“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
- Date
- 1895
- Attribution
- Source identified
- Voice / speaker
- Fictional character · Algernon Moncrieff
What does this quote mean?
Wilde resists neat moral simplification by reminding the reader that truth often arrives mixed with context and contradiction.
Where does it come from?
The Importance of Being Earnest, Act 1; Algernon delivers the purity-and-simplicity line as a comic epigram during the play’s conversation about truth and social performance.
Who voices the line?
Fictional character · Algernon Moncrieff. The Importance of Being Earnest, Act 1; Algernon delivers the purity-and-simplicity line as a comic epigram during the play’s conversation about truth and social performance. v4.93 stores the local voice separately from the bibliographic work author.
The source author and the local speaker can be different, especially in fiction, drama, dialogue and poetry.
How should this attribution be read?
This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.