--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Many believers use truth as a license to…" description: "\"“Many believers use truth as a license to righteously diminish others’ reputations.”\" — R. Kent Hughes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ed/r-kent-hughes-16131_believers_many-believers-use-truth-as-a-license-to_200422.png" --- # Many believers use truth as a license to righteously… ![“Many believers use truth as a license to righteously diminish others’ reputations.” quote by R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ed/r-kent-hughes-16131_believers_many-believers-use-truth-as-a-license-to_200422.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ed/r-kent-hughes-16131_believers_many-believers-use-truth-as-a-license-to_200422.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ed/r-kent-hughes-16131_believers_many-believers-use-truth-as-a-license-to_200422.png) > ““Many believers use truth as a license to righteously diminish others’ reputations.”” [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often claim truth to justify unfairly attacking others' reputations. **In simple terms:** Truth is misused to harm others. Key Takeaway Check motives before judging. Themes ethics communication integrity Mood critical reflective Type ethical advisory When to use this quote - online debates - workplace criticism - political discourse Key Concepts moral philosophy social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - Are you using truth to protect or to dominate? - How can you ensure fairness when speaking truth? A Different Perspective Truth can be weaponized, not just a neutral standard. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believers/) [Righteous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/righteous/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Slander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slander/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [The young have to kill the old. 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The best lies use the truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/freedom-is-the-most-sophisticated-form-of-control-the-best-lies-use/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“...the only thing of any use is the truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roderic-jeffries/the-only-thing-of-any-use-is-the-truth/) Roderic Jeffries > [Without seeking, truth cannot be known at all. It can neither be declared from pulpits, nor set down in articles, nor in any wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/without-seeking-truth-cannot-be-known-at-all-it-can-neither-be/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [We should never use the truth to wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/we-should-never-use-the-truth-to-wound/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) > [“The scriptures remind us, ‘And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ (John 8:32.) Our job is to search…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-cannon/the-scriptures-remind-us-and-ye-shall-know-the-truth-and-the-truth/) [Elaine Cannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-cannon/) > [We are going to use the truth, and we are going to use it toward the end of winning the war; and we know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmer-davis/we-are-going-to-use-the-truth-and-we-are-going-to-use-it-toward-the/) [Elmer Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmer-davis/) > [Don't you understand anything? Isn't it absolutely essential to keep a fierce Left and a fierce Right, both on their toes and each terrified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/don-t-you-understand-anything-isn-t-it-absolutely-essential-to-keep-a/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The most effective method of propaganda directed at the enemy forces is to release captured soldiers and give the wounded medical treatment... Whenever soldiers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/the-most-effective-method-of-propaganda-directed-at-the-enemy-forces/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [“Slander does to a soul what cancer does to a cell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/slander-does-to-a-soul-what-cancer-does-to-a-cell/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Slander is a poison which kills charity, both in the slanderer and the one who listens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-of-clairvaux/slander-is-a-poison-which-kills-charity-both-in-the-slanderer-and-the/) [Bernard of Clairvaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-of-clairvaux/) > [Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/ring-out-false-pride-in-place-and-blood-the-civic-slander-and-the/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) ## More by R. Kent Hughes > [Listen well, and you will be pronounced a "brilliant" conversationalist!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/listen-well-and-you-will-be-pronounced-a-brilliant-conversationalist/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [The man who sanctifies his wife understands that this is his divinely ordained responsibility... Is my wife more like Christ because she is married…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/the-man-who-sanctifies-his-wife-understands-that-this-is-his-divinely/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [Only the Lord knows how many children lose heart because their fathers have hard days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/only-the-lord-knows-how-many-children-lose-heart-because-their/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [“Men, it is the “legal” sensualities, the culturally acceptable indulgences, which will take us down. The long hours of indiscriminate TV watching, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/men-it-is-the-legal-sensualities-the-culturally-acceptable/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [Gossip involves saying behind a person’s back what you would never say to his or her face. Flattery means saying to a person’s face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/gossip-involves-saying-behind-a-person-s-back-what-you-would-never/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [“Television has greater power over the lives of most Americans than any educational system or government or church. It is the control center of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/television-has-greater-power-over-the-lives-of-most-americans-than-2/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [The Cross is the ultimate evidence that there is no length the love of God will refuse to go in effecting reconciliation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/the-cross-is-the-ultimate-evidence-that-there-is-no-length-the-love/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [The height of devotion is reached when reverence and contemplation produce passionate worship, which in turn breaks forth in thanksgiving and praise in word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/the-height-of-devotion-is-reached-when-reverence-and-contemplation/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [The true test of a man's spirituality is not his ability to speak, as we are apt to think, but rather his ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/the-true-test-of-a-man-s-spirituality-is-not-his-ability-to-speak-as/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [“Little hearts, though safe and protected, never contribute anything. No one benefits from their shrunken sympathies and visions. On the other hand, hearts that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/little-hearts-though-safe-and-protected-never-contribute-anything-no/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [“The mind controlled by lust has an infinite capacity for rationalization.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/the-mind-controlled-by-lust-has-an-infinite-capacity-for/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [“Thus we understand that giving ourselves for our brides involves prayerful intercession. Men, do you pray for your wives with something more than, “Bless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/thus-we-understand-that-giving-ourselves-for-our-brides-involves/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [“When we are in the grip of lust, the reality of God fades.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/when-we-are-in-the-grip-of-lust-the-reality-of-god-fades/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [There can be no burden for distant unreached peoples without a burden for unreached neighbors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/there-can-be-no-burden-for-distant-unreached-peoples-without-a-burden/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) > [A taste of righteousness can be easily perverted into an overweening sense of self-righteousness and judgmentalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kent-hughes/a-taste-of-righteousness-can-be-easily-perverted-into-an-overweening/) [R. Kent Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) [Explore all 41 R. Kent Hughes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kent-hughes/) ## More Believers quotes > [“the believers in China exhibited a constant joyfulness in the midst of harsh circumstances. I never heard them deny or down-play the danger. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nik-ripken/the-believers-in-china-exhibited-a-constant-joyfulness-in-the-midst/) [Nik Ripken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nik-ripken/) > [“If our leaders are not passionately driven by the right beliefs, we are headed for disaster. 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They are sure that they are right not to believe but they know belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/those-who-have-abandoned-belief-must-still-believe-in-us-they-are/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Believers in political faith-healing enjoy a supreme immunity from doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/believers-in-political-faith-healing-enjoy-a-supreme-immunity-from/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [“Worship of God is not restricted to believers alone”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/worship-of-god-is-not-restricted-to-believers-alone/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [I don't think the problem that we have today is overzealous believers. I think the problem we have is underzealous believers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-laurie/i-don-t-think-the-problem-that-we-have-today-is-overzealous-believers/) [Greg Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-laurie/) > [Scripture is not inerrant; believers are called to interpret biblical texts in light of tradition and reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/scripture-is-not-inerrant-believers-are-called-to-interpret-biblical/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [“The evangelical wing of the Church spends a lot of energy on being "born again" but little time on "growing up" again. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-stockman/the-evangelical-wing-of-the-church-spends-a-lot-of-energy-on-being/) [Steve Stockman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-stockman/) > [“We as believers cannot be effective in offering others hope and forgiveness when we're not living in the light of that hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-courtney/we-as-believers-cannot-be-effective-in-offering-others-hope-and/) [Vicki Courtney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-courtney/) > [It takes practice to use one's eyes, even when God has opened them. 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