--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have to live today by what truth we…" description: "\"We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood.\" — William James" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/william-james-228_falsehood_we-have-to-live-today-by-what-truth-we-c_2392078.png" --- # We have to live today by what truth we can get today and… ![“We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood.” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/william-james-228_falsehood_we-have-to-live-today-by-what-truth-we-c_2392078.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/william-james-228_falsehood_we-have-to-live-today-by-what-truth-we-c_2392078.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/william-james-228_falsehood_we-have-to-live-today-by-what-truth-we-c_2392078.png) > “We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood.” [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He urges living by current truths while staying open to future revisions. **In simple terms:** Live by today's truth, ready to change. Key Takeaway Stay adaptable. Themes truth adaptability philosophy Mood thoughtful philosophical Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - decision making - scientific research - personal growth Key Concepts pragmatism epistemology Questions to Reflect On - How do you test today’s truths? - What prepares you for change? A Different Perspective Truth can be fleeting; over‑reliance may cause instability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Falsehood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falsehood/) [Live Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-today/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tomorrow/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [The truth has no version it's simply the truth. It can never wake up a lie today but only if it was never the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-matobo/the-truth-has-no-version-it-s-simply-the-truth-it-can-never-wake-up-a/) [Frank Matobo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-matobo/) > [There is a crying need today to have this truth heralded throughout the land that youth especially may appreciate and hold the freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-o-mckay/there-is-a-crying-need-today-to-have-this-truth-heralded-throughout/) [David O. McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-o-mckay/) > [“In the end... the truth is one of the most powerful weapons we can wield. It can overcome lies, manipulations and deceit. People can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-n-harris/in-the-end-the-truth-is-one-of-the-most-powerful-weapons-we-can-wield/) [José N. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [As long as the people don't fear the truth, there is hope. For once they fear it, the one who tells it doesn't stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/as-long-as-the-people-don-t-fear-the-truth-there-is-hope-for-once/) [Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/) > [If you speak truth today. You don't have to remember anything for tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/if-you-speak-truth-today-you-don-t-have-to-remember-anything-for/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [Life goes on and the truth changes; this just happens to be the way life is. What was once true is often no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-blanton/life-goes-on-and-the-truth-changes-this-just-happens-to-be-the-way/) [Brad Blanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-blanton/) > [“Speak well to people; tell them the truth today! If you meet them another day, tell them the same truth! That shows how you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/speak-well-to-people-tell-them-the-truth-today-if-you-meet-them/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [It's your obligation to speak the truth, and everyone can either take it or leave it. But truth must be in us. We live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-angelica/it-s-your-obligation-to-speak-the-truth-and-everyone-can-either-take/) [Mother Angelica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-angelica/) > [Regret the truth today,because a person can find the lies tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/regret-the-truth-today-because-a-person-can-find-the-lies-tomorrow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What is truth today may be a damn lie next week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lenny-bruce/what-is-truth-today-may-be-a-damn-lie-next-week/) [Lenny Bruce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lenny-bruce/) > [If you don't want to slip up tomorrow, speak the truth today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/if-you-don-t-want-to-slip-up-tomorrow-speak-the-truth-today/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [“During the day as serious opinions are being discussed, there is an opportunity to give the biblical view on issues of sin and righteousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-j-chantry-2/during-the-day-as-serious-opinions-are-being-discussed-there-is-an/) [Walter J. Chantry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-j-chantry-2/) > [Yesterday's truth is today's bullshit. Even yesterday's liberating insight is today's jail of stale explanation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-blanton/yesterday-s-truth-is-today-s-bullshit-even-yesterday-s-liberating/) [Brad Blanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-blanton/) > [If you live for today you can live another day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalya-johnson/if-you-live-for-today-you-can-live-another-day/) [Natalya Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalya-johnson/) > [A very small percentage of the people in this world will actually experience and live today. So many people will be stuck on another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/a-very-small-percentage-of-the-people-in-this-world-will-actually/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) ## More by William James > [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/circumstance-does-not-make-me-it-reveals-me/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > ['Facts' are the bounds of human knowledge, set for it, not by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/facts-are-the-bounds-of-human-knowledge-set-for-it-not-by-it/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Woe to him whose beliefs play fast and loose with the order which realities follow in his experience; they will lead him nowhere or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/woe-to-him-whose-beliefs-play-fast-and-loose-with-the-order-which/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-never-fully-grasp-the-import-of-any-true-statement-until-we-have-a/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is your friends who make your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-your-friends-who-make-your-world/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/human-beings-can-alter-their-lives-by-altering-their-attitudes-of-mind/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Most people, probably, are in doubt about certain matters ascribed to their past. They may have seen them, may have said them, done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-people-probably-are-in-doubt-about-certain-matters-ascribed-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“How soon, indeed, are human things forgotten! As we meet here this morning, the Southern sun is shining on their place of burial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/how-soon-indeed-are-human-things-forgotten-as-we-meet-here-this/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [There can be no difference anywhere that does not make a difference somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-can-be-no-difference-anywhere-that-does-not-make-a-difference/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-wrong-always-everywhere-and-for-everyone-to-believe-anything/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Explore all 854 William James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More Falsehood quotes > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [falsehood is not more unjustifiable than unsafe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-burney/falsehood-is-not-more-unjustifiable-than-unsafe/) [Fanny Burney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-burney/) > [THE ART OF PEACE is not easy. It is a fight to the finish, the slaying of evil desires and all falsehood within. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/the-art-of-peace-is-not-easy-it-is-a-fight-to-the-finish-the-slaying/) [Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/) > [ A mind conscious of right laughs at the falsehoods of rumour. \[Lat., Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/a-mind-conscious-of-right-laughs-at-the-falsehoods-of-rumour-lat/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“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/) > [So true is it that all transactions of preeminent importance are wrapt in doubt and obscurity; while some hold for certain facts the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/so-true-is-it-that-all-transactions-of-preeminent-importance-are/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught in falsehood's school, and the one man that dares to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/strange-times-are-these-in-which-we-live-when-old-and-young-are/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Tangible language, which often tells more falsehoods than truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/tangible-language-which-often-tells-more-falsehoods-than-truths/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Whether statistics be an art or a science... or a scientific art, we concern ourselves little. It is the basis of social and political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolphe-quetelet/whether-statistics-be-an-art-or-a-science-or-a-scientific-art-we/) [Adolphe Quetelet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolphe-quetelet/) > [Falsehood, like the dry-rot, flourishes the more in proportion as air and light are excluded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whately/falsehood-like-the-dry-rot-flourishes-the-more-in-proportion-as-air/) [Richard Whately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whately/) > [“God is not as a man.” He thus shows that all men are indeed guilty of falsehood, inasmuch as they change from one thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-church-fathers/god-is-not-as-a-man-he-thus-shows-that-all-men-are-indeed-guilty-of/) The Church Fathers > [People who do not know the Bible well have been gulled into thinking it is a good guide to morality. 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