--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The truth can be like people,” he…" description: "\"“The truth can be like people,” he repeated. “How so?” “Sometimes,” the side of his mouth tugged upward with a humorless smile, “it’s real ugly.”\" — Pe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/penny-reid-1063_truth_the-truth-can-be-like-people-he-repeated_1597037.jpg" --- # The truth can be like people,” he repeated. “How so?”… ![“The truth can be like people,” he repeated. “How so?” “Sometimes,” the side of his mouth tugged upward with a humorless smile, “it’s real ugly.” quote by Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/penny-reid-1063_truth_the-truth-can-be-like-people-he-repeated_1597037.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/penny-reid-1063_truth_the-truth-can-be-like-people-he-repeated_1597037.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d42/penny-reid-1063_truth_the-truth-can-be-like-people-he-repeated_1597037.jpg) > ““The truth can be like people,” he repeated. “How so?” “Sometimes,” the side of his mouth tugged upward with a humorless smile, “it’s real ugly.”” [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) ## 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 ugly, and confronting it may bring discomfort. **In simple terms:** Truth can be ugly. Key Takeaway Accept uncomfortable truths. Themes truth beauty discomfort Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - relationships - self‑reflection - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts moral philosophy personal honesty Questions to Reflect On - When have you avoided an ugly truth? - What benefits arise from facing reality? A Different Perspective Denial can protect but also hinder growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humorless Smile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humorless-smile-6065060/) [Real Ugly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-ugly-611919/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-like/) [Ugly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ugly/) [Upward Humorless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/upward-humorless-6065061/) ## Related quotes > [“Real ugly girls have it tough. I feel so sorry for them sometimes. Sometimes I can't even look at them, especially if they're with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/real-ugly-girls-have-it-tough-i-feel-so-sorry-for-them-sometimes-2/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [“Real ugly endings are better than fake happily ever after's”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/real-ugly-endings-are-better-than-fake-happily-ever-after-s/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [Jake Robert's wife is real ugly, but according to him that's nothing a six pack and a light switch can't fix.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-lawler/jake-robert-s-wife-is-real-ugly-but-according-to-him-that-s-nothing-a/) [Jerry Lawler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-lawler/) > [Real ugly girls have it tough. I feel so sorry for them sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-ugly-girls-have-it-tough-i-feel-so-sorry-for-them-sometimes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Truth is like the sun, you see it if you wake up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-cb/truth-is-like-the-sun-you-see-it-if-you-wake-up/) [Jonas CB](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-cb/) > [“the good thing about the truth is it’s true, and there’s no arguing with the truth. 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I like you alot. you make me happy. you make me laugh. you're smart. you're different, you're a little crazy and awkward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/she-s-broken/the-truth-i-like-you-alot-you-make-me-happy-you-make-me-laugh-you-re/) [She's\_broken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/she-s-broken/) > [Receiving a new truth is like adding a new sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/receiving-a-new-truth-is-like-adding-a-new-sense/) [Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/) > [“Truth like beauty seems to be in the eye and mind of the beholder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helene-munson/truth-like-beauty-seems-to-be-in-the-eye-and-mind-of-the-beholder/) [Helene Munson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helene-munson/) > [Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/truth-like-gold-is-to-be-obtained-not-by-its-growth-but-by-washing-2/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“Truth is like oil..it floats even in an ocean of lies..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ubong/truth-is-like-oil-it-floats-even-in-an-ocean-of-lies/) [Ubong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ubong/) > [“Truth, like a little dog, will always find its way out into the street.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mejia/truth-like-a-little-dog-will-always-find-its-way-out-into-the-street/) [Michael Mejia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mejia/) > [“Truth, like love and sleep, resents approaches that are too intense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/truth-like-love-and-sleep-resents-approaches-that-are-too-intense/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [Sometimes you don't want the truth. Sometimes you're like, "Oh just tell me the good answer. I don't want the truth."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keri-russell/sometimes-you-don-t-want-the-truth-sometimes-you-re-like-oh-just-tell/) [Keri Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keri-russell/) ## More by Penny Reid > [“No. Since I first saw you. Since I first laid eyes on you and felt sorry for every beautiful thing that was made no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/no-since-i-first-saw-you-since-i-first-laid-eyes-on-you-and-felt/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“I didn't care about embarrassing myself further. What was one more debit of mortification when my balance sheet was already in the red by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/i-didn-t-care-about-embarrassing-myself-further-what-was-one-more/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“He was the dehydrated horse. He had to drink water himself. He had to want it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/he-was-the-dehydrated-horse-he-had-to-drink-water-himself-he-had-to/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“she’s too quiet about it.” “Isn’t that the point of leading by example?” Kat frowned at her ball of yarn, more of a tangled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/she-s-too-quiet-about-it-isn-t-that-the-point-of-leading-by-example/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“Boy bands are sent by God to aid women of all ages in their quest to avoid reality, but specifically to trick young women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/boy-bands-are-sent-by-god-to-aid-women-of-all-ages-in-their-quest-to/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“Because knowledge is only a cage if you dwell in isolation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/because-knowledge-is-only-a-cage-if-you-dwell-in-isolation/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“Breathless and Wretched, the new fragrance by Calvin Klein.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/breathless-and-wretched-the-new-fragrance-by-calvin-klein/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“Proposing is like giving someone your dick and a sharp knife, then waiting to see what they do next.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/proposing-is-like-giving-someone-your-dick-and-a-sharp-knife-then/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“I felt abruptly as though I’d just been peed on. I didn’t want to be peed on. \*\*\*”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/i-felt-abruptly-as-though-i-d-just-been-peed-on-i-didn-t-want-to-be/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“Why are heroines in romantic novels—despite their cleanliness and enviable lifestyles—so unlikeable? It’s like they’ve been hit with a vanilla ninny stick, devoid of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/why-are-heroines-in-romantic-novels-despite-their-cleanliness-and/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“this post-modern individualism is harmful, that we—Western society—have become lazy in our dependencies and relationships. To say, ‘Don’t attempt to love another until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/this-post-modern-individualism-is-harmful-that-we-western-society/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“You’re a good kisser.” It sounded like an accusation. I shrugged, giving her a satisfied smile. “I practice.” Her gaze sharpened. “Oh?” “Yes. With my pillow. And a watermelon that one time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/you-re-a-good-kisser-it-sounded-like-an-accusation-i-shrugged-giving/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“Why do you look like that, Duane?" "Like what, Cletus?" "Like your heart is diseased.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/why-do-you-look-like-that-duane-like-what-cletus-like-your-heart-is/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“I was planning to sort my comic books based on level of second wave feminist influence.” “As opposed to first wave?” “Yes, well, Susan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/i-was-planning-to-sort-my-comic-books-based-on-level-of-second-wave/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) > [“\*fist bump\* \*high five\* \*bottom pat\* … too far?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/fist-bump-high-five-bottom-pat-too-far/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) [Explore all 296 Penny Reid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) ## More Truth quotes > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [High school sucked. It was a universal truth, and whoever said these were supposed to be the best years of your life was probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/high-school-sucked-it-was-a-universal-truth-and-whoever-said-these/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The truth is heavier than a sword.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naiyem-chowdhury-rony/the-truth-is-heavier-than-a-sword/) [Naiyem Chowdhury Rony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naiyem-chowdhury-rony/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [I could program a 'fabulous, I love it' kind of hit season right now. I'm more interested in breaking boundaries, telling a story, defying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-wolfe/i-could-program-a-fabulous-i-love-it-kind-of-hit-season-right-now-i-m/) [George C. Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-wolfe/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I just speak the truth. I keep it real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlon-vera/i-just-speak-the-truth-i-keep-it-real/) [Marlon Vera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlon-vera/) > [I always believed that photography was subjective, interpretive and certainly did not represent the truth, but I did think that its status as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-ritchin/i-always-believed-that-photography-was-subjective-interpretive-and/) [Fred Ritchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-ritchin/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The greatest act of courage is to be and to ownall of who you are—without apology, without excuses, without masks to cover the truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-ford/the-greatest-act-of-courage-is-to-be-and-to-ownall-of-who-you-are/) [Debbie Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-ford/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. 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