"All men wish to have truth on their side; but few to be on the side of truth"
About this Quote
A clean, almost polite sentence that lands like an accusation. Whately draws a razor-thin distinction between wanting truth as a possession and submitting to truth as an authority. The first is branding: truth as a badge you can pin to your argument, your party, your reputation. The second is discipline: accepting that truth might implicate you, cost you status, or force you to change course.
The line works because it exposes a psychological loophole most people prefer not to notice. “Truth on their side” frames truth as a loyal ally, a hired gun. It flatters the ego and keeps the self intact: I was right all along. “On the side of truth” flips the relationship. Now you’re the one who must move, not the facts. Whately’s syntax stages that reversal, turning a common aspiration into a moral stress test.
Context matters: Whately was an Anglican thinker steeped in logic and rhetoric, writing in a Britain where public argument was expanding through newspapers, reform debates, and religious controversy. In that world, persuasion could easily outrun sincerity. He isn’t merely scolding hypocrisy; he’s diagnosing how debate becomes a theater of self-justification. The subtext is austere: most of us love truth as a weapon, not as a judge.
It’s also a quiet warning to any era with “teams” of opinion. You can win arguments and still lose reality. Whately’s punchline is that integrity isn’t claiming truth; it’s consenting to be corrected by it.
The line works because it exposes a psychological loophole most people prefer not to notice. “Truth on their side” frames truth as a loyal ally, a hired gun. It flatters the ego and keeps the self intact: I was right all along. “On the side of truth” flips the relationship. Now you’re the one who must move, not the facts. Whately’s syntax stages that reversal, turning a common aspiration into a moral stress test.
Context matters: Whately was an Anglican thinker steeped in logic and rhetoric, writing in a Britain where public argument was expanding through newspapers, reform debates, and religious controversy. In that world, persuasion could easily outrun sincerity. He isn’t merely scolding hypocrisy; he’s diagnosing how debate becomes a theater of self-justification. The subtext is austere: most of us love truth as a weapon, not as a judge.
It’s also a quiet warning to any era with “teams” of opinion. You can win arguments and still lose reality. Whately’s punchline is that integrity isn’t claiming truth; it’s consenting to be corrected by it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Truth |
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