---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A normally constituted truth lives, let…"
description: "\"“A normally constituted truth lives, let us say, as a rule seventeen or eighteen, or at most twenty years—seldom longer.”\" — Henrik Ibsen"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/henrik-ibsen-1419_truth_a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-u_991097.jpg"
---

#  A normally constituted truth lives, let us say, as a rule…

![“A normally constituted truth lives, let us say, as a rule seventeen or eighteen, or at most twenty years—seldom longer.” quote by Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/henrik-ibsen-1419_truth_a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-u_991097.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/henrik-ibsen-1419_truth_a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-u_991097.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/henrik-ibsen-1419_truth_a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-u_991097.jpg)

> ““A normally constituted truth lives, let us say, as a rule seventeen or eighteen, or at most twenty years—seldom longer.””

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The quote suggests that most truths have a limited lifespan, rarely persisting beyond a couple of decades before becoming outdated.

**In simple terms:** Truths often become outdated after twenty years.

Key Takeaway

Question assumptions regularly.

Themes

philosophy epistemology temporal limits

Mood

analytical critical

Type

philosophical inquisitive

When to use this quote

- academic research
- policy making
- media reporting
- personal beliefs

Key Concepts

truth lifespan cultural change historical context

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you test the longevity of a belief?
- When should you revise long‑standing ideas?

A Different Perspective

Some truths may endure longer than expected.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/)

## Related quotes

> [Truth lives in the spaces between words. It defies translation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/truth-lives-in-the-spaces-between-words-it-defies-translation/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Any woman or man who would write the truth of their lives would write a great work. But no one has dared to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isadora-duncan/any-woman-or-man-who-would-write-the-truth-of-their-lives-would-write/)

[Isadora Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isadora-duncan/)

> [Truth is what works. Truth lives, in fact, for the most part on a credit system. Our thoughts and beliefs pass, so long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/truth-is-what-works-truth-lives-in-fact-for-the-most-part-on-a-credit/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [We are so busy that the truth about our lives can't catch up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/we-are-so-busy-that-the-truth-about-our-lives-can-t-catch-up/)

[Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/)

> [A lie has a short life, but truth lives on for ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sreenadh/a-lie-has-a-short-life-but-truth-lives-on-for-ever/)

[Sreenadh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sreenadh/)

> [Truth is a nebulous thing. There are certain, definite truths, but the truth of our lives goes far beyond facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/truth-is-a-nebulous-thing-there-are-certain-definite-truths-but-the/)

[Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/)

> [Truth lives in the cellar, error on the doorstep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/truth-lives-in-the-cellar-error-on-the-doorstep/)

[Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/)

> [All people know the same truth. Our lives consist of how we choose to distort it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/all-people-know-the-same-truth-our-lives-consist-of-how-we-choose-to/)

[Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/)

> [Documentaries deal with people who live real, everyday lives. But if these people trusted us and told us the truth about their lives, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krzysztof-kieslowski/documentaries-deal-with-people-who-live-real-everyday-lives-but-if/)

[Krzysztof Kieslowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krzysztof-kieslowski/)

> [The only part of you that hurts when you're given the truth is the part that lives on lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-molyneux/the-only-part-of-you-that-hurts-when-you-re-given-the-truth-is-the/)

[Stefan Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-molyneux/)

> [“Fiction is the most dangerous place in the world; that’s where truth lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karina-szczurek/fiction-is-the-most-dangerous-place-in-the-world-that-s-where-truth/)

[Karina Szczurek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karina-szczurek/)

> [“It is impossible to be far from truth which lives inside your heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/it-is-impossible-to-be-far-from-truth-which-lives-inside-your-heart/)

[Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/)

> [No religion knows the truth. Only he or she who lives it knows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-long/no-religion-knows-the-truth-only-he-or-she-who-lives-it-knows/)

[Barry Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-long/)

> [Truth lives, in fact, for the most part on a credit system. Our thoughts and beliefs pass, so long as nothing challenges them, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/truth-lives-in-fact-for-the-most-part-on-a-credit-system-our-thoughts/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [Truth lives on in the midst of deception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/truth-lives-on-in-the-midst-of-deception/)

[Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/)

## More by Henrik Ibsen

> [The majority is never right. Never, I tell you! That's one of these lies in society that no free and intelligent man can help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/the-majority-is-never-right-never-i-tell-you-that-s-one-of-these-lies/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [What's to become of the morally sound? Left out in the cold, I suppose. We must heal the sick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/what-s-to-become-of-the-morally-sound-left-out-in-the-cold-i-suppose/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [When we dead awaken ... we see that we have never lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/when-we-dead-awaken-we-see-that-we-have-never-lived/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [“To be oneself on a basis of gold is no better than founding one’s house on the sand. For your watch, and your ring,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/to-be-oneself-on-a-basis-of-gold-is-no-better-than-founding-one-s/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [Look into any man's heart you please, and you will always find, in every one, at least one black spot which he has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/look-into-any-man-s-heart-you-please-and-you-will-always-find-in/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [Different people have different duties assigned them by Nature; Nature has given one the power or the desire to do this, the other that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/different-people-have-different-duties-assigned-them-by-nature-nature/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [There is always a risk in being alive, and if you are more alive, there is more risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/there-is-always-a-risk-in-being-alive-and-if-you-are-more-alive-there/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [It is not for a care-free existence I am fighting, but for the possibility of devoting myself to the task which I believe and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/it-is-not-for-a-care-free-existence-i-am-fighting-but-for-the/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [“Nora: It's true Torvald. When I lived at home with Papa, he used to tell me his opinion about everything, and so I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/nora-it-s-true-torvald-when-i-lived-at-home-with-papa-he-used-to-tell/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [Each bird must sing with his own throat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/each-bird-must-sing-with-his-own-throat/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [I propose to raise a revolution against the lie that the majority has the monopoly of the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/i-propose-to-raise-a-revolution-against-the-lie-that-the-majority-has/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [But I almost think we are all of us ghosts. It is not only what we have inherited from our father and mother that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/but-i-almost-think-we-are-all-of-us-ghosts-it-is-not-only-what-we/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [“A thousand words leave not the same deep impression as does a single deed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/a-thousand-words-leave-not-the-same-deep-impression-as-does-a-single/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [Home life ceases to be free and beautiful as soon as it is founded on borrowing and debt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/home-life-ceases-to-be-free-and-beautiful-as-soon-as-it-is-founded-on/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

> [“You see, the fact is that the strongest man upon earth is he who stands most alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/you-see-the-fact-is-that-the-strongest-man-upon-earth-is-he-who/)

[Henrik Ibsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

[Explore all 229 Henrik Ibsen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/)

## More Truth quotes

> [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/)

[Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/)

> [High school sucked. It was a universal truth, and whoever said these were supposed to be the best years of your life was probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/high-school-sucked-it-was-a-universal-truth-and-whoever-said-these/)

[Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/)

> [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/)

[Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/)

> [“The truth is heavier than a sword.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naiyem-chowdhury-rony/the-truth-is-heavier-than-a-sword/)

[Naiyem Chowdhury Rony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naiyem-chowdhury-rony/)

> [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/)

[Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/)

> [I could program a 'fabulous, I love it' kind of hit season right now. I'm more interested in breaking boundaries, telling a story, defying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-wolfe/i-could-program-a-fabulous-i-love-it-kind-of-hit-season-right-now-i-m/)

[George C. Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-wolfe/)

> [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/)

[Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/)

> [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [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/)

> [I always believed that photography was subjective, interpretive and certainly did not represent the truth, but I did think that its status as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-ritchin/i-always-believed-that-photography-was-subjective-interpretive-and/)

[Fred Ritchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-ritchin/)

> [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [The greatest act of courage is to be and to ownall of who you are—without apology, without excuses, without masks to cover the truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-ford/the-greatest-act-of-courage-is-to-be-and-to-ownall-of-who-you-are/)

[Debbie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-ford/)

> [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/)

[Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/)

> [“The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose, Sergeant,’ Anthony Payne replied. ‘That is from The Merchant of Venice, but it holds great truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-arnold/the-devil-can-cite-scripture-for-his-purpose-sergeant-anthony-payne/)

Michael Arnold

> [Logic is essentially a tool for getting at truth; it is the tool, for without it no reasoning is possible in any field of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oderberg/logic-is-essentially-a-tool-for-getting-at-truth-it-is-the-tool-for/)

David Oderberg

[Browse all 45,081 Truth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“A normally constituted truth lives, let us say, as a rule seventeen or eighteen, or at most twenty years—seldom longer.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Henrik Ibsen"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-us-say-as-a-rule-seventeen-or/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Truth"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-us-say-as-a-rule-seventeen-or/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/henrik-ibsen-1419_truth_a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-u_991097.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/henrik-ibsen-1419_truth_a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-u_991097.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6cc/henrik-ibsen-1419_truth_a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-u_991097.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A normally constituted truth lives, let us say, as a rule seventeen or eighteen, or at most twenty…” — Henrik Ibsen",
                "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": "Henrik Ibsen",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrik-ibsen/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“A normally constituted truth lives, let...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-us-say-as-a-rule-seventeen-or/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-ibsen/a-normally-constituted-truth-lives-let-us-say-as-a-rule-seventeen-or/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
