--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to…" description: "\"Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!\" — Nathaniel Hawthorne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_being-true_be-true-be-true-be-true-show-freely-to-t_1112466.jpg" --- # Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if… ![“Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!” quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_being-true_be-true-be-true-be-true-show-freely-to-t_1112466.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_being-true_be-true-be-true-be-true-show-freely-to-t_1112466.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbc/nathaniel-hawthorne-461_being-true_be-true-be-true-be-true-show-freely-to-t_1112466.jpg) > “Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!” [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Authenticity demands exposing both strengths and flaws, allowing others to infer deeper truths. **In simple terms:** Be honest, even about imperfections. Key Takeaway Embrace vulnerability to reveal true character. Themes authenticity self‑discovery vulnerability literature morality Mood reflective introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal journaling - confessional writing - therapy - public speaking Key Concepts self‑revelation truth‑seeking ethical honesty Questions to Reflect On - How does sharing flaws affect relationships? - When is honesty harmful? A Different Perspective May expose one to judgment or misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being true](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-true/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person/) [Shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shows/) [Trait Worst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trait-worst-2969659/) [Traits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traits/) [True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true/) [True Freely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-freely-2969660/) [True True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-true/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Worst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worst/) [Worst Trait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worst-trait-544321/) ## Related quotes > [“Among many morals which press upon us from the poor minister's miserable experience, we put only this into sentence: Be True! Be True! Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/among-many-morals-which-press-upon-us-from-the-poor-minister-s/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [My worst trait is that I'm an introvert. When I've led stuff, the hardest thing for me to overcome has been my natural desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shonda-rhimes/my-worst-trait-is-that-i-m-an-introvert-when-i-ve-led-stuff-the/) [Shonda Rhimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shonda-rhimes/) > [Jealousy is the worst trait in any person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-devine/jealousy-is-the-worst-trait-in-any-person/) [Adam DeVine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-devine/) > [The best and the worst trait of a Pisces feeling someone's pain and making it one's own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-and-the-worst-trait-of-a-pisces-feeling-someone-s-pain-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Be true to yourself. Be true to those you lead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wooden/be-true-to-yourself-be-true-to-those-you-lead/) [John Wooden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wooden/) > [Why are the ones who are too good to be true always being true to someone else?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-dodge/why-are-the-ones-who-are-too-good-to-be-true-always-being-true-to/) [Jim Dodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-dodge/) > [If we can't be true to ourselves, what can we be true to?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/if-we-can-t-be-true-to-ourselves-what-can-we-be-true-to/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [“Be true, be true, be true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/be-true-be-true-be-true/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [This above all: be true, be true, be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/this-above-all-be-true-be-true-be-true/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [When you are true to yourself, you are true to others. 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They're all true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-s-no-one-thing-that-is-true-they-re-all-true/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Everything is true, and nothing is true!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/everything-is-true-and-nothing-is-true/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [What is true is true, and what is false is false...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-swedenborg/what-is-true-is-true-and-what-is-false-is-false/) [Emanuel Swedenborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-swedenborg/) > [Fight for what is true. What is true is enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-minchin/fight-for-what-is-true-what-is-true-is-enough/) [Tim Minchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-minchin/) ## More by Nathaniel Hawthorne > [“there was something of the women molded into the great, stalwart frame of Hollingsworth; nor was he ashamed of it; as men often are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-was-something-of-the-women-molded-into-the-great-stalwart-frame/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The trees reflected in the river - they are unconscious of a spiritual world so near to them. So are we.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-trees-reflected-in-the-river-they-are-unconscious-of-a-spiritual/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The dismaying thing about the classic totalitarian mind is that any given gear, though mutilated, will have at its circumference unbroken sequences of teeth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-dismaying-thing-about-the-classic-totalitarian-mind-is-that-any/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire, I longed to kindle one!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/my-heart-was-a-habitation-large-enough-for-many-guests-but-lonely-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Wherever there is a heart and an intellect, the diseases of the physical frame are tinged with the peculiarities of these.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/wherever-there-is-a-heart-and-an-intellect-the-diseases-of-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-founders-of-a-new-colony-whatever-utopia-of-human-virtue-and/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Generosity is the flower of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/generosity-is-the-flower-of-justice/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“he seemed to be in quest for mental food, not heart sustenance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/he-seemed-to-be-in-quest-for-mental-food-not-heart-sustenance/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Unfathomable to mere mortals is the lore of fiends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/unfathomable-to-mere-mortals-is-the-lore-of-fiends/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Possibly, he was in a state of second growth and recovery, and was constantly assimilating nutriment for his spirit and intellect from sights, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/possibly-he-was-in-a-state-of-second-growth-and-recovery-and-was/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“What wonder, then, should we be frightened by the aspect of a monster, which, after all,—though we can point to every feature of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-wonder-then-should-we-be-frightened-by-the-aspect-of-a-monster/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [What we call real estate - the solid ground to build a house on - is the broad foundation on which nearly all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/what-we-call-real-estate-the-solid-ground-to-build-a-house-on-is-the/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“The bookworm of great libraries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/the-bookworm-of-great-libraries/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-are-many-things-in-this-world-that-a-child-must-not-ask-about/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) [Explore all 526 Nathaniel Hawthorne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) ## More Being true quotes > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. 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The concept is flawed. It implies that there is only one way people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-johnson/there-is-no-normal-i-ve-never-met-a-normal-person-the-concept-is/) [Maureen Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-johnson/) > [I learned a tremendous amount about what was important to me as a head coach in that I was not in charge. I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-carroll/i-learned-a-tremendous-amount-about-what-was-important-to-me-as-a/) [Pete Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-carroll/) > [Life is all about being true to yourself and what you believe in](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-biersack/life-is-all-about-being-true-to-yourself-and-what-you-believe-in/) [Andy Biersack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-biersack/) > [I have spent most of my life unlearning things that were proved not to be true](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/i-have-spent-most-of-my-life-unlearning-things-that-were-proved-not/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [It seemed too good to be true. That's grace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judah-smith/it-seemed-too-good-to-be-true-that-s-grace/) [Judah Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judah-smith/) > [You create the happiness and the balance that you have, and your own power. This is one thing that I know to be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/you-create-the-happiness-and-the-balance-that-you-have-and-your-own/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [Being true to yourself means living in truth with each person in your life. It means refusing to say or do something that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/being-true-to-yourself-means-living-in-truth-with-each-person-in-your/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/history-is-nothing-but-gossip-about-the-past-with-the-hope-that-it/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [It is not the responsibility of the enlightened teacher to bring the student to enlightenment. That may be true in the classroom, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/it-is-not-the-responsibility-of-the-enlightened-teacher-to-bring-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) [Browse all 1,447 Being true quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-true/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Be true! Be true! Be true! 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