--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We cannot know the whole truth, which…" description: "\"“We cannot know the whole truth, which belongs to God alone, but our task nevertheless is to seek to know what is true. And if we offend gravely enough..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/wendell-berry-236_truth_we-cannot-know-the-whole-truth-which-bel_788760.jpg" --- # We cannot know the whole truth, which belongs to God… ![“We cannot know the whole truth, which belongs to God alone, but our task nevertheless is to seek to know what is true. And if we offend gravely enough against what we know to be true, as by failing badly enough to deal affectionately and responsibly with our land and our neighbors, truth will…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/wendell-berry-236_truth_we-cannot-know-the-whole-truth-which-bel_788760.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/wendell-berry-236_truth_we-cannot-know-the-whole-truth-which-bel_788760.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fa/wendell-berry-236_truth_we-cannot-know-the-whole-truth-which-bel_788760.jpg) > ““We cannot know the whole truth, which belongs to God alone, but our task nevertheless is to seek to know what is true. And if we offend gravely enough against what we know to be true, as by failing badly enough to deal affectionately and responsibly with our land and our neighbors, truth will retaliate with ugliness, poverty, and disease. The crisis of this line of thought is the realization that we are at once limited and unendingly responsible for what we know and do.”” [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## 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 a divine, incomplete concept; humans must strive to understand it responsibly, knowing their actions affect the world and can invite suffering if they ignore truth. **In simple terms:** Seek truth responsibly; actions have consequences. Key Takeaway Pursue truth with humility and care. Themes ethics responsibility truth consequences spirituality Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - policy making - community building - personal decision making Key Concepts philosophy environmental ethics human limitation Questions to Reflect On - What truths are we neglecting in daily life? - How can we balance humility with action? A Different Perspective Truth seeking can be limited by human bias and cause unintended harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Know Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-truth/) [Neighbors Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighbors-truth-2824567/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Belongs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-belongs-892653/) [Truth Retaliate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-retaliate-2824566/) ## Related quotes > [We cannot know the whole truth, which belongs to God alone, but our task nevertheless is to seek to know what is true. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/we-cannot-know-the-whole-truth-which-belongs-to-god-alone-but-our-3/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [We cannot know the whole truth, which belongs to God alone, but our task nevertheless is to seek to know what is true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/we-cannot-know-the-whole-truth-which-belongs-to-god-alone-but-our-2/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [If absolute truth belongs to anyone in this world, it certainly does not belong to the man or party that claims to possess it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/if-absolute-truth-belongs-to-anyone-in-this-world-it-certainly-does/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [She believes that Tobias belongs to her now. She doesn't know the truth, that he belongs to himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/she-believes-that-tobias-belongs-to-her-now-she-doesn-t-know-the/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [We are born to inquire after truth; it belongs to a greater power to possess it. It is not, as Democritus said, hid in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/we-are-born-to-inquire-after-truth-it-belongs-to-a-greater-power-to/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [The truth belongs to those who seek it, not to those who claim to own it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-de-caritat-marquis-de-condorcet/the-truth-belongs-to-those-who-seek-it-not-to-those-who-claim-to-own/) [Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-de-caritat-marquis-de-condorcet/) > [There is time, and there is beyond time. History belongs to time, but truth belongs to what is beyond time. In writing of things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/there-is-time-and-there-is-beyond-time-history-belongs-to-time-but/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [We are born to inquire into truth; it belongs to a greater to possess it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/we-are-born-to-inquire-into-truth-it-belongs-to-a-greater-to-possess/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Absolute truth belongs to Thee alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gotthold-ephraim-lessing/absolute-truth-belongs-to-thee-alone/) [Gotthold Ephraim Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gotthold-ephraim-lessing/) > [The child who dwells inside us trusts that there are wise men somewhere who know the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/czeslaw-milosz/the-child-who-dwells-inside-us-trusts-that-there-are-wise-men/) [Czeslaw Milosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/czeslaw-milosz/) > [The biggest difference between us is in our thoughts. You do not want to know the truth and I cannot forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/the-biggest-difference-between-us-is-in-our-thoughts-you-do-not-want/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [The truth doesn't hurt. Whatever it is, it doesn't hurt. It's better to know the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/the-truth-doesn-t-hurt-whatever-it-is-it-doesn-t-hurt-it-s-better-to/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [I wonder if it's ever really possible to know the truth about someone else, or if the best we can do is just stumble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/i-wonder-if-it-s-ever-really-possible-to-know-the-truth-about-someone/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [To get to know a truth properly, one must polemicize it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/to-get-to-know-a-truth-properly-one-must-polemicize-it/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [For us to know that the Book of Mormon is true, we must read it and make the choice found in Moroni: pray to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/for-us-to-know-that-the-book-of-mormon-is-true-we-must-read-it-and/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) ## More by Wendell Berry > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. Old usage tells us that there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-husband-is-to-use-with-care-to-keep-to-save-to-make-last-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The two families, sundered in the ruin of a friendship, were united again first in new friendship and then in mariage. My grandfather made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-two-families-sundered-in-the-ruin-of-a-friendship-were-united/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The living can't quit living because the world has turned terrible and people they love and need are killed. They can't because they don't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-living-can-t-quit-living-because-the-world-has-turned-terrible/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“I knew a man who, in the age of chain-saws, went right on cutting his wood with a handsaw and an axe. He was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-knew-a-man-who-in-the-age-of-chain-saws-went-right-on-cutting-his/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The concept of country, homeland, dwelling place becomes simplified as "the environment" -- that is, what surrounds us, we have already made a profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-concept-of-country-homeland-dwelling-place-becomes-simplified-as/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-community-is-the-mental-and-spiritual-condition-of-knowing-that-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“That we can prescribe the terms of our own success, that we can live outside or in ignorance of the Great Economy are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-can-prescribe-the-terms-of-our-own-success-that-we-can-live/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The mind that comes to rest is tended In ways that it cannot intend: Is borne, preserved, and comprehended By what it cannot comprehend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mind-that-comes-to-rest-is-tended-in-ways-that-it-cannot-intend/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The mercy of the world is time. Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mercy-of-the-world-is-time-time-does-not-stop-for-love-but-it/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-dislike-the-thought-that-some-animal-has-been-made-miserable-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/laughter-is-immeasurable-be-joyful/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [These are people who are capable of devotion, public devotion, to justice. They meant what they said and every day that passes, they mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/these-are-people-who-are-capable-of-devotion-public-devotion-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) [Explore all 847 Wendell Berry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## 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. 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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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