Browse 7 quotations connecting William Shakespeare with Truth, with meanings, source notes and related themes.
Each quotation is included because its central idea connects with this theme, not simply because one matching word appears in the sentence.
Sources represented here include The Merchant of Venice, All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It. Keeping the work and source note beside each quotation makes differences in setting, speaker and emphasis easier to see.
Sources represented here include The Merchant of Venice, All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It.
“No legacy is so rich as honesty.”
The line values trustworthy character above possessions or reputation inherited after death.
Source note: All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 3, Scene 5; the line occurs in dialogue that values honest character above material inheritance.
“The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.”
Human life is pictured as a fabric woven from favorable and painful threads rather than a story made from only one kind of experience.
Source note: All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 4, Scene 3.
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
Recognizing the limits of one’s knowledge is presented as a mark of wisdom, while certainty about one’s own wisdom can be evidence of the opposite.
Source note: As You Like It, Act 5, Scene 1.
“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
Polonius frames integrity as consistency between inward conviction and outward conduct, although the advice belongs to a fallible fictional counselor.
Source note: Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3; Polonius gives Laertes this advice before Laertes leaves for France.
“All that glisters is not gold.”
Appearance can imitate value without possessing it, so the line encourages evidence and discernment before admiration or trust.
Source note: Act 2, Scene 7; the inscription warns against judging by outward appearance.
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”
Even respected language can be quoted selectively, so a citation should be judged by context and purpose rather than authority alone.
Source note: The Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Scene 3.
“Truth will come to light; murder cannot be hid long.”
Hidden wrongdoing may remain concealed for a time, but the line expresses confidence that facts and consequences tend eventually to surface.
Source note: The Merchant of Venice, Act 2, Scene 2; Launcelot uses the phrase while revealing his identity to his father.