--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: a writer must always tell the truth…" description: "\"a writer must always tell the truth (unless he's a journalist)\" — Gore Vidal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/gore-vidal-466_journalist_a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unle_89079.jpg" --- # a writer must always tell the truth (unless he's a… ![“a writer must always tell the truth (unless he's a journalist)” quote by Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/gore-vidal-466_journalist_a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unle_89079.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/gore-vidal-466_journalist_a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unle_89079.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/gore-vidal-466_journalist_a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unle_89079.jpg) > “a writer must always tell the truth (unless he's a journalist)” [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers should prioritize honesty, but journalists are bound by different standards and expectations. **In simple terms:** Truth vs. professional duty Key Takeaway Honesty is essential, except in journalism Themes truth ethics authorial responsibility journalism Mood reflective wry Type aphor observation When to use this quote - fiction writing - journalistic reporting - creative nonfiction Key Concepts integrity narrative authenticity Practical Applications - literary criticism - media ethics Questions to Reflect On - When does truth become a narrative tool? - Can a writer be truthful while crafting fiction? A Different Perspective null ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Journalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalist/) [Tell Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell-truth/) [Telling the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-the-truth/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Unless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-unless-1111595/) [Unless Journalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unless-journalist-1111594/) [Writer Tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer-tell-656802/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Your first obligation as a writer is to tell the truth and to tell a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-waithe/your-first-obligation-as-a-writer-is-to-tell-the-truth-and-to-tell-a/) [Lena Waithe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-waithe/) > [“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” —JESUS OF NAZARETH”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-burpo/i-tell-you-the-truth-unless-you-change-and-become-like-little/) [Todd Burpo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-burpo/) > [I'm not sure that I'm really relevant as a director anymore. Or as a writer, either, to tell you the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bob-thornton/i-m-not-sure-that-i-m-really-relevant-as-a-director-anymore-or-as-a/) [Billy Bob Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bob-thornton/) > [You can't be both a writer and a politician, at least not a good writer. A writer must always tell the truth as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/you-can-t-be-both-a-writer-and-a-politician-at-least-not-a-good/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [But suppose it was truth double strong, it were no truth to me if I couldna take it in. I daresay there's truth in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/but-suppose-it-was-truth-double-strong-it-were-no-truth-to-me-if-i/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) > [“Man rarely produces truth unless he finds a way to profit from it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelos-michalopoulos/man-rarely-produces-truth-unless-he-finds-a-way-to-profit-from-it/) [Angelos Michalopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelos-michalopoulos/) > [The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-unless-you-let-go-unless-you-forgive-yourself-unless-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You can't talk about truth unless you talk about yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-talk-about-truth-unless-you-talk-about-yourself/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [fiction is founded on truth…unless things did happen,people couldn't think of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/fiction-is-founded-on-truth-unless-things-did-happen-people-couldn-t/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [You need not tell all the truth, unless to those who have a right to know it; but let all you tell be truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/you-need-not-tell-all-the-truth-unless-to-those-who-have-a-right-to/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [Expect no trivial truth from me, unless I am on the witness- stand. I will come as near to lying as you can drive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/expect-no-trivial-truth-from-me-unless-i-am-on-the-witness-stand-i/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [People cant handle the truth unless you speak to them with a mirror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lakia-echols/people-cant-handle-the-truth-unless-you-speak-to-them-with-a-mirror/) [Lakia Echols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lakia-echols/) > [The truth of course was otherwise, but Lecha had never felt she owed anyone the truth, unless it was truth about their own lives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/the-truth-of-course-was-otherwise-but-lecha-had-never-felt-she-owed/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [Tell the truth and you won't have so much to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/tell-the-truth-and-you-won-t-have-so-much-to-remember/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [It requires as much to tell the truth as to conceal it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/it-requires-as-much-to-tell-the-truth-as-to-conceal-it/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) ## More by Gore Vidal > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Many people in the United States happen to believe that United States policy is wrong in Vietnam and the Vietcong are correct in wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/many-people-in-the-united-states-happen-to-believe-that-united-states/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“It is curious how little interested we are in the sexual desires of those who do not attract us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-little-interested-we-are-in-the-sexual-desires-of/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/style-is-knowing-who-you-are-what-you-want-to-say-and-not-giving-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The oligarchs think that the people are both dangerous and stupid. Their point is moot. But we do know that the oligarchs are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-oligarchs-think-that-the-people-are-both-dangerous-and-stupid/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [It is curious how often one prefers his enemies to his friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-often-one-prefers-his-enemies-to-his-friends/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/as-societies-grow-decadent-the-language-grows-decadent-too-words-are/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Rome ... at its most decadent, had never thought of hiring an actor to go through the motions of being an emperor while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/rome-at-its-most-decadent-had-never-thought-of-hiring-an-actor-to-go/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/history-is-nothing-but-gossip-about-the-past-with-the-hope-that-it/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Sex is a continuum. You go through different phases along life's way... and if you don't, you've been sort of cheated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/sex-is-a-continuum-you-go-through-different-phases-along-life-s-way/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-able-to-read-the-alphabet-in-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I do not admire 'the people,' as such. No one really does. Their folk wisdom is usually false, their instincts predatory. Even their sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-do-not-admire-the-people-as-such-no-one-really-does-their-folk/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“One of the problems of a society as tightly controlled as ours is that we get so little information about what those of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/one-of-the-problems-of-a-society-as-tightly-controlled-as-ours-is/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) [Explore all 539 Gore Vidal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## More Journalist quotes > [If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to a semi-official statement; if they have fallen into conversation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-for-instance-they-have-heard-something-from-the-postman-they/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [Music journalists love Elvis Costello and hate me because they look like Elvis Costello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lee-roth/music-journalists-love-elvis-costello-and-hate-me-because-they-look/) [David Lee Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lee-roth/) > [I realized I couldn't be a journalist because I like to take a side, to have an opinion and a point a view; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-leibovitz/i-realized-i-couldn-t-be-a-journalist-because-i-like-to-take-a-side/) [Annie Leibovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-leibovitz/) > [The official independence celebration was going to be held over four or five days, and a group of journalists from all over the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryszard-kapuscinski/the-official-independence-celebration-was-going-to-be-held-over-four/) [Ryszard Kapuscinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryszard-kapuscinski/) > [This ball was so crowded that it took me - a trained professional journalist with vast experience in this area - forty five minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/this-ball-was-so-crowded-that-it-took-me-a-trained-professional/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [“I’m a journalist, and journalists need news. Deprive them of it, and they go a bit barking. Deprive them of news long enough, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/i-m-a-journalist-and-journalists-need-news-deprive-them-of-it-and/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [There's this American pretense, which is the pretense of the journalist with the view from nowhere - which has somehow morphed into the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/there-s-this-american-pretense-which-is-the-pretense-of-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [No-deal Brexit could be Boris Johnson's biggest deception yet - worse than the Boris bus or the lies that had him sacked as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-davey/no-deal-brexit-could-be-boris-johnson-s-biggest-deception-yet-worse/) [Ed Davey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-davey/) > [I never intended to be a journalist. Frankly, I don't think I ever was a journalist. I backed into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-shames/i-never-intended-to-be-a-journalist-frankly-i-don-t-think-i-ever-was/) [Laurence Shames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-shames/) > [A historian is not always a prophet facing backwards, but a journalist is always someone who afterwards knew everything beforehand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/a-historian-is-not-always-a-prophet-facing-backwards-but-a-journalist/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [In the end I'm still a writer. I'm still a journalist, and my first responsibility is to my readers. That's where I have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/in-the-end-i-m-still-a-writer-i-m-still-a-journalist-and-my-first/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Journalists are notoriously easy to kid. All you have to do is speak to a journalist in a very serious tone of voice, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/journalists-are-notoriously-easy-to-kid-all-you-have-to-do-is-speak/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [I was for many years myself a journalist and it is not appropriate to say a programme should not be broadcast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-monckton/i-was-for-many-years-myself-a-journalist-and-it-is-not-appropriate-to/) [Christopher Monckton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-monckton/) > [Of necessity, we made the discovery that it is easier to turn poets into business journalists than to turn bookkeepers into writers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-r-luce/of-necessity-we-made-the-discovery-that-it-is-easier-to-turn-poets/) [Henry R. 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Jon Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-jon-wertheim/) [Browse all 1,737 Journalist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "a writer must always tell the truth (unless he's a journalist)", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gore Vidal" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unless-he-s-a-journalist/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Journalist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unless-he-s-a-journalist/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/gore-vidal-466_journalist_a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unle_89079.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/gore-vidal-466_journalist_a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unle_89079.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/baf/gore-vidal-466_journalist_a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unle_89079.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“a writer must always tell the truth (unless he's a journalist)” — Gore Vidal", "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": "Gore Vidal", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "a writer must always tell the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unless-he-s-a-journalist/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/a-writer-must-always-tell-the-truth-unless-he-s-a-journalist/#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 } } ] } ```