [David Sherwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sherwin/) > [It's a base hit on the error by Roberts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-coleman/it-s-a-base-hit-on-the-error-by-roberts/) [Jerry Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-coleman/) > [If we didn't have genetic mutations, we wouldn't have us. You need error to open the door to the adjacent possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/if-we-didn-t-have-genetic-mutations-we-wouldn-t-have-us-you-need/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [Error is discipline through which we advance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ellery-channing/error-is-discipline-through-which-we-advance/) [William Ellery Channing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ellery-channing/) > [“Never give up your right to be wrong, and be sure to give others that right too.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-fargo/never-give-up-your-right-to-be-wrong-and-be-sure-to-give-others-that/) [Tim Fargo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-fargo/) > [Narrative drives most of economics. Everything seems to be part of a story, and how that story is told often leads to critical error.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/narrative-drives-most-of-economics-everything-seems-to-be-part-of-a/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [After working with many nutritionists, reading books, and practicing trial and error on my own body, I have finally found a way to control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-somers/after-working-with-many-nutritionists-reading-books-and-practicing/) [Suzanne Somers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-somers/) > [“Stop blaming other people for your mistakes. Until you are ready to admit that you are infallible, you are vulnerable for failure to whip.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/stop-blaming-other-people-for-your-mistakes-until-you-are-ready-to/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“Believe truth! Shun error!-these, we see, are two materially different laws; and by choosing between them we may end by coloring differently our whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/believe-truth-shun-error-these-we-see-are-two-materially-different/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“In short, if youth is not quite right in its opinions, there is a strong probability that age is not much more so. Undying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/in-short-if-youth-is-not-quite-right-in-its-opinions-there-is-a/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) [Browse all 289 Error quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/error/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is no original truth, only original error.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gaston Bachelard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/there-is-no-original-truth-only-original-error/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Error" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/there-is-no-original-truth-only-original-error/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/gaston-bachelard-2318_error_there-is-no-original-truth-only-original_809511.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/gaston-bachelard-2318_error_there-is-no-original-truth-only-original_809511.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/367/gaston-bachelard-2318_error_there-is-no-original-truth-only-original_809511.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is no original truth, only original error.” — Gaston Bachelard", "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": "Gaston Bachelard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is no original truth, only...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/there-is-no-original-truth-only-original-error/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/there-is-no-original-truth-only-original-error/#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 } } ] } ```