"It's not a matter of what is true that counts,…

“It’s not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true” is a political saying that has been printed on several images. The saying is usually credited to American diplomat and political scientist Henry Kissinger, although he didn’t say the expression first and it’s uncertain if he ever said it.

“THE important thing in politics is not what is true, but what people BELIEVE to be true” was printed in the Medford (OR) Mail Tribune on July 18, 1932. “What matters in politics is not what is actually true but what people believe to be true” was printed in the New Statesman (London, UK) on March 20, 1964.

“‘It is not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true.’—Henry Kissinger” was posted on the newsgroup sci.crypt on February 10, 1999. The expression means that politicians react to people’s opinions and biases—not necessarily the truth.

18 July 1932, Medford (OR) Mail Tribune, “The Eternal Truth” (editorial), pg. 4, col. 2:
THE important thing in politics is not what is true, but what people BELIEVE to be true.

20 March 1964, New Statesman (London, UK), “Spotlight on Politics: How Stands Sir Alec?” by Anthony Howard, pg. 434, col. 1:
What matters in politics is not what is actually true but what people believe to be true—and the bulk of the Conservative Party in parliament is now firmly persuaded that the Prime Minister is the party’s greatest electoral asset.

24 January 1972, The Morning News (Wilmington, DE), “Longstreth cautions state GOP” by Peter Gaffney, pg. 27, col. 5:
LONGSTRETH said that experiences in his campaign indicated that “it’s no longer what is true that counts politically in many sections of the country today; it’s what people believe to be true.”
(W. Thacher Longstreth, twice-defeated Republican candidate for mayor of Philadelphia.—ed.)

22 May 1975, Greensboro (NC) Daily News, “Meck Dec day in Charlotte” (editorial, pg. A6, col. 1:
But the whole affair will certainly confirm the recent observation of Prof. Chalmers Davidson of Davidson College (one of the few defenders of the Meck Dec myth who could actually be called a historian) that “what people believe to be true is frequently more influential than the truth itself.”

11 December 1977, Sunday Journal and Star (Lincoln, NE), “Abrasive Webster sharp as chief of Ag Department communications” by Andy Montgomery, pg. 2B, col. 1:
WASHINGTON—Being one of the top dogs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture hasn’t changed Nebraska native Jim Webster.
(...) (Col. 6—ed.)
Webster says that in rural America what is true sometimes is not as important as what is perceived to be true.

5 May 1991, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer “Pemberton Twp. Ponders How to Ease Taxes” by Frank Brown, pg. 10BR, col. 3:
“It is like the old newspaper adage: It is not necessarily what is true, but what is perceived to be true,” Brown said. “Externally, it is perceived as a kind of backwater area with a lot of poor folks who don’t care. But the reality is that it is basically a working-class suburb with a lot of people who really do care.”
(Rick Brown, chairman of the Planning Board.—ed.)

Google Groups: sci.crypt
What is left to invent?
R. Knauer
2/10/99
(...)
“It is not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true.”
—Henry Kissinger

Google Books
Governing Education
By Benjamin Levin
Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press
2005
Pg. 19:
For politicians, what people believe to be true is much more important than what may be true in fact.

2 January 2008. South Florida Sun- Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL), “Muslim Fallacy” by Omer Subhani (Letters to the Editor), pg. 16A, col. 4:
As Henry Kissinger once said, “It’s not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true.”

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“It’s not a matter of what is true that counts but a matter of what is perceived to be true.”—Henry Kissinger
4:21 PM - 9 Oct 2008

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It is not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true.
Henry Kissinger
This entry was posted in Quotes on June 22, 2016 by ab.