“Truth is authority. Authority is not truth”
Women’s rights activist and social reformer Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) wrote in an undated letter that was printed in 1853:
“I received every encouragement from those in authority, until the event of a separation among us in 1827, when my convictions led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within, resting on ‘truth as authority,’ rather than ‘taking authority for truth.’”
Mott’s motto was described as “Truth for authority, not authority for truth” in the San Marcos (TX) Free Press on June 21, 1879.
“Truth is authority. Authority is not truth” was said by American actress Christine Ebersole on September 11, 2007, at an event questioning the official explanation of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center.
Indian yogi, mystic and author Sadhguru said “truth is authority, authority is not truth” in an interview on June 11, 2016.
Wikipedia: Lucretia Mott
Lucretia Mott (née Coffin; January 3, 1793 – November 11, 1880) was a U.S. Quaker, abolitionist, women’s rights activist, and social reformer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position of women in society when she was amongst the women excluded from the World Anti-Slavery Convention in 1840. In 1848 she was invited by Jane Hunt to a meeting that led to the first meeting about women’s rights. Mott helped write the Declaration of Sentiments during the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention.
Her speaking abilities made her an important abolitionist, feminist, and reformer. When slavery was outlawed in 1865, she advocated giving former slaves who had been bound to slavery laws within the boundaries of the United States, whether male or female, the right to vote. She remained a central figure in the abolition and suffrage movement until her death in 1880.
Wikiquote: Gerald Massey
Gerald Massey (May 29, 1828 – October 29, 1907) was an English self-taught Egyptologist and poet.
Quotes
They must find it hard to take Truth for authority who have so long mistaken Authority for Truth.
. A Retort, from Gerald Massey’s Lectures c.1900; often cited as They must find it difficult, those who have taken authority as truth, rather than truth as authority.
. Based on a quote of Lucretia Mott, “… my convictions led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on truth as authority, rather than “taking authority for truth.””, quoted in “Eminent women of the age” By James Parton et. al., (S.M. Betts & Company, 1868, p375).
Google Books
April 1853, American Phrenological Journal (New York, NY), pg. 77, col. 1:
(Extracts of a letter by Lucretia Mott—ed.)
“I received every encouragement from those in authority, until the event of a separation among us in 1827, when my convictions led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within, resting on ‘truth as authority,’ rather than ‘taking authority for truth.’”
Google Books
The Young Woman’s Friend, or, The Duties, Trials, Loves, and Hopes of Woman
By Daniel Clarke Eddy
Boston, MA: Wentworth & Company
1857
Pg. 224:
(Extracts of a letter by Lucretia Mott—ed.)
“I received every encouragement from those in authority, until the event of a separation among us in 1827, when my convictions led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within, resting on ‘truth as authority,’ rather than ‘taking authority for truth.’”
Google Books
July 1876, Contemporary Review, “The Restitution of All Things” by Rev. Andrew Jukes, pg. 336,
But the Roman Catholic point of view has, if I err not, another disadvantage, for with those who look out from it authority is ever taken for truth, instead of truth for authority. Truth, according to the Roman theory, cannot be got save by authority.
Google Books
Lives of the Eminent Dead:
And Biographical Notices of Prominent Living Citizens of Montgomery County, PA
By Moses Auge
Norristown, PA: Published by the author
1879
Pg. 463:
David Newport’s utterances at meetings are marked by great earnestness and plainness, he feeling it his mission to simplify the truths of religion, and call men to truth as authority rather than to authority as truth.
21 June 1879, San Marcos (TX) Free Press, “Lucretia Mott,” pg. 4, col. 1:
A stranger having just sent to her for her photograph, autograph, and a sentiment, she sent for the latter, her favorite motto: “Truth for authority, not authority for truth.”
20 August 1881, Oakland (CA) Daily Evening Tribune, “Church Notices,” pg. 3, col 6:
REV. L. HAMILTON will speak at the hall on the corner of Thirteenth and Jefferson streets (formerly Independent Church) to-morrow at 11 A. M. Subject, “The Bible—Truth for Authority; not Authority for Truth.”
Google Books
25 March 1882, Friends’ Intelligencer (Philadelphia, PA), “Lucretia Mott,” pg. 87, col. 1:
Not authority for truth, but truth for authority, that was her principle.
Google Books
Our Famous Women:
An Authorized Record of the Lives and Deeds of Distinguished Women of Our Times
Hartford, CT: A. D. Worthington & Co., Publishers
1884
Pg. 475 (Lucretia Mott):
The key to her power and to her place as a public preacher in the ministry of the Friends is found in her primal declaration: “My convictions led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on truth as authority, not on authority as truth.
Screw Loose Change
SUNDAY, JULY 06, 2008
Truth Retching Review
(...)
Tony-Award Winning Nutbar Christine Ebersole gets the “Deep Thoughts” award for this observation:
“Authority is not truth. And we can look to the laws of the universe for truth. The laws of mathematics, the laws of physics, the laws of logic, the laws of chemistry, the laws of engineering, these are laws that God created that are supported by the universe. And we look to that truth to find the answers about what happened on 9-11.”
Twitter
Arwen Starfire
@Arwen_Starfire
Always rememer: Truth is Authority, Authority is not Truth: there is one law, Gods Law / Natural Law ~ Leglislisation is just an ilusion!
6:06 AM - 2 Apr 2009
Twitter
JFK Clooney Beckham
@youknowmystatus
truth is authority, authority is not truth
12:41 PM - 6 Aug 2009
Isha
Truth Is Authority. Authority Is Not Truth
Sadhguru is interviewed by Radio East FM in Kenya, over a phone call, before he even lands in the East African nation! He looks at how people are looking for a logical, non-denomination spiritual process, and that people no longer look at authority as truth, but truth as the authority.
Podcast
Jun 11, 2016
Google Books
We are CHANGE:
The Global Truth & Liberty Movement
By Brian Kenny
Walterville, OR: Trine Day LLC
2017
Pg. ?:
(Spoken by American actress Christine Ebersole on September 11, 2007.—ed.)
“Truth is authority!” said Ebersole. “Authority is not truth. And we can look to the Universe and to the laws of the Universe to find truth. The laws of mathematics, the laws of physics, the laws of logic, the laws of chemistry, the laws of engineering…. These are laws that God created that are supported by the Universe. And we look to the truth to find the answers about what happened on 9/11…what happened at the World Trade Center. And if the official government story tells us it’s one way because they are the authority, it doesn’t mean it’s the truth!” [Explosive cheers].
“So start thinking for yourself and start believing your eyes and start believing your ears! And start believing your heart! The truth is authority! Authority…is not truth!”
Twitter
Ashley Allen
@aplallen
Wisdom from my grab driver “truth is authority, authority is not truth”... ok.
12:45 AM - 1 Apr 2019 from George Town, Pinang