Truth
‹ 2 · Outline · 4 ›
3.Testimony, evidence and the verification of reports
3a.The reliability and limits of witnesses and testimony
See also: Reasoning 6b · History 3d
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 195Eumaeus distrusts the stranger's tale, having been cheated by an Aetolian, and rejects comforting lies.read · scan
Plato, The Apology of SocratesVol. 2
- p. 7He appeals to hearers as witnesses to the truth of his denial.read · scan
- p. 21Witnesses support him for truth and justice, showing Meletus lies.read · scan
Plutarch, CiceroVol. 12
- p. 238–239Cicero says he has more truth than eloquence when told he ruined more as witness than saved as advocate.read · scan
- p. 241Cicero testifies truly but is suspected of doing so to keep peace at home.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 350The tale looks like fable yet is vouched for by a man of unsuspected veracity.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 160–161Others cannot verify his confession, yet charity believes; only the spirit of man knows what is in man.read · scan
- p. 161–162Readers cannot reach his heart and must trust in charity that he does not lie.read · scan
BeowulfVol. 49
- p. 20Beowulf claims his account of the swim is true, contradicting Unferth's.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 32–33The parrot's report is accepted as true without testing, leading to hasty punishment of the wife.read · scan
- p. 378The princess insists she has not lost her wits and bids her mother ask her bridegroom, who falsely denies knowing anything.read · scan
- p. 381The Wezir's son confirms the princess's story, saying she would not lie.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 108Cellini recounts the whole story of the thief and his anguish, and the Pope, after sharp scrutiny, accepts his honesty.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of BookesVol. 32
- p. 98Nothing is so hard to find as certainty of truth, even about a battle; witnesses must be examined as in law.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 39Quixote demands belief in Dulcinea's beauty without evidence; the merchant asks for a portrait, judging the whole from a thread.read · scan
- p. 155Sancho claims he could swear the tale true though he only heard it told.read · scan
- p. 395–396Some renegades' testimonies are sincere, others deceptive; the captive must judge whom to trust.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, The Discovery of GuianaVol. 33
- p. 359Raleigh defends the report of headless men as true because so many people independently affirm it, citing Mandeville's vindication.read · scan
- p. 360An honest Spaniard's testimony of seeing headless people is offered as confirmation of the report.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 347–348Belief rests on trust in another's ability to know and honesty in not deceiving.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Dr. John DonneVol. 15
- p. 337–339Walton vouches for the vision story as told sincerely by an intimate friend of Donne.read · scan
Molière, Tartuffe, or The HypocriteVol. 26
- p. 271–272Tartuffe suspects her words are a trick and wants real proof of their truth.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 207The chain of witnesses is held conclusive proof of creation and deluge.read · scan
- p. 208–209Sincerity: Moses does not hide his people's shame, and the Jews die for testimony against their own honour.read · scan
- p. 209The Jews lovingly preserve the book in which Moses declares their ingratitude, a witness against them.read · scan
- p. 240Witnesses called that they may hear and say 'It is truth'.read · scan
- p. 263–264Witnesses must be beyond suspicion: had all Jews converted the witnesses would be questionable, had they been destroyed there would be none.read · scan
- p. 266–267Jews as enemies are irreproachable witnesses; testing if he were God showed he was man.read · scan
- p. 277The evangelists' lack of pretence is evidence of the genuineness of their account.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 179–180The narrator asks whether such a report may be affirmed as truth; Sagacity vouches as eyewitness.read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37
- p. 354Reports contrary to the uniformity of human nature are detected as falsehood, like tales of miracles.read · scan
- p. 376–377Men's inclination to truth, probity and shame at falsehood, learned by experience, ground our trust in testimony.read · scan
- p. 380–381Witnesses must be of undoubted integrity and reputation; no miracle in history has been attested sufficiently.read · scan
- p. 385Even seemingly excellent testimony from honest, disinterested eye-witnesses supports a palpable falsehood, showing testimony's limits.read · scan
- p. 386Bigotry, ignorance, cunning and roguery make testimony to miracles unreliable and hard to disprove.read · scan
- p. 388–389Falsehood is hard to detect even in courts and recent events, especially when passions take sides.read · scan
- p. 390–391Human knavery and folly make deception more probable than a violation of natural law.read · scan
- p. 391Bacon warns that reports of prodigies must be scrutinized lest we depart from truth, especially religious ones.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 258–259Fathers weigh Marlow's protestations of never courting against Kate's sincere testimony, each staking honour and happiness on veracity.read · scan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for ScandalVol. 18
- p. 142–143Sir Peter doubts Moses will speak truth; Rowley says self-interest guarantees fidelity.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 46–47Doctor dismisses Renzo's account as lies and refuses to hear it plainly, though Renzo offers an oath.read · scan
- p. 142–143Signora asks Lucia to say whether the cavalier was a persecutor, trusting the victim's testimony over the friar's.read · scan
- p. 530–531Federigo answers the Archbishop of Mayence that the prodigies are mere dreams.read · scan
Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Contagiousness of Puerperal FeverVol. 38
- p. 226–227Gordon's honest, distinct testimony is held up as a model of reporting demonstrable fact.read · scan
Robert Browning, A Blot in the 'ScutcheonVol. 18
- p. 382He would believe her denial over the world's charge, but her silence confirms the accusation.read · scan
3b.Verifying history, documents and travellers' tales
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 58Herodotus voices disbelief of the tale about the king's daughter.read · scan
- p. 64Herodotus rejects the incest story as idle, checking it against the statues' hands lost through time.read · scan
- p. 67Herodotus argues against those who speak wrongly about Rhodopis, not knowing when she lived.read · scan
Plutarch, PericlesVol. 12
- p. 50–52Records perverted by ill-will or flattery obscure truth.read · scan
- p. 63–64Duris is said to stray from truth and exaggerate to create odium against Athenians.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 284–288Claims to relate only what he saw or heard immediately, before the truth could be varied.read · scan
- p. 315–316Pliny insists the historian must not exceed the bounds of reality.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 225The Wezir accuses Nur-ed-Din of forgery; authenticity depends on an envoy and mandate.read · scan
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; The Nun's Priest's TaleVol. 40
- p. 30Faithful reporting avoids telling the tale untruly or inventing things.read · scan
William Caxton, Prefaces and EpiloguesVol. 39
- p. 9He cannot think so true a philosopher as Socrates wrote other than truth about women.read · scan
- p. 11–12Caxton includes Socrates's sayings apart, for completeness and excuse, and lets readers erase them if displeased.read · scan
- p. 17–18Caxton stresses faithful, correct text against abridged and interpolated copies.read · scan
- p. 18Caxton corrects his edition against a truer copy to satisfy the author, admitting earlier errors of additions and omissions.read · scan
- p. 20Weighs physical evidence and records to establish that Arthur really lived.read · scan
Michel de Montaigne, Of BookesVol. 32
- p. 94–98Simple chroniclers like Froissart give naked truth and leave judgment free; Caesar's sincerity praised.read · scan
- p. 98Concealing what all the world knows is an unpardonable defect; free liberty of writing has declined.read · scan
Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake RevivedVol. 33
- p. 126–127Drake writes to correct the many untruths published about his voyages and reveal the certain truth.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 17Narrator promises not to vary a jot from the truth in the relation.read · scan
- p. 69–70Doubts the Moorish author's truthfulness, yet insists no history is ill if it is true and that affection must not bend it.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, The Discovery of GuianaVol. 33
- p. 327Raleigh sifts conflicting belief about the warlike women, setting down what was delivered to him as truth.read · scan
Francis Pretty, Sir Francis Drake's Famous Voyage Round the WorldVol. 33
- p. 207–208The coast of Chili is found to differ from the general maps, misreported through deceit or ignorant conjecture.read · scan
- p. 223–224Drake finds the Portuguese report of the Cape of Good Hope's dangers false; it proved the fairest cape.read · scan
Thomas Dekker, The Shoemaker's HolidayVol. 47
- p. 505Jane suspects the death bill is forged.read · scan
Izaak Walton, The Life of Mr. George HerbertVol. 15
- p. 394–395Walton promises sincerity and diligence in informing himself so his account is true.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 206–207Truth is perverted by change of men, so few generations between creation and deluge preserve it.read · scan
- p. 207–208Non-contemporary accounts cannot be known as fable or fact once witnesses are gone.read · scan
- p. 209–210Persecutors could not abolish the books, so the Scriptures' integrity is argued.read · scan
John Dryden, Preface to Fables, Ancient and ModernVol. 39
- p. 166–167A teller must rehearse each word or else tell his tale untrue, invent things or find new words.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Profession of Faith of a Savoyard VicarVol. 34
- p. 292Books misrepresent their writers' sentiments; truth requires hearing the opposing party.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 414Smith refutes the claim that English wool is necessary for fine cloth; fine cloth is made of Spanish wool.read · scan
William Wordsworth, Essay Supplementary to PrefaceVol. 39
- p. 326–327Ossian is called a forgery passed off as ancient epic.read · scan
- p. 328Ossian is a pretended translation and forgery, spurious in imagery, characters and manners.read · scan
- p. 328–329Ossian's inability to blend with national literature proves it unnatural forgery; Chatterton's forgeries fooled critics.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter ScottVol. 25
- p. 399Criticizes English biography's fear of offence, which yields stainless ghost-lives; Lockhart's frankness about persons is defended.read · scan
- p. 400Biography must represent life's faults fitly and with dignity, not omit them like Hamlet without Hamlet.read · scan
- p. 400–401Biographer must set down essential truth, not ghosts of things; avoid falsehood yet not shrink from unpleasant facts, fearing only God.read · scan
- p. 401–402Statements may be corrected if inaccurate; Lockhart's candor defies public cant about heroes.read · scan
George Long, M. Aurelius AntoninusVol. 2
- p. 309Exposes a forged letter as a stupid forgery, distinguishing genuine from false documents.read · scan
- p. 314–315Author seeks truth and rejects false documents even when they would exculpate Antoninus.read · scan
Thomas Babington Macaulay, MachiavelliVol. 27
- p. 399–400Accuracy versus faithful impression: more exact narrative may not convey more exact notions.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 302–303The Cavalier dismisses the bird as a fable of book-writers; the Emperor trusts the book because it came from the Emperor of Japan.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 5–6Dana vows an accurate, authentic narrative adhering to fact, showing sailor life as it really is, light and dark together.read · scan
- p. 200–202Captain Low's published letter confirms George's story exactly, putting its truth beyond doubt.read · scan
3c.Proofs by token, trial and confession
See also: Justice 7b · Punishment 5
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 195–196Odysseus proposes a covenant staking his life on his word; the penalty is death so beggars beware of deceiving.read · scan
- p. 262–263Odysseus tells false tales in the likeness of truth, and Penelope tests his account with tokens.read · scan
- p. 263–264Odysseus offers accurate tokens and a fabricated report of Odysseus's return, deceiving his wife.read · scan
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 15–17The chorus doubts Clytemnestra's news and asks for proof to make assurance sure.read · scan
- p. 17–19The chorus presses for proof; dreams and rumour are rejected as grounds for belief in favour of the fire-signal.read · scan
Sophocles, Oedipus the KingVol. 8
- p. 241–242Oedipus forces the reluctant shepherd, by threat and blows, to reveal the child he gave away.read · scan
Euripides, HippolytusVol. 8
- p. 343–344Theseus wishes for a test distinguishing true hearts from false, a double voice to expose liars, since men are forever duped.read · scan
- p. 345He treats the dead wife's tablet as perfect witness beyond any oaths.read · scan
Aristophanes, The FrogsVol. 8
- p. 456–457Aeacus tries to discover by blows which of the two is really the god.read · scan
- p. 457Aeacus cannot discover which is the god, so refers the matter to Pluto and Persephone.read · scan
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 620–621Contest over witnesses: the inanimate earth is called to testify to his past donation.read · scan
- p. 621–623The earth thunders witness to his past donation, vindicating his claim.read · scan
Plutarch, AlcibiadesVol. 12
- p. 124Andocides is persuaded to confess falsely to save his life, and innocent men die on his information.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 404Accused persons are tested by whether they deny or confess, with some retracting.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 923–924The torn shirt, rent from behind, proves who lies and who tells the truth.read · scan
- p. 926Joseph demands the women's account; the prince's wife confesses the truth appears and that he is truthful.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 128Told to tell the truth, he reasons that denial is useless against the evidence and confesses.read · scan
- p. 146The Wali disbelieves his true account of the necklace, so he confesses falsely under torture.read · scan
- p. 148Governor bids him speak truth; the confession matches what he already knew.read · scan
- p. 172The informer feigns blindness, then exposes the men's pretended blindness; the Wali says truth will only come out by beating.read · scan
- p. 239–240Sindbad proves his veracity to the doubting master by recounting private details; falsehood is called the mark of hypocrites.read · scan
- p. 256–257Sindibad declares his identity against the belief that he was lost.read · scan
- p. 257–259Sindibad's identity is proved by witnesses and by a private mark; some disbelieve until testimony confirms his story.read · scan
- p. 380She offers her account and bids him verify it by asking the bridegroom.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 99–100Karl asks how fulfilment of fair-seeming words can be known; hint of Ganelon's coming treason.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 317–318The ring exposes Sigurd's deception of Brynhild, leaving her pale and silent.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 133–135Robin demands the truth about his money and Little John confirms the knight is honest.read · scan
- p. 159–161Robin demands the monk tell the truth about his money and spares him if he told it.read · scan
Ambroise Paré, Journeys in Diverse PlacesVol. 38
- p. 20The king traces the leak back through captain after captain, demanding the truth on pain of hanging.read · scan
Sir Francis Drake, Sir Francis Drake RevivedVol. 33
- p. 180–181Drake's toothpick token, inscribed 'By me, Francis Drake,' wins the master's credence for the messenger.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 396The captive tests the renegade's honesty by having him translate the scroll before confiding in him.read · scan
- p. 398The captives judge his tears and tokens of repentance sincere and so confide their secret.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 126–128Polonius vows to find where truth is hid, though it were in the centre of the earth.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 399Torture serves only as conjecture in searching for truth; confessions under it lack credit.read · scan
Edward Jenner, The Three Original Publications on Vaccination Against SmallpoxVol. 38
- p. 155The surgeon's assurance of immunity proved fallacious, and Jenner verifies the reality of the disease by inoculating from the pustules.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 103–104False brides are exposed by blood in the shoe; the true bride is recognized by the fitting slipper.read · scan
- p. 182–184The scholar distrusts the spirit's word and demands proof he is the right spirit; he suspects cheating.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 337–341Marzio's confession is torn out by torture, so truth and falsehood are indistinguishable; 'torture forced the truth'.read · scan
- p. 341–343She reads Marzio's averted gaze as the sign of false witness; torture extracts what he says.read · scan
- p. 343Marzio retracts his accusation and declares Beatrice innocent; the judge would strain out the 'truth' by torture.read · scan
- p. 346Beatrice assumes the others' confessions were lies told to flatter their tormentors.read · scan
3d.Rumour, gossip and credulity
See also: Honor 9b · Opinion 7a
Aeschylus, AgamemnonVol. 8
- p. 25–26The chorus doubts whether rumour and the beacons tell truth or a delusive cheat; they await the herald's plain word.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 152Fame mingles truth with lies, relating things done and not done.read · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7
- p. 310Not to believe all reports carelessly.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, Preface to the History of the WorldVol. 39
- p. 67Rumor is without witness or judge, malicious and deceivable.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 374–375Ignorance without malice leads men to believe, tell and invent lies.read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37
- p. 383Renowned lies grow from small beginnings in fertile soil into prodigies.read · scan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for ScandalVol. 18
- p. 120–121Rumours are repeated without foundation on 'good authority'; licence of invention is condemned.read · scan
- p. 124–125A deaf lady's mishearing grows into a widely believed false tale of twins, showing how rumour distorts fact.read · scan
- p. 135–137Wit and good nature are said to be akin; Crabtree says no scandalous tale lacks some foundation.read · scan
- p. 181Gossipers hand rumors from one to another, contradicting each other about who was the lover and the duel; rumor outruns fact.read · scan
- p. 182–183Crabtree and Sir Benjamin embroider absurd, conflicting accounts of the duel, each claiming undoubted authority for invented details.read · scan
- p. 183–184Sir Oliver exposes the gossips' contradictory falsehoods about the duel when the supposedly wounded Sir Peter walks in unharmed.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 37Lucia gives the curate's illness as the reason; the true fact cuts short village conjecture.read · scan
- p. 431–432Contradictory reports about Renzo all prove unfounded; Agnese cannot find the true account.read · scan
- p. 559–560The man insists on his 'absolute facts' though the poisoner accusation is delusion.read · scan
Frank Aretas Haskell, The Battle of GettysburgVol. 43
- p. 412Newspapers hold a chaos of trash and falsehood about the battle.read · scan
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