
„The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.“
— Aleksandr Pushkin Russian poet 1799 - 1837
The Hero ll. 64-65, quoted in Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov
Тьмы низких истин нам дороже нас возвышающий обман.
Pushkin and Pugachev (1937).
Тьмы низких истин нам дороже нас возвышающий обман.
„The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.“
— Aleksandr Pushkin Russian poet 1799 - 1837
The Hero ll. 64-65, quoted in Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov
„Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is truth.“
Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas.
— Aristotle Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy -384 - -321 př. n. l.
A similar statement was attributed to Aristotle in antiquityː ""Φίλος μὲν Σωκράτης, ἀλλὰ φιλτέρα ἀλήθεια."" [""Socrates is a friend, but truth is a greater.""] — Ammonius Hermiae, Life of Aristotle (as translated in Dictionary of Quotations http://archive.org/details/dictionaryquota02harbgoog (1906) by Thomas Benfield Harbottle, p. 527). The variant mentioned above may possibly be derived from a reduction of a statement known to have been made by Isaac Newton, who at the head of notes he titled Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae (Certain Philosophical Questions) wrote in Latin: ""Amicus Plato— amicus Aristoteles— magis amica veritas"" which translates to: ""Plato is my friend— Aristotle is my friend— but my greatest friend is truth."" (c. 1664)
Another possible origin of the ""dear is Plato"" statement is in the Nicomachean Ethics; the Ross translation (of 1096a.11–1096a.16) provides: ""We had perhaps better consider the universal good and discuss thoroughly what is meant by it, although such an inquiry is made an uphill one by the fact that the Forms have been introduced by friends of our own. Yet it would perhaps be thought to be better, indeed to be our duty, for the sake of maintaining the truth even to destroy what touches us closely, especially as we are philosophers; for, while both are dear, piety requires us to honour truth above our friends.""
Note that the last clause, when quoted by itself loses the connection to ""the friends"" who introduced ""the Forms"", Plato above all. Therefore the misattribution could be the result of the ""quote"" actually being a paraphrase which identifies Plato where Aristotle only alludes to him circumspectly.
According to the notes in Plato: Republic Book X, edited by John Ferguson, p. 71, «the familiar 'amicus Plato sed magis amica veritas' is found in Cervantes' Don Quixote II 8 and cannot be traced further back. Cf. Roger Bacon Op. mai. I vii, '<i>amicus est Socrates, magister meus, sed magis est amica veritas</i>'. For the opposite view, see Cicero, T.D. I 17,39, '<i>errare mehercule malo cum Platone . . . quam cum istis vera sentire</i>'.»
Disputed
Varianta: Plato is my friend, but the truth is more my friend.
— Woodrow Wilson American politician, 28th president of the United States (in office from 1913 to 1921) 1856 - 1924
Speech in Cleveland http://books.google.com/books?id=o3j10P6YFZIC&pg=PA1090&dq=%22nation's+honor+is+dearer+than+the+nation's+comfort%22 (January 1916)
1910s
— Christian Friedrich Hebbel German poet and dramatist 1813 - 1863
"Epigrams" in Sämtliche Werke, volume 6, page 365
Originál: (de) Was du teurer bezahlst, die Lüge oder die Wahrheit?
Jene kostet dein Ich, diese doch höchstens dein Glück.
— William Lloyd Garrison American journalist 1805 - 1879
Introductory Remarks
Thoughts on African Colonization (1832)
Kontext: Is Error, though unwittingly supported by a host of good men, stronger than Truth? Are Right and Wrong convertible terms, dependant upon popular opinion? Oh no! Then I will go forward in the strength of the Lord of Hosts — in the name of Truth — and under the banner of Right. As it is not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of God, that great moral changes are effected, I am encouraged to fight valiantly in this good cause, believing that I shall "come off conqueror, and more than conqueror" — yet not I, but Truth and Justice. It is in such a contest that one shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.
— Anne Brontë, kniha Dvojí život Heleny Grahamové
Zdroj: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), Ch. XLV : Reconciliation; Helen to Gilbert
— Miyamoto Musashi Japanese martial artist, writer, artist 1584 - 1645
Go Rin No Sho (1645), The Water Book
— Sydney J. Harris American journalist 1917 - 1986
On the Contrary (1964)
„What is pleasanter than the tie of host and guest?“
— Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers
Zdroj: Oresteia (458 BC), The Libation Bearers, line 702
— Charles Reade, kniha The Cloister and the Hearth
Zdroj: The Cloister and the Hearth (1861), CHAPTER V
— Frederick II of Prussia king of Prussia 1712 - 1786
Preface to “Histoire de mon temps”, Works (1743), quoted in W. W. Coole (ed.), Thus Spake Germany (London: George Routledge & Sons, 1941), p. 82
— Ilana Mercer South African writer
“Trump Should Triangulate,” http://www.unz.com/imercer/trump-should-triangulate/ The Unz Review, August 7 2015.
2010s, 2015
— Carl Sagan American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science educator 1934 - 1996
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God (2006)
„Books are no more threatened by Kindle than stairs by elevators.“
— Stephen Fry English comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and activist 1957
„The friendship of one wise man is better than the friendship of a host of fools.“
— Democritus Ancient Greek philosopher, pupil of Leucippus, founder of the atomic theory
Source Book in Ancient Philosophy (1907), The Golden Sayings of Democritus
— John Keats, Letter to Richard Woodhouse
It has as much delight in conceiving an Iago as an Imogen. What shocks the virtuous philospher, delights the camelion poet.
Letter to Richard Woodhouse (October 27, 1818)
Letters (1817–1820)