--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In any event, a truth that disheartens…" description: "\"In any event, a truth that disheartens, because it is true, is still of far more value than the most stimulating of falsehoods.\" — Maurice Maeterlinck" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/maurice-maeterlinck-3952_falsehood_in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-be_2570663.jpg" --- # In any event, a truth that disheartens, because it is… ![“In any event, a truth that disheartens, because it is true, is still of far more value than the most stimulating of falsehoods.” quote by Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/maurice-maeterlinck-3952_falsehood_in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-be_2570663.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/maurice-maeterlinck-3952_falsehood_in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-be_2570663.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/maurice-maeterlinck-3952_falsehood_in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-be_2570663.jpg) > “In any event, a truth that disheartens, because it is true, is still of far more value than the most stimulating of falsehoods.” [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A painful truth, though disheartening, holds more value than an alluring falsehood. **In simple terms:** Truth is valuable despite discomfort. Key Takeaway Seek truth over comforting lies. Themes truth value discomfort knowledge Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - journalistic reporting - scientific research - personal decisions Key Concepts philosophical realism ethical integrity Questions to Reflect On - When is it better to hide a truth? - How do we balance truth with compassion? A Different Perspective Truth can be socially disruptive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Falsehood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehood/) [Falsehoods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehoods/) [Good life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-life/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth and falsehood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-and-falsehood/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [A truth that disheartens because it is true is of more value than the most stimulating of falsehoods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/a-truth-that-disheartens-because-it-is-true-is-of-more-value-than-the/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [The truth that seems discouraging does in reality only transform the courage of those strong enough to accept it; and, in any event, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/the-truth-that-seems-discouraging-does-in-reality-only-transform-the/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/falsehood-flies-and-the-truth-comes-limping-after-it/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [This (functional - E.W.) language controls by reducing the linguistic forms and symbols of reflection, abstraction, development, contradiction; by substituting images for concepts. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/this-functional-e-w-language-controls-by-reducing-the-linguistic/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Philosophers talk about truth and falsehood. People in life talk about payoff, exposure, and consequences (risks and rewards), hence fragility and antifragility. And sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/philosophers-talk-about-truth-and-falsehood-people-in-life-talk-about/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [True and False are attributes of speech, not of things. And where speech is not, there is neither Truth nor Falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hobbes/true-and-false-are-attributes-of-speech-not-of-things-and-where/) [Thomas Hobbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hobbes/) > [The ultimate truth is penultimately a falsehood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-ultimate-truth-is-penultimately-a-falsehood/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Belief is with them mechanical, voluntary: they believe what they are paid for - they swear to that which turns to account. Do you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/belief-is-with-them-mechanical-voluntary-they-believe-what-they-are/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [the senses alone are not implicitly to be depended on. We must correct their evidence by reason, and by considerations, derived from the nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-senses-alone-are-not-implicitly-to-be-depended-on-we-must-correct/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Though truth and falsehood be Near twins, yet truth a little elder is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/though-truth-and-falsehood-be-near-twins-yet-truth-a-little-elder-is/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [. . . is to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing Darkness. It cannot be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/is-to-attempt-seeing-truth-without-knowing-falsehood-it-is-the/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Reason, in a strict sense, as meaning the judgment of truth and falsehood, can never, of itself, be any motive to the will, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/reason-in-a-strict-sense-as-meaning-the-judgment-of-truth-and/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [For politicians truth and falsehood are unimportant. So I never could become a politician - not even a church politician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-niemoller/for-politicians-truth-and-falsehood-are-unimportant-so-i-never-could/) [Martin Niemoller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-niemoller/) > [Truth and falsehood are opposed; but truth is the norm not of truth only but of falsehood also.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/truth-and-falsehood-are-opposed-but-truth-is-the-norm-not-of-truth/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## More by Maurice Maeterlinck > [Happiness is rarely absent; it is we that know not of its presence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/happiness-is-rarely-absent-it-is-we-that-know-not-of-its-presence/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [He who sees without loving is only straining his eyes in the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/he-who-sees-without-loving-is-only-straining-his-eyes-in-the-darkness/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [We are never the same with others as when we are alone. We are different, even when we are in the dark with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/we-are-never-the-same-with-others-as-when-we-are-alone-we-are/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [The living are just the dead on holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/the-living-are-just-the-dead-on-holiday/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [“I believe that poems die the moment they are outwardly expressed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/i-believe-that-poems-die-the-moment-they-are-outwardly-expressed/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [“Should we not invariably act in this life as though the God whom our heart desires with its highest desire were watching our every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/should-we-not-invariably-act-in-this-life-as-though-the-god-whom-our/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [“At every crossway on the road that leads to the future, each progressive spirit is opposed by a thousand men appointed to guard the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/at-every-crossway-on-the-road-that-leads-to-the-future-each/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [“Our lives must be spent seeking our God, for God hides; but His artifices, once they be known, seem so simple and smiling! From…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/our-lives-must-be-spent-seeking-our-god-for-god-hides-but-his/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [“The angels that dry our eyes bear the form and the features of all we have said and thought—above all, of what we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/the-angels-that-dry-our-eyes-bear-the-form-and-the-features-of-all-we/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [What man is there that does not laboriously, though all unconsciously, himself fashion the sorrow that is to be the pivot of his life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/what-man-is-there-that-does-not-laboriously-though-all-unconsciously/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [“For it is our most secret desire that governs and dominates all. If your eyes look for nothing but evil, you will always see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/for-it-is-our-most-secret-desire-that-governs-and-dominates-all-if/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [It is not from reason that justice springs, but goodness is born of wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/it-is-not-from-reason-that-justice-springs-but-goodness-is-born-of/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [To disdain today is to prove that yesterday has been misunderstood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/to-disdain-today-is-to-prove-that-yesterday-has-been-misunderstood/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future, tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/at-every-crossroads-on-the-path-that-leads-to-the-future-tradition/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) > [“Niemand is waarlijk mijn vriend, voordat we geleerd hebben in elkanders tegenwoordigheid te zwijgen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/niemand-is-waarlijk-mijn-vriend-voordat-we-geleerd-hebben-in/) [Maurice Maeterlinck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) [Explore all 114 Maurice Maeterlinck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/) ## More Falsehood quotes > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [falsehood is not more unjustifiable than unsafe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-burney/falsehood-is-not-more-unjustifiable-than-unsafe/) [Fanny Burney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-burney/) > [THE ART OF PEACE is not easy. It is a fight to the finish, the slaying of evil desires and all falsehood within. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/the-art-of-peace-is-not-easy-it-is-a-fight-to-the-finish-the-slaying/) [Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/) > [ A mind conscious of right laughs at the falsehoods of rumour. \[Lat., Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/a-mind-conscious-of-right-laughs-at-the-falsehoods-of-rumour-lat/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“Falsehood of a good man is better than truth of a bad one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/falsehood-of-a-good-man-is-better-than-truth-of-a-bad-one/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [So true is it that all transactions of preeminent importance are wrapt in doubt and obscurity; while some hold for certain facts the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/so-true-is-it-that-all-transactions-of-preeminent-importance-are/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught in falsehood's school, and the one man that dares to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/strange-times-are-these-in-which-we-live-when-old-and-young-are/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Tangible language, which often tells more falsehoods than truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/tangible-language-which-often-tells-more-falsehoods-than-truths/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Whether statistics be an art or a science... or a scientific art, we concern ourselves little. It is the basis of social and political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolphe-quetelet/whether-statistics-be-an-art-or-a-science-or-a-scientific-art-we/) [Adolphe Quetelet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolphe-quetelet/) > [Falsehood, like the dry-rot, flourishes the more in proportion as air and light are excluded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/falsehood-like-the-dry-rot-flourishes-the-more-in-proportion-as-air/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [“God is not as a man.” He thus shows that all men are indeed guilty of falsehood, inasmuch as they change from one thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-church-fathers/god-is-not-as-a-man-he-thus-shows-that-all-men-are-indeed-guilty-of/) The Church Fathers > [People who do not know the Bible well have been gulled into thinking it is a good guide to morality. This mistaken view may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/people-who-do-not-know-the-bible-well-have-been-gulled-into-thinking/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [One of the reasons, surely, why women have been credited with less perfect veracity than men is that the burden of conventional falsehood falls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-reasons-surely-why-women-have-been-credited-with-less/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He had the unlucky capacity many men have of seeing and believing in the possibility of goodness and truth, but of seeing the evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-had-the-unlucky-capacity-many-men-have-of-seeing-and-believing-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Browse all 724 Falsehood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In any event, a truth that disheartens, because it is true, is still of far more value than the most stimulating of falsehoods.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maurice Maeterlinck" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-because-it-is-true-is-still-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Falsehood" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-because-it-is-true-is-still-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/maurice-maeterlinck-3952_falsehood_in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-be_2570663.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/maurice-maeterlinck-3952_falsehood_in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-be_2570663.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/maurice-maeterlinck-3952_falsehood_in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-be_2570663.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In any event, a truth that disheartens, because it is true, is still of far more value than the most…” — Maurice Maeterlinck", "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": "Maurice Maeterlinck", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-maeterlinck/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In any event, a truth that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-because-it-is-true-is-still-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-maeterlinck/in-any-event-a-truth-that-disheartens-because-it-is-true-is-still-of/#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 } } ] } ```