On Truth (1920-1929)

"The terrible thing about the quest for truth is that you find it." (Rémy de Gourmont, "Philosophic Nights in Paris", 1920)

"It has been pointed out already that no knowledge of probabilities, less in degree than certainty, helps us to know what conclusions are true, and that there is no direct relation between the truth of a proposition and its probability. Probability begins and ends with probability." (John M Keynes, "A Treatise on Probability", 1921)

"It can, you see, be said, with the same approximation to truth, that the whole of science, including mathematics, consists in the study of transformations or in the study of relations." (Cassius J Keyser. "Mathematical Philosophy: A Study of Fate and Freedom", 1922)

"The axioms and provable theorems (i.e. the formulas that arise in this alternating game [namely formal deduction and the adjunction of new axioms]) are images of the thoughts that make up the usual procedure of traditional mathematics; but they are not themselves the truths in the absolute sense. Rather, the absolute truths are the insights (Einsichten) that my proof theory furnishes into the provability and the consistency of these formal systems." (David Hilbert; “Die logischen Grundlagen der Mathematik.“ Mathematische Annalen 88 (1), 1923)

“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” (Pablo Picasso, “The Arts”, 1923)

“Science does not aim at establishing immutable truths and eternal dogmas; its aim is to approach the truth by successive approximations, without claiming that at any stage final and complete accuracy has been achieved.” (Bertrand Russell, “The ABC of Relativity”, 1925)

"Progress in truth - truth of science and truth of religion - is mainly a progress in the framing of concepts, in discarding artificial abstractions or partial metaphors, and in evolving notions which strike more deeply into the root of reality." (Alfred N Whitehead, "Religion in the Making", 1926)

"The scientist is a lover of truth for the very love of truth itself, wherever it may lead." (Luther Burbank, "Why I Am An Infidel", 1926)

“If our so-called facts are changing shadows, they are shadows cast by the light of constant truth.” (Sir Arthur S Eddington, “Science and the Unseen World”, 1929) 

“Try to be conspicuously accurate in everything, pictures as well as text. Truth is not only stranger than fiction, it is more interesting.” (William R Hearst, “Letter of Instruction to Hearst Publishers”, 1929)