--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: a thing may happen and be a total lie…" description: "\"“a thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer then the truth”\" — Leah Wilson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/leah-wilson-54942_allegory_a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-an_2412520.jpg" --- # a thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may… ![“a thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer then the truth” quote by Leah Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/leah-wilson-54942_allegory_a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-an_2412520.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/leah-wilson-54942_allegory_a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-an_2412520.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/leah-wilson-54942_allegory_a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-an_2412520.jpg) > ““a thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer then the truth”” [Leah Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Truth can be paradoxical; falsehoods may feel more truthful than reality, and reality can be less credible than a lie. **In simple terms:** Sometimes lies seem truer than facts. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about truth. Themes philosophy psychology perception truth relativity Mood thoughtful skeptical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal relationships - media consumption - legal testimony Key Concepts cognitive bias subjective reality narrative truth Questions to Reflect On - When have you felt a lie was more believable than truth? - What influences your perception of truth? A Different Perspective Counterpoint: Overemphasis on relativism can erode trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Allegory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory/) [Lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lies/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truths/) ## Related quotes > [A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-another-thing-may-not-happen/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [What is truer than truth? Answer: the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/what-is-truer-than-truth-answer-the-story/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [“Nothing is the truer than the Truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/nothing-is-the-truer-than-the-truth/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [People are trying to escape there own reality so much that they end up living a total lie in a fantasy world, instead of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-are-trying-to-escape-there-own-reality-so-much-that-they-end/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A lie, sometimes, can be truer than the truth, which is why fiction gets written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/a-lie-sometimes-can-be-truer-than-the-truth-which-is-why-fiction-gets/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [“Even so, a lie in print looks truer than the truth sounds from the mouth of a fool.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donal-ryan/even-so-a-lie-in-print-looks-truer-than-the-truth-sounds-from-the/) [Donal Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donal-ryan/) > [There is no truer truth obtainable by Man than comes of music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/there-is-no-truer-truth-obtainable-by-man-than-comes-of-music/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [A story is not always a lie..Some stories are truer than truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhiess-krieg/a-story-is-not-always-a-lie-some-stories-are-truer-than-truth/) [Jhiess Krieg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhiess-krieg/) > [As many truths as men. Occasionally, I glimpse a truer Truth, hiding in imperfect simulacrums of itself, but as I approach, it bestirs itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/as-many-truths-as-men-occasionally-i-glimpse-a-truer-truth-hiding-in/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Do you thinking not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth?"--Robert Redford from the 1975 movie Three Days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-grady/do-you-thinking-not-getting-caught-in-a-lie-is-the-same-thing-as/) James Grady > [“And the Latin quote across your heart? What does it mean?” “Lie about one thing, lie about it all...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gracia-williams/and-the-latin-quote-across-your-heart-what-does-it-mean-lie-about-one/) [Whitney Gracia Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-gracia-williams/) > [We tell lies when we are afraid... afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tad-williams/we-tell-lies-when-we-are-afraid-afraid-of-what-we-don-t-know-afraid/) [Tad Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tad-williams/) > [“a lie is the only thing that can remove us from our promise, the only thing that can separate us from the tangible experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-clark/a-lie-is-the-only-thing-that-can-remove-us-from-our-promise-the-only/) [Jason Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-clark/) > [What is it with you people? You think not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/what-is-it-with-you-people-you-think-not-getting-caught-in-a-lie-is/) [Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/) > [Every time we tell a lie, the thing we fear grows stronger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tad-williams/every-time-we-tell-a-lie-the-thing-we-fear-grows-stronger/) [Tad Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tad-williams/) ## More by Leah Wilson > [“the object was not to stay alive but to stay human.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-wilson/the-object-was-not-to-stay-alive-but-to-stay-human/) [Leah Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-wilson/) > [“your heart is a weapon the size of your fist. keep fighting. keep loving”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-wilson/your-heart-is-a-weapon-the-size-of-your-fist-keep-fighting-keep-loving/) [Leah Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-wilson/) > [“like it or not, what we dress in is a direct reflection of who we are personally, socially, and historically.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-wilson/like-it-or-not-what-we-dress-in-is-a-direct-reflection-of-who-we-are/) [Leah Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-wilson/) > [“Anyone who speaks Latin (gets egged by the populace for being a nerd) must have wondered from the start if Panem was a reference…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-wilson/anyone-who-speaks-latin-gets-egged-by-the-populace-for-being-a-nerd/) [Leah Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-wilson/) > [“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so sure of themselves and wiser people so full of doubt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-wilson/the-whole-problem-with-the-world-is-that-fools-and-fanatics-are-2/) [Leah Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-wilson/) [Explore all 6 Leah Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-wilson/) ## More Allegory quotes > [Science fiction is a weird category, because it's the only area of fiction I can think of where the story is not of primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/science-fiction-is-a-weird-category-because-it-s-the-only-area-of/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) > [I think cinema is closer to allegories than to reality. It's closer to our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/i-think-cinema-is-closer-to-allegories-than-to-reality-it-s-closer-to/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [Allegories are, in the realm of thought, what ruins are in the realm of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/allegories-are-in-the-realm-of-thought-what-ruins-are-in-the-realm-of/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [A fairytale is not an allegory. There may be allegory in it, but it is not an allegory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/a-fairytale-is-not-an-allegory-there-may-be-allegory-in-it-but-it-is/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“However, as a guarantee of its renewed youth, the symbolical phoenix never reappeared before the eyes of the world without having consumed solemnly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/however-as-a-guarantee-of-its-renewed-youth-the-symbolical-phoenix/) [Éliphas Lévi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [The fumes of the most disordered imaginations were recorded in their religious code, as special communications of the Deity; and as it could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-fumes-of-the-most-disordered-imaginations-were-recorded-in-their/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [By a symbol I do not mean an allegory or a sign, but an image that describes in the best possible way the dimly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/by-a-symbol-i-do-not-mean-an-allegory-or-a-sign-but-an-image-that/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I don't feel I have to struggle against allegory. I let the readers do the interpreting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-davis/i-don-t-feel-i-have-to-struggle-against-allegory-i-let-the-readers-do/) [Lydia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-davis/) > [“Hence all original religions are allegorical, or susceptible of allegory, and, like Janus, have a double face of false and true”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/hence-all-original-religions-are-allegorical-or-susceptible-of/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [It is remarkable how a man cannot summarize his thoughts in even the most general sort of way without betraying himself completely, without putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/it-is-remarkable-how-a-man-cannot-summarize-his-thoughts-in-even-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“The Durhannians' countenance lifted as is the way of Hope. There was a village elder whose eyes flickered with the light of Understanding. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-green-westlake/the-durhannians-countenance-lifted-as-is-the-way-of-hope-there-was-a/) Laurie Green Westlake > [“This philistinism of interpretation is more rife in literature than in any other art. For decades now, literary critics have understood it to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/this-philistinism-of-interpretation-is-more-rife-in-literature-than/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“On this material plane, each living being is like a street lantern lamp with a dirty lampshade. The inside flame burns evenly and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/on-this-material-plane-each-living-being-is-like-a-street-lantern/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Not taking the Bible (or other texts based on 'revealed truths') literally leaves it up to the reader to cherry-pick elements for belief. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tayler/not-taking-the-bible-or-other-texts-based-on-revealed-truths/) [Jeffrey Tayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tayler/) > [We each create a story - a narritive, a picture, an allegory, a model - for what's going on in the universe. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/we-each-create-a-story-a-narritive-a-picture-an-allegory-a-model-for/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) [Browse all 150 Allegory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“a thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer then the truth”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leah Wilson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-wilson/a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-another-thing-may-not-happen-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Allegory" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-wilson/a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-another-thing-may-not-happen-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/leah-wilson-54942_allegory_a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-an_2412520.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/leah-wilson-54942_allegory_a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-an_2412520.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5a/leah-wilson-54942_allegory_a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-an_2412520.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“a thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer then the truth” — Leah Wilson", "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": "Leah Wilson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-wilson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“a thing may happen and be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-wilson/a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-another-thing-may-not-happen-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-wilson/a-thing-may-happen-and-be-a-total-lie-another-thing-may-not-happen-2/#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 } } ] } ```