Relative Truth Quotes

“The absolute truth is the biggest myth in human history.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“As the winds of change continue blowing, our thoughts, concepts and everything in life continue to change. There is only one thing that continues to resist change and it doesn't seem to care about change, holding humans back: the absolute truth.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“Relativism reduces every element of absoluteness to relativity while making a completely illogical exception in favor of this reduction itself. Fundamentally it consists in propounding the claim that there is no truth as if this were truth or in declaring it to be absolutely true that there is nothing but the relatively true; one might just as well say that there is no language or write that there is no writing. In short, every idea is reduced to a relativity of some sort, whether psychological, historical, or social; but the assertion nullifies itself by the fact that it too presents itself as a psychological, historical, or social relativity. The assertion nullifies itself if it is true and by nullifying itself logically proves thereby that it is false; its initial absurdity lies in the implicit claim to be unique in escaping, as if by enchantment, from a relativity that is declared to be the only possibility.”
― Frithjof Schuon, Logic and Transcendence

“Moshup made this island He dragged his toe through the water and cut this land from the mainland." He went on then, with much animation, to relate a fabulous tale of giants and whales and shape-shifting spirits. I let hi speak, because I did not want to vex him, but also because I liked to listen to the story as he told it, with expression and vivid gesture. Of course, I thought it all outlandish. But... it came to me that our story of a burning bush and a parted sea might also seem fabulous, to one not raised up knowing it was true.”
― Geraldine Brooks, Caleb's Crossing

“...[W]hy should we pay so much attention to what 'most people' think? The really reasonable people, who have more claim to be considered, will believe that the facts are exactly as they are.”
― Socrates, Apology, Crito And Phaedo Of Socrates.

“Do we say that one must never willingly do wrong, or does it depend upon the circumstances? Is it true, as we have often agreed before, that there is no sense in which wrongdoing is good or honourable? Or have we jettisoned all our former convictions in these last few days? Can you and I at our age, Crito, have spent all these years in serious discussions without realizing that we were no better than a pair of children? Surely the truth is just what we have always said. Whatever the popular view is, and whether the alternative in pleasanter than the present one or even harder to bear, the fact remains that to do wrong is in every sense bad and dishonourable for the person who does it.”
― Socrates, Apology, Crito And Phaedo Of Socrates.

“The truth of the profane was the falsehood of the Neophyte, and the truth of the Neophyte was the falsehood of the Zelator! Again and again the fortress must be battered down! Again and again the pylon must be overthrown! Again and again must the gods be desecrated!”
― Aleister Crowley, Visions & Voices: Aleister Crowley's Enochian Visions with Astrological & Qabalistic Commentary

“If all meaning were relative, then the meanings of the terms in the proposition "All meaning is relative" would be relative. Therefore the proposition "All meaning is relative" destroys itself. It is nothing but an evasion of reality. That seems a high price to pay, even for the privilege of killing people.”
― J. Budziszewski, What We Can't Not Know: A Guide

“However, ana al-haqq as it stands has raised a few literary questions as well and, within the tradition of mystic poetry, the attitude preserved in Hallaj's expression has given rise to mixed reactions regarding its content. It is held that it is an exaggeration of subjective experience, and ana—the personal "I"—shows leanings toward megalomania and egotism. It is the personal "I" which overshadows al-haqq, and thereby invites total attention to itself. In fact, the personal "I" absorbs al-haqq, and reaches out to the romantic cult of the egostistical sublime. In this context, the truth tends to become subjective and, therefore, relative, and in its social implications it shows the possibility of numerous diversions. Extreme individualism, in contrast to institutionalism, is also held to be related to ana al-haqq. The personal "I" is supposed to be potentionally explosive and destructive for values of the Establishment. A.J. Arberry has summed up the position by saying that Hallaj had dared to declare that his direct awareness of God was for him a clearer proof than both revelation and reason.”
― Gilani Kamran, Ana Al-Haqq Reconsidered

“We know today that there is no such thing as absolute truth, that everything is relative, that everything is dependent on the conditions of time and place; but precisely for that reason, we should be very cautious in judging the “ignorance” of various historical periods. Their ignorance, to the extent that it is manifested in their characteristic social movements, aspirations and ideals, is also relative.”
― Georgi Plekhanov, The Materialist Conception of History

“And, no, perhaps I wasn't normal in their eyes, but what was normal, anyway? Who decided that?”
― Jacques Von Kat, Mirror Man: A nostalgic mystery set in 80's Yorkshire

“That's what scriving is. Reality doesn't matter. If you can change something's mind enough, it'll believe whatever reality you choose.”
― Robert Jackson Bennett, Foundryside

“How can you say one thing when your data shows something else. One doesn't know what was on the authors' minds and maybe they interpreted things differently but the sense is that the literature maintains an attitude somewhat like the approach of lawyers. If the jury buys it, it doesn't matter whether or not it's true. In scientific publishing, the jury are the reviewers and the editors. If they are already convinced of the conclusion, if there is no voir dire, you will surely win the case.”
― Richard David Feinman, The World Turned Upside Down: The Second Low-Carbohydrate Revolution

“God had said to listen to what five people tell you and don’t hold on to your own opinion. The person who holds on to his opinion is isolated. If you insist upon it, it will harm you as well as others. This true-false is a relative truth; it is a mundane [worldly] truth. One should not insist upon it.”
― Dada Bhagwan

“For how long can you remain in an imagined (false) state? For how long can you remain as imagined father-in-law to someone? And what happens when you visit your in-laws? You have to become the son-in-law. And when you visit your maternal grandparents? You have to become a nephew. Would it be acceptable to call you a nephew in satsang?”
― Dada Bhagwan, Aptavani-2

“There is nothing that cannot be overcome. Unless you make it into something.”
― Benjamin Aubrey Myers