--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When all is said and done, how do we know…" description: "\"When all is said and done, how do we know but that our own unreason may be better than another's truth? for it has been warmed on our hearths and in ou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/380/william-butler-yeats-350_bees_when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know_627707.png" --- # When all is said and done, how do we know but that our own… ![“When all is said and done, how do we know but that our own unreason may be better than another's truth? for it has been warmed on our hearths and in our souls, and is ready for the wild bees of truth to hive in it, and make their sweet honey.” quote by William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/380/william-butler-yeats-350_bees_when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know_627707.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/380/william-butler-yeats-350_bees_when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know_627707.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/380/william-butler-yeats-350_bees_when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know_627707.png) > “When all is said and done, how do we know but that our own unreason may be better than another's truth? for it has been warmed on our hearths and in our souls, and is ready for the wild bees of truth to hive in it, and make their sweet honey.” [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A meditation on subjective truth, suggesting personal belief may be more compelling than external facts, nurtured by inner experience. **In simple terms:** Personal belief can feel truer than objective truth. Key Takeaway Trust your inner wisdom. Themes philosophy truth subjectivity spirituality Mood introspective poetic Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing - self‑reflection - dialogue about truth - personal growth Key Concepts epistemology personal narrative metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance personal conviction with evidence? - What role does emotion play in shaping truth? A Different Perspective The metaphor may obscure practical application of truth‑seeking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bees/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Sweet honey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweet-honey/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“When all is said and done, how do we not know but that our own unreason may be better than another’s truth? for it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-b-yeats-3/when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-not-know-but-that-our-own/) W B Yeats > [The smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-smell-and-taste-of-things-remain-poised-a-long-time-like-souls/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [We think we can make honey without sharing in the fate of bees, but we are in truth nothing but poor bees, destined to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/we-think-we-can-make-honey-without-sharing-in-the-fate-of-bees-but-we/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [I havent really heard any rumors about me, but I keep encouraging people to please make some up. They are always so much better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-stone/i-havent-really-heard-any-rumors-about-me-but-i-keep-encouraging/) [Emma Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-stone/) > [“Fiction is better than Truth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-verma/fiction-is-better-than-truth/) Krishna Verma > [“A careful fake is better than the truth. The truth lacks realism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-koster/a-careful-fake-is-better-than-the-truth-the-truth-lacks-realism/) R.M. Koster > [“The right sort of lie, I found, could serve better than the truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-mcomber/the-right-sort-of-lie-i-found-could-serve-better-than-the-truth/) [Adam McOmber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-mcomber/) > [I have to conclude that fiction is better at 'the truth' than a factual record,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-have-to-conclude-that-fiction-is-better-at-the-truth-than-a-factual/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [It is better the truth should come little by little. I have learned that, being a priest. Perhaps, in the old days, they ate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/it-is-better-the-truth-should-come-little-by-little-i-have-learned/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [Which is better, truth that is a lie or the lie that is truth?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/which-is-better-truth-that-is-a-lie-or-the-lie-that-is-truth/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [A judicious silence is always better than truth spoken without charity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-francis-de-sales/a-judicious-silence-is-always-better-than-truth-spoken-without-charity/) [Saint Francis de Sales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-francis-de-sales/) > [Don't lie to me to feel me better,, the truth is much much better,,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-lie-to-me-to-feel-me-better-the-truth-is-much-much-better/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [çometimes , silence is better than the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-knight/ometimes-silence-is-better-than-the-truth/) [Kevin Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-knight/) > [We often pray to be better, when in truth we only want to feel better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/we-often-pray-to-be-better-when-in-truth-we-only-want-to-feel-better/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [“Falsehood of a good man is better than truth of a bad one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/falsehood-of-a-good-man-is-better-than-truth-of-a-bad-one/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) ## More by William Butler Yeats > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [You know what the Englishman's idea of compromise is? He says, Some people say there is a God. Some people say there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/you-know-what-the-englishman-s-idea-of-compromise-is-he-says-some/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, Drowning love's lonely hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/beloved-let-your-eyes-half-close-and-your-heart-beat-over-my-heart/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [That toil of growing up; The ignominy of boyhood; the distress Of boyhood changing into man; The unfinished man and his pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/that-toil-of-growing-up-the-ignominy-of-boyhood-the-distress-of/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I see a schoolboy when I think of him, With face and nose pressed to a sweet-shop window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-see-a-schoolboy-when-i-think-of-him-with-face-and-nose-pressed-to-a/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Only God, my dear, Could love you for yourself alone And not your yellow hair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/only-god-my-dear-could-love-you-for-yourself-alone-and-not-your/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [We can only begin to live when we conceive life as Tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-can-only-begin-to-live-when-we-conceive-life-as-tragedy/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I know that I shall meet my fate somewhere among the clouds above; those that I fight I do not hate, those that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-know-that-i-shall-meet-my-fate-somewhere-among-the-clouds-above/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Great literature has always been written in a like spirit, and is, indeed, the Forgiveness of Sin, and when we find it becoming the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/great-literature-has-always-been-written-in-a-like-spirit-and-is/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Where the wave of moonlight glosses The dim gray sands with light, Far off by furthest Rosses We foot it all the night, Weaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/where-the-wave-of-moonlight-glosses-the-dim-gray-sands-with-light-far/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [His element is so fine Being sharpened by his death, To drink from the wine-breath While our gross palates drink from the whole wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/his-element-is-so-fine-being-sharpened-by-his-death-to-drink-from-the/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [We poets would die of loneliness but for women, and we choose our men friends that we may have somebody to talk about women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/we-poets-would-die-of-loneliness-but-for-women-and-we-choose-our-men/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/love-is-created-and-preserved-by-intellectual-analysis-for-we-love/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Who dreamed that beauty passes like a dream? For these red lips, with all their mournful pride, Mournful that no new wonder may betide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/who-dreamed-that-beauty-passes-like-a-dream-for-these-red-lips-with/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) [Explore all 652 William Butler Yeats quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) ## More Bees quotes > [Those who have not been stung will hardly fear a bee the same as those who have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/those-who-have-not-been-stung-will-hardly-fear-a-bee-the-same-as/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [Arouse a bee and it will come at you with the force of a dragon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takeda-shingen/arouse-a-bee-and-it-will-come-at-you-with-the-force-of-a-dragon/) [Takeda Shingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takeda-shingen/) > [Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/pray-look-upon-the-plants-and-birds-the-ants-spiders-and-bees-and-you/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [You see, years ago I was just an ordinary bee minding my own business, smelling flowers all day, and occasionally picking up part-time work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norton-juster/you-see-years-ago-i-was-just-an-ordinary-bee-minding-my-own-business/) [Norton Juster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norton-juster/) > [As the bee collecteth honey with great zest, so the fool collecteth wealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kabir/as-the-bee-collecteth-honey-with-great-zest-so-the-fool-collecteth/) [Kabir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kabir/) > [It is hard to imagine a world without bees. It would be even harder to live in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-gardiner/it-is-hard-to-imagine-a-world-without-bees-it-would-be-even-harder-to/) [Barry Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-gardiner/) > [When I heard that the bees were in trouble, the fact that they're disappearing and not coming back to the hive, which is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-schwartzberg/when-i-heard-that-the-bees-were-in-trouble-the-fact-that-they-re/) [Louie Schwartzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-schwartzberg/) > [Precise, graceful, and generous, the poems in SuperLoop, seem to be born out of a deep, careful attention and a profound compassion. Sometimes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-limon/precise-graceful-and-generous-the-poems-in-superloop-seem-to-be-born/) [Ada Limon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-limon/) > [The little bee returns with evening's gloom, To join her comrades in the braided hive, Where, housed beside their might honey-comb, They dream their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-tennyson-turner/the-little-bee-returns-with-evening-s-gloom-to-join-her-comrades-in/) [Charles Tennyson Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-tennyson-turner/) > [“This time of year, the purple blooms were busy with life- not just the bees, but butterflies and ladybugs, skippers and emerald-toned beetles, flitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-wiggs/this-time-of-year-the-purple-blooms-were-busy-with-life-not-just-the/) [Susan Wiggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-wiggs/) > [“Bees chase flowers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-l-shreve/bees-chase-flowers/) Tracy L. Shreve > [My banks they are furnish'd with bees, Whose murmur invites one to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shenstone/my-banks-they-are-furnish-d-with-bees-whose-murmur-invites-one-to/) [William Shenstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shenstone/) > [There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/there-are-certain-pursuits-which-if-not-wholly-poetic-and-true-do-at/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Bee Gees are a fly-by-night sort of group.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-gibb/the-bee-gees-are-a-fly-by-night-sort-of-group/) [Barry Gibb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-gibb/) > [“I don't like to hear cut and dried sermons. No—when I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-don-t-like-to-hear-cut-and-dried-sermons-no-when-i-hear-a-man/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Browse all 770 Bees quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bees/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When all is said and done, how do we know but that our own unreason may be better than another's truth? for it has been warmed on our hearths and in our souls, and is ready for the wild bees of truth to hive in it, and make their sweet honey.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Butler Yeats" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know-but-that-our-own-unreason/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bees" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know-but-that-our-own-unreason/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/380/william-butler-yeats-350_bees_when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know_627707.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/380/william-butler-yeats-350_bees_when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know_627707.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/380/william-butler-yeats-350_bees_when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know_627707.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When all is said and done, how do we know but that our own unreason may be better than another's truth? for…” — William Butler Yeats", "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": "William Butler Yeats", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When all is said and done,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know-but-that-our-own-unreason/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/when-all-is-said-and-done-how-do-we-know-but-that-our-own-unreason/#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 } } ] } ```