--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Though truth and falsehood be Near twins…" description: "\"Though truth and falsehood be Near twins, yet truth a little elder is.\" — John Donne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/john-donne-933_elders_though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins_657989.png" --- # Though truth and falsehood be Near twins, yet truth a… ![“Though truth and falsehood be Near twins, yet truth a little elder is.” quote by John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/john-donne-933_elders_though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins_657989.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/john-donne-933_elders_though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins_657989.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/john-donne-933_elders_though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins_657989.png) > “Though truth and falsehood be Near twins, yet truth a little elder is.” [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) ## 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 older than falsehood, even though they appear as twins. **In simple terms:** Truth predates lies. Key Takeaway Recognize truth’s deeper age. Themes philosophy truth falsehood poetry Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - ethical debates - literary studies - personal introspection - truth-seeking dialogues Key Concepts temporal hierarchy ethical discernment literary analysis metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate truth from deception? - Why does falsehood seem younger? A Different Perspective Truth may be harder to accept than falsehood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elders/) [Falsehood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehood/) [Falsehood Near](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehood-near-5248860/) [Little Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-elder-5248859/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth and falsehood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-and-falsehood/) [Truth Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-little-313840/) [Twins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twins/) [Twins Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twins-truth-5248858/) ## Related quotes > [A knowledge of truth is of little value unless lived in full measure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-scott/a-knowledge-of-truth-is-of-little-value-unless-lived-in-full-measure/) [Richard G. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-scott/) > [You have to feel your own personal truth with a little ‘t’ – your sadness, rage, frustration for example -- in order to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-rydall/you-have-to-feel-your-own-personal-truth-with-a-little-t-your-sadness/) [Derek Rydall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-rydall/) > [Art: to nudge truth along a little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-renard/art-to-nudge-truth-along-a-little/) [Jules Renard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-renard/) > [Fiction is most powerful when it contains most truth; and there is little truth we get so true as that which we find in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/fiction-is-most-powerful-when-it-contains-most-truth-and-there-is/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [“I figured I'd embellish the truth a little, since the police might not be up on the finer points of bounty hunterism and might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-evanovich/i-figured-i-d-embellish-the-truth-a-little-since-the-police-might-not/) [Janet Evanovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-evanovich/) > [Novels must have verisimilitude, and truth has little enough of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-auchincloss/novels-must-have-verisimilitude-and-truth-has-little-enough-of-that/) [Louis Auchincloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-auchincloss/) > [I never fully lie, but I'll twist the truth. But I never tell a blatant full lie. And it's probably in every single interview…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-crosby/i-never-fully-lie-but-i-ll-twist-the-truth-but-i-never-tell-a-blatant/) [Charlotte Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-crosby/) > [“Do you want to know the difference between a good story and the truth? . . . The little bits, Robert Morgan.That's all. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-baker/do-you-want-to-know-the-difference-between-a-good-story-and-the-truth/) [Tiffany Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-baker/) > [It always takes the truth a little bit longer to cross the finish line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-basinger/it-always-takes-the-truth-a-little-bit-longer-to-cross-the-finish-line/) [Kim Basinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-basinger/) > [I know every politician spins the truth a little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/i-know-every-politician-spins-the-truth-a-little/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Laughter makes the bitter swallowing of truth, for some, a little easier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/laughter-makes-the-bitter-swallowing-of-truth-for-some-a-little-easier/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [Once torched by truth...a little thing like faith is easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leif-enger/once-torched-by-truth-a-little-thing-like-faith-is-easy/) [Leif Enger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leif-enger/) > [The truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. Little men are dissolved in it. If there is any gold, truth makes it shine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adela-rogers-st-johns/the-truth-the-whole-truth-nothing-but-the-truth-little-men-are/) [Adela Rogers St. Johns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adela-rogers-st-johns/) > [Too many activists have convinced themselves that they have a monopoly on truth. A little humility and a sense of history could move us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/too-many-activists-have-convinced-themselves-that-they-have-a/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sid-caesar/comedy-has-to-be-based-on-truth-you-take-the-truth-and-you-put-a/) [Sid Caesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sid-caesar/) ## More by John Donne > [Our critical day is not the very day of our death; but the whole course of our life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/our-critical-day-is-not-the-very-day-of-our-death-but-the-whole/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [But I do nothing upon myself, and yet I am my own executioner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/but-i-do-nothing-upon-myself-and-yet-i-am-my-own-executioner/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/all-mankind-is-of-one-author-and-is-one-volume-when-one-man-dies-one/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats and drink and air and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/we-study-health-and-we-deliberate-upon-our-meats-and-drink-and-air/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Commemoration of Pandita Mary Ramabai, Translator of the Scriptures, 1922 A memory of yesterday's pleasures, a fear of tomorrow's dangers, a straw under my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/commemoration-of-pandita-mary-ramabai-translator-of-the-scriptures/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Various content To your eyes, ears, and tongue, and every part. If then your body go, what need you a heart?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/various-content-to-your-eyes-ears-and-tongue-and-every-part-if-then/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [“Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ; That I may rise,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/batter-my-heart-three-person-d-god-for-you-as-yet-but-knock-breathe/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Young men mend not their sight by using old men's spectacles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/young-men-mend-not-their-sight-by-using-old-men-s-spectacles/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [That which attempts to elevate the ugly to the level of beauty becomes neither; but an obscenity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/that-which-attempts-to-elevate-the-ugly-to-the-level-of-beauty/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [For I am every dead thing In whom love wrought new alchemy For his art did express A quintessence even from nothingness, From dull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/for-i-am-every-dead-thing-in-whom-love-wrought-new-alchemy-for-his/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [As states subsist in part by keeping their weaknesses from being known, so is it the quiet of families to have their chancery and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/as-states-subsist-in-part-by-keeping-their-weaknesses-from-being/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [All Kings, and all their favorites, All glory of honors, beauties, wits, The sun itself, which makes times, as they pass, Is elder by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/all-kings-and-all-their-favorites-all-glory-of-honors-beauties-wits/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [On a huge hill, Cragged, and steep, Truth stands, and hee that will Reach her, about must, and about must goo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/on-a-huge-hill-cragged-and-steep-truth-stands-and-hee-that-will-reach/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [How many times go we to comedies, to masques, to places of great and noble resort, nay even to church only to see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/how-many-times-go-we-to-comedies-to-masques-to-places-of-great-and/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy, or charms, can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/thou-art-slave-to-fate-chance-kings-and-desperate-men-and-dost-with/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) [Explore all 325 John Donne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) ## More Elders quotes > [The millennials were raised in a cocoon, their anxious parents afraid to let them go out in the park to play. So should we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/the-millennials-were-raised-in-a-cocoon-their-anxious-parents-afraid/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [The playthings of our elders are called business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/the-playthings-of-our-elders-are-called-business/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [Despite my mentors advice that I would never go to heaven fishing with a weighted nymph and a float, I took it up. (As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/despite-my-mentors-advice-that-i-would-never-go-to-heaven-fishing/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [I see film as a real opportunity to examine the human condition. No matter where the technology goes in the future, the basics don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-schultz/i-see-film-as-a-real-opportunity-to-examine-the-human-condition-no/) [Michael Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-schultz/) > [Most people think that aging is irreversible and we know that there are mechanisms even in the human machinery that allow for the reversal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/most-people-think-that-aging-is-irreversible-and-we-know-that-there/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [In Afghanistan, I was talking to Afghan elders who were world-weary of a lack of sustained attention from their own government and from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-cox/in-afghanistan-i-was-talking-to-afghan-elders-who-were-world-weary-of/) [Jo Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-cox/) > [Remember that the progress of the world depends on your knowing better than your elders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/remember-that-the-progress-of-the-world-depends-on-your-knowing/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [I was brought up to respect my elders, so now I don't have to respect anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-burns/i-was-brought-up-to-respect-my-elders-so-now-i-don-t-have-to-respect/) [George Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-burns/) > [“the New Testament offers more instruction regarding elders than on other important church subjects such as the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s Day, baptism, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-strauch/the-new-testament-offers-more-instruction-regarding-elders-than-on/) [Alexander Strauch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-strauch/) > [Phaedra shook her head. “If your people mean no offense, they should not speak their thoughts out loud in front of their children, Tesadora.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/phaedra-shook-her-head-if-your-people-mean-no-offense-they-should-not/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/long-before-i-wrote-stories-i-listened-for-stories-listening-for-them/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“The young man pities his elders, fearing the day he, too, will join their ranks. The elderly man pities the younger generation, well-knowing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-i-fisher/the-young-man-pities-his-elders-fearing-the-day-he-too-will-join/) [Lynda I Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-i-fisher/) > [The fruit of humanity is devotion to one's parents. The fruit of righteousness is to respect one's elders. The fruit of wisdom is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mencius/the-fruit-of-humanity-is-devotion-to-one-s-parents-the-fruit-of/) [Mencius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mencius/) > [As a woman of color, I always pay homage to my ancestors and elders - in the industry in particular - who have paved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/da-vine-joy-randolph/as-a-woman-of-color-i-always-pay-homage-to-my-ancestors-and-elders-in/) [Da'Vine Joy Randolph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/da-vine-joy-randolph/) > [ \[Footnote:\] Pliny the Elder described a Whale called "Balaena or Whirlpool, which is so long and broad as to take up more in length… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cuppy/footnote-pliny-the-elder-described-a-whale-called-balaena-or/) [Will Cuppy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cuppy/) [Browse all 536 Elders quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elders/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Though truth and falsehood be Near twins, yet truth a little elder is.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Donne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins-yet-truth-a-little-elder-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Elders" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins-yet-truth-a-little-elder-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/john-donne-933_elders_though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins_657989.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/john-donne-933_elders_though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins_657989.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/john-donne-933_elders_though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins_657989.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Though truth and falsehood be Near twins, yet truth a little elder is.” — John Donne", "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": "John Donne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Though truth and falsehood be Near...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins-yet-truth-a-little-elder-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins-yet-truth-a-little-elder-is/#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 } } ] } ```