--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our test of truth is a reference to…" description: "\"Our test of truth is a reference to either a present or imagined future majority in favour of our view.\" — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-1986_favour_our-test-of-truth-is-a-reference-to-eith_2081306.png" --- # Our test of truth is a reference to either a present or… ![“Our test of truth is a reference to either a present or imagined future majority in favour of our view.” quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-1986_favour_our-test-of-truth-is-a-reference-to-eith_2081306.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-1986_favour_our-test-of-truth-is-a-reference-to-eith_2081306.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-1986_favour_our-test-of-truth-is-a-reference-to-eith_2081306.png) > “Our test of truth is a reference to either a present or imagined future majority in favour of our view.” [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) ## 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 judged by majority acceptance now or in the imagined future, not by absolute certainty. **In simple terms:** Truth depends on majority view. Key Takeaway Consider prevailing perspectives. Themes truth majority legal standards Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical legal When to use this quote - court rulings - public opinion - policy making - media narratives Key Concepts social consensus future projection Questions to Reflect On - How do we protect minority truths? - When should dissent be valued over consensus? A Different Perspective Minorities may be suppressed by majority bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Tests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tests/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [The future is usually imagined as either better or worse than the present. If the imagined future is better, it gives you hope or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-future-is-usually-imagined-as-either-better-or-worse-than-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [But when men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe...that the best test of truth is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/but-when-men-have-realized-that-time-has-upset-many-fighting-faiths/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [“He imagined a future in which he could read everything, in which all stories could be opened and discovered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/he-imagined-a-future-in-which-he-could-read-everything-in-which-all/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [It is youth’s felicity as well as its insufficiency that it can never live in the present, but must always be measuring up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/it-is-youth-s-felicity-as-well-as-its-insufficiency-that-it-can-never-2/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [He missed his imagined future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/he-missed-his-imagined-future/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Bod was thrilled. He imagined a future in which he could read everything, in which all stories could be opened and discovered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/bod-was-thrilled-he-imagined-a-future-in-which-he-could-read/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“life had been building potential, potential that would now go unrealized. I had planned to do so much, and I had come so close.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/life-had-been-building-potential-potential-that-would-now-go/) [Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) > [“My imagined future and my personal identity collapsed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/my-imagined-future-and-my-personal-identity-collapsed/) [Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) > [“It is youth’s felicity as well as its insufficiency that it can never live in the present, but must always be measuring up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/it-is-youth-s-felicity-as-well-as-its-insufficiency-that-it-can-never/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [All we really have when we pretend to write about the future is the moment in which we are writing. That's why every imagined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/all-we-really-have-when-we-pretend-to-write-about-the-future-is-the/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Actually, I wanted to become a journalist, but no matter who I imagined myself to be in the future, somehow I was sure: I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irina-shayk/actually-i-wanted-to-become-a-journalist-but-no-matter-who-i-imagined/) [Irina Shayk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irina-shayk/) > [“He missed that, too, and it hadn't even happened. He missed his imagined future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/he-missed-that-too-and-it-hadn-t-even-happened-he-missed-his-imagined/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [In my time, we didn't know songs could last. All we ever thought of was next Tuesday. You never imagined a future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan/in-my-time-we-didn-t-know-songs-could-last-all-we-ever-thought-of-was/) [Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan/) > [Fear is always the result of an unquestioned past imagined as a future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/fear-is-always-the-result-of-an-unquestioned-past-imagined-as-a-future/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) > [“Chaol still didn’t know what to do about it, or what it meant for them, for the life he’d imagined for them. The future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/chaol-still-didn-t-know-what-to-do-about-it-or-what-it-meant-for-them/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) ## More by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Blood is a destiny. One's genius descends in the stream from long lines of ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/blood-is-a-destiny-one-s-genius-descends-in-the-stream-from-long/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [If you don't know what you want, you will probably never get it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/if-you-don-t-know-what-you-want-you-will-probably-never-get-it/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Any two philosophers can tell each other all they know in two hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/any-two-philosophers-can-tell-each-other-all-they-know-in-two-hours/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It is mere childishness to expect men to believe as their fathers did; that is, if they have any minds of their own. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/it-is-mere-childishness-to-expect-men-to-believe-as-their-fathers-did/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Longevity is having a chronic disease - and taking care of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/longevity-is-having-a-chronic-disease-and-taking-care-of-it/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [As for the excellent little wretches who grow up in what they are taught, with never a scruple or a query, ... they signify…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/as-for-the-excellent-little-wretches-who-grow-up-in-what-they-are/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [On every stem, on every leaf,... and at the root of everything that grew, was a professional specialist in the shape of grub, caterpillar,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/on-every-stem-on-every-leaf-and-at-the-root-of-everything-that-grew/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Three generations of imbeciles are enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/three-generations-of-imbeciles-are-enough/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [A good soldier, like a good horse, cannot be of a bad color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/a-good-soldier-like-a-good-horse-cannot-be-of-a-bad-color/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Free competition is worth more to society than it costs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/free-competition-is-worth-more-to-society-than-it-costs/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Systems die; instincts remain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/systems-die-instincts-remain/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [In my opinion, economists and sociologists are the people to whom we ought to turn more than we do for instruction in the grounds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/in-my-opinion-economists-and-sociologists-are-the-people-to-whom-we/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [The great end of being is to harmonize man with the order of things, and the church has been a good pitch-pipe, and may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/the-great-end-of-being-is-to-harmonize-man-with-the-order-of-things/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, I see no remedy but force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/between-two-groups-of-people-who-want-to-make-inconsistent-kinds-of/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) [Explore all 193 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) ## More Favour quotes > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [Since, O sweet Lord Jesus, Thou art the present portion of Thy people, favour us this year with such a sense of Thy preciousness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/since-o-sweet-lord-jesus-thou-art-the-present-portion-of-thy-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I love him who is ashamed when the dice fall in his favour, and who then asketh: "Am I a dishonest player?" - for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-love-him-who-is-ashamed-when-the-dice-fall-in-his-favour-and-who/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [What we need in South Africa is for egos to be suppressed in favour of peace. 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