--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Truth is not truth merely because it is…" description: "\"Truth is not truth merely because it is ancient. Nor is truth necessarily to be regarded with suspicion because it is ancient.\" — Mahatma Gandhi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/mahatma-gandhi-23_ancient_truth-is-not-truth-merely-because-it-is_1302984.jpg" --- # Truth is not truth merely because it is ancient. Nor is… ![“Truth is not truth merely because it is ancient. Nor is truth necessarily to be regarded with suspicion because it is ancient.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/mahatma-gandhi-23_ancient_truth-is-not-truth-merely-because-it-is_1302984.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/mahatma-gandhi-23_ancient_truth-is-not-truth-merely-because-it-is_1302984.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee5/mahatma-gandhi-23_ancient_truth-is-not-truth-merely-because-it-is_1302984.jpg) > “Truth is not truth merely because it is ancient. Nor is truth necessarily to be regarded with suspicion because it is ancient.” [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ancient origins don't guarantee truth, nor does age automatically create doubt; evaluate ideas on merit. **In simple terms:** Age alone doesn't determine truth. Key Takeaway Assess ideas critically regardless of age. Themes truth tradition critical thinking skepticism Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic research - policy making - public discourse Key Concepts philosophy historical analysis epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance respect for tradition with critical evaluation? - When should we question long‑standing beliefs? A Different Perspective Relying solely on tradition can hinder progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Suspicion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suspicion/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [We ought never to be afraid to repeat an ancient truth, when we feel that we can make it more striking by a neater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luc-de-clapiers/we-ought-never-to-be-afraid-to-repeat-an-ancient-truth-when-we-feel/) [Luc de Clapiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luc-de-clapiers/) > [So there is no new truth, but only a fresh revelation of ancient truth, as she testified in the Scriptures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/biniam-yibaleh/so-there-is-no-new-truth-but-only-a-fresh-revelation-of-ancient-truth/) Biniam Yibaleh > [There is nothing more ancient than the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/there-is-nothing-more-ancient-than-the-truth/) [Rene Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [Custom, though never so ancient, without truth, is but an old error.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyprian/custom-though-never-so-ancient-without-truth-is-but-an-old-error/) [Cyprian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyprian/) > [You can be standing right in front of the truth and not necessarily see it, and people only get it when they're ready to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-harrison/you-can-be-standing-right-in-front-of-the-truth-and-not-necessarily/) [George Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-harrison/) > [There's certain things that people hold as truth but that are not always necessarily true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-podeswa/there-s-certain-things-that-people-hold-as-truth-but-that-are-not/) [Jeremy Podeswa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-podeswa/) > [The truth will not necessarily set you free, but truthfulness will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/the-truth-will-not-necessarily-set-you-free-but-truthfulness-will/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [Truth must necessarily be stranger than fiction, for fiction is the creation of the human mind and therefore congenial to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/truth-must-necessarily-be-stranger-than-fiction-for-fiction-is-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Aim for truth, and beauty will follow. Aim for beauty, and truth will not necessarily follow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-wachtel/aim-for-truth-and-beauty-will-follow-aim-for-beauty-and-truth-will/) Chuck Wachtel > [“He who says the truth is not necessarily truthful - On Honesty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamine-pearlheart/he-who-says-the-truth-is-not-necessarily-truthful-on-honesty/) [Lamine Pearlheart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamine-pearlheart/) > [There's truth as far as you knows it; and there's truth as far as you're asked for it. But they don't represent the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/there-s-truth-as-far-as-you-knows-it-and-there-s-truth-as-far-as-you/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“When we are asked to swear in American courts of law—that we will tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”—we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/when-we-are-asked-to-swear-in-american-courts-of-law-that-we-will/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Do not seek after truth. Merely cease to hold opinions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/do-not-seek-after-truth-merely-cease-to-hold-opinions/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [It is not our task to secure the triumph of truth, but merely to fight on its behalf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/it-is-not-our-task-to-secure-the-triumph-of-truth-but-merely-to-fight/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [A truth that is merely handed on, without being thought anew from its very foundations, has lost its vital power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/a-truth-that-is-merely-handed-on-without-being-thought-anew-from-its/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) ## More by Mahatma Gandhi > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Devotion required by the Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/devotion-required-by-the-gita-is-no-soft-hearted-effusiveness/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I do not want a kingdom, or heaven; what I want is to remove the trouble of the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-a-kingdom-or-heaven-what-i-want-is-to-remove-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Religions are not for separating men from one another, they are meant to bind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/religions-are-not-for-separating-men-from-one-another-they-are-meant/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was only in South Africa that I got over this shyness, though I never completely overcame it. It was impossible for me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-was-only-in-south-africa-that-i-got-over-this-shyness-though-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Where there is life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/where-there-is-life/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [If it was wrong to seek God in a stone, how was it right to seek Him in a book called the Gita, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/if-it-was-wrong-to-seek-god-in-a-stone-how-was-it-right-to-seek-him/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-spirit-of-democracy-cannot-be-established-in-the-midst-of/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them-a desire, a dream, a vison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/champions-are-made-from-something-they-have-deep-inside-of-them-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [My motto is "Unite now, today if you can; fight if you must. But in every case avoid British intervention."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-motto-is-unite-now-today-if-you-can-fight-if-you-must-but-in-every/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I have no disciples, being myself an aspirant after discipleship and in search of a guru.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-have-no-disciples-being-myself-an-aspirant-after-discipleship-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Man becomes not the lord and master of all creation but he is its servant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-becomes-not-the-lord-and-master-of-all-creation-but-he-is-its/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) [Explore all 3,284 Mahatma Gandhi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More Ancient quotes > [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. Wishing to order well their nations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/in-ancient-times-those-who-wished-to-illuminate-the-world-with-virtue/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I don't know if I've come of age, but I'm certainly older now. I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/those-of-us-with-this-ancient-compulsion-to-tell-stories-sometimes/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [All the stories I have told you are finally as useless as all ancient knowledge is to man and to us. Its images and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/all-the-stories-i-have-told-you-are-finally-as-useless-as-all-ancient/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/so-what-if-i-m-ninety-three-so-what-if-i-m-ancient-and-cranky-and-my/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [Science has revealed a universe that is vast, ancient, violent, strange, and beautiful, a universe of almost infinite variety and possibility one in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/science-has-revealed-a-universe-that-is-vast-ancient-violent-strange/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) [Browse all 2,415 Ancient quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Truth is not truth merely because it is ancient. 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