Truth or Consequences
Pontius Pilate, who grew up two hours by car from my mother's hometown, famously declared 'What is truth?' at the trial of Jesus.
Ernest Hemingway wrote that the easiest way to start writing a novel was to ensure the first sentence was truthful.
Pontius Pilate, who grew up two hours by car from my mother's hometown, famously declared 'What is truth?' at the trial of Jesus. Interestingly, this response allowed him to exclaim to the crowd that he 'found no fault in this man.' Pilate's sophism argued that, legally, he could care less what any specific 'truth' was, unless it led to a violation of civil law. Truth, it seems, can serve a purpose even when it serves no purpose at all.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, preaching in Berlin as Hitler was coming to power, reflecting on Pilate’s question, said that although we may ask for the truth, there is also a truth that is asking for us, seeking us out.
I think Bonhoeffer, who spent years in Nazi prisons before finally being executed, is saying that dealing realistically with unalterable truths, as they arrive in our lives, is the blueprint for an authentic existence.
Another famous Roman, the stoic emperor Marcus Aurelius, wrote, 'It's the truth I'm after, and the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance.' I get his point, although perhaps we need to distinguish harm from pain. There are many aspects to confronting a truth that can be painful, even if they are not harmful.
'To thine own self be true’ is a line from Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. It is spoken by King Claudius’ chief minister, Polonius, paradoxically, one of the more unpleasant characters in the plot.
Thought to be originally coined by late-night TV host Steven Colbert, truthiness was selected as the 200 Merriam-Webster dictionary word of the year. They proposed two different meanings for truthiness: 1) truth that comes from the gut, not books; and 2) the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts of facts known to be true.
I've had my fair share of self-delusions, and I am increasingly aware of just how difficult it can be to extend my perception of truth outside of my own belief silo. But age gives a certain fidelity to the process. In the midst of my uncertainties, I have many things I am now certain of, the simple reason being that they've been around for a while.
'Truth is a pathless land,' wrote Jiddu Krishnamurti. 'No guru, method, or system can lead you to it.'
The top of my high school's front door was emblazoned with the phrase 'The truth shall set you free' from the Gospel of John. I must admit to having passed underneath these words hundreds of times without ever giving them a second thought.
Maybe that is the great dichotomy of truth. It exists despite our wishes, fears, and self-deceptions.
It's just there. Facts are stubborn things.
This really hit home, especially the line “truth exists despite our wishes, fears, and self-deceptions.” It reminded me of Iris Murdoch’s 'The Sovereignty of Good'. Her central argument is that Good, like Truth, is real and external—not something we invent or shape to fit our needs. It’s something we have to orient ourselves toward.
She says moral growth isn’t about force of will or abstract rules—it’s about learning to see reality more clearly. You can’t act rightly if you’re not seeing truly. So for Murdoch, Truth and Good are inseparable. And when they come together, they manifest as Beauty—something we can feel but not always explain.
I think you'd really resonate with her work if you haven’t read her already.