--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... the truth is exactly that which can't…" description: "\"... the truth is exactly that which can't be got into words. We are forced to lie, a little or, if we are inferior, much.\" — Storm Jameson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/storm-jameson-7438_ifs_the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be_1454578.png" --- # ... the truth is exactly that which can't be got into… ![“... the truth is exactly that which can't be got into words. We are forced to lie, a little or, if we are inferior, much.” quote by Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/storm-jameson-7438_ifs_the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be_1454578.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/storm-jameson-7438_ifs_the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be_1454578.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/storm-jameson-7438_ifs_the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be_1454578.png) > “... the truth is exactly that which can't be got into words. We are forced to lie, a little or, if we are inferior, much.” [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Language fails to capture deep truth, forcing people to lie when they cannot express it fully. **In simple terms:** Words can’t fully convey truth. Key Takeaway Acknowledge limits of language. Themes truth communication honesty Mood somber introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal confession - political speech - art criticism - therapy sessions Key Concepts literature philosophy Questions to Reflect On - When have you felt speech failed you? - What non‑verbal ways convey truth better? A Different Perspective Truth can be approximated through metaphor or action, not just words. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Forced Lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forced-lie-400499/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inferior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inferior/) [Inferiors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inferiors/) [Lie Little](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lie-little-1583668/) [Little Inferior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-inferior-5239711/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Exactly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-exactly-327453/) [Truth is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-is/) ## Related quotes > [We're always just telling stories, and stories are always just approximations of the truth. It's never the truth exactly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brit-marling/we-re-always-just-telling-stories-and-stories-are-always-just/) [Brit Marling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brit-marling/) > [I stand 100 percent by the truth, exactly what happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-canseco/i-stand-100-percent-by-the-truth-exactly-what-happened/) [Jose Canseco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-canseco/) > [That's absolutely the truth, and that is exactly what the Pleiadians say, that we are going through what we would have done after we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-mccormick-day/that-s-absolutely-the-truth-and-that-is-exactly-what-the-pleiadians/) [Christine McCormick Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-mccormick-day/) > [many people talk about love, to seek excuses, no one is forced to lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/istvan-molnar/many-people-talk-about-love-to-seek-excuses-no-one-is-forced-to-lie/) [Istvan Molnar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/istvan-molnar/) > [Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/any-man-who-has-once-proclaimed-violence-as-his-method-is-inevitably/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [If I told you, you might be forced to lie about it. Not that you aren't really good at it, but why put an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/if-i-told-you-you-might-be-forced-to-lie-about-it-not-that-you-aren-t/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [I was forced to lie to my father by doctors and relatives. I made that choice and agreed with them, and I will never,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-patinkin/i-was-forced-to-lie-to-my-father-by-doctors-and-relatives-i-made-that/) [Mandy Patinkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-patinkin/) > [Duncan Edwards is the one person who, even today, I really felt inferior to. I've never know anybody so gifted and strong and powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-charlton/duncan-edwards-is-the-one-person-who-even-today-i-really-felt/) [Bobby Charlton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-charlton/) > [Everything except God has some natural superior; everything except unformed matter has some natural inferior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/everything-except-god-has-some-natural-superior-everything-except/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [It would be hard to name a more certain sign of poor self-esteem than the need to perceive some other group as inferior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/it-would-be-hard-to-name-a-more-certain-sign-of-poor-self-esteem-than/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Inferior thinking and writing will make a name for a man among inferior people, who in all ages and countries, are the majority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lancaster-spalding/inferior-thinking-and-writing-will-make-a-name-for-a-man-among/) [John Lancaster Spalding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lancaster-spalding/) > [anything being perceived as being superior takes the noun. And everything that isn't, that's judged to be inferior, requires an adjective. So there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/anything-being-perceived-as-being-superior-takes-the-noun-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Ahimsa can be practiced only towards those that are inferior to you in every way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/ahimsa-can-be-practiced-only-towards-those-that-are-inferior-to-you/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Snobs are people who look down on other people, but that does not justify our looking down on them. Who can say what dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/snobs-are-people-who-look-down-on-other-people-but-that-does-not/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [To strive with an equal is dangerous; with a superior, mad; with an inferior, degrading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/to-strive-with-an-equal-is-dangerous-with-a-superior-mad-with-an/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) ## More by Storm Jameson > [Only one person in a thousand knows the trick of really living in the present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/only-one-person-in-a-thousand-knows-the-trick-of-really-living-in-the/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [Inevitably, the flood of literary pornography loosed on us is dulling our reactions of surprise or shock. Its writers are forced to raise the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/inevitably-the-flood-of-literary-pornography-loosed-on-us-is-dulling/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [Think of all the really successful men and women you know. Do you know a single one who didn't learn very young the trick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/think-of-all-the-really-successful-men-and-women-you-know-do-you-know/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [No form of art repeats or imitates successfully all that can be said by another; the writer conveys his experience of life along a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/no-form-of-art-repeats-or-imitates-successfully-all-that-can-be-said/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [For what I have received may the Lord make me truly thankful. And more truly for what I have not received.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/for-what-i-have-received-may-the-lord-make-me-truly-thankful-and-more/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [All writers who can claim to be called 'living' must be political in a sense. They must have what the Quakers call a concern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/all-writers-who-can-claim-to-be-called-living-must-be-political-in-a/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/happiness-comes-of-the-capacity-to-feel-deeply-to-enjoy-simply-to/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [Hope is a talent like any other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/hope-is-a-talent-like-any-other/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [You can't argue with a raging want. You can, but it is useless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/you-can-t-argue-with-a-raging-want-you-can-but-it-is-useless/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [Nationalism will keep its venom until we succeed in creating an image of the nations of the whole world as so many provinces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/nationalism-will-keep-its-venom-until-we-succeed-in-creating-an-image/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [Lord, if there is a heartache Vienna cannot cure I hope never to feel it. I came home cured of everything except Vienna.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/lord-if-there-is-a-heartache-vienna-cannot-cure-i-hope-never-to-feel/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [Language is one of the thin walls humanity has built up over centuries against its own bestial and destructive impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/language-is-one-of-the-thin-walls-humanity-has-built-up-over/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [... we do not remember people as they were. What we remember is the effect they had on us then, but we remember it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/we-do-not-remember-people-as-they-were-what-we-remember-is-the-effect/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [Failures to love are irremediable and irredeemable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/failures-to-love-are-irremediable-and-irredeemable/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [... the stomach is near the heart and one appetite pricks on another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/the-stomach-is-near-the-heart-and-one-appetite-pricks-on-another/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) [Explore all 91 Storm Jameson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) ## More Ifs quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clark/obviously-if-you-don-t-love-life-you-can-t-enjoy-an-oyster/) [Eleanor Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clark/) > [If I don't have pressure, I don't function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/if-i-don-t-have-pressure-i-don-t-function/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/if-you-restore-a-car-and-you-re-making-money-then-you-re-doing-it/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-sarabhai/but-we-are-convinced-that-if-we-are-to-play-a-meaningful-role/) [Vikram Sarabhai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-sarabhai/) > [The thing about hitting kids is, think about if you were doing the same thing to another adult. Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Browse all 94,303 Ifs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "... the truth is exactly that which can't be got into words. We are forced to lie, a little or, if we are inferior, much.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Storm Jameson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be-got-into-words-we-are-forced/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ifs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be-got-into-words-we-are-forced/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/storm-jameson-7438_ifs_the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be_1454578.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/storm-jameson-7438_ifs_the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be_1454578.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/storm-jameson-7438_ifs_the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be_1454578.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“... the truth is exactly that which can't be got into words. We are forced to lie, a little or, if we are…” — Storm Jameson", "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": "Storm Jameson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "... the truth is exactly that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be-got-into-words-we-are-forced/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/the-truth-is-exactly-that-which-can-t-be-got-into-words-we-are-forced/#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 } } ] } ```