"There's no one thing that is true. They're all true"
About this Quote
The subtext is a manifesto for his minimalist method. If reality is crowded with competing truths, the writer’s job isn’t to deliver a verdict; it’s to arrange scenes so readers feel the collision. That’s the iceberg idea in one sentence: the “true” part isn’t the moral or the message, it’s the pressure beneath what’s spoken. His dialogue often works this way, with characters circling what they can’t say directly; meaning accumulates through omission, not declaration.
Contextually, it fits a modernist moment shaped by disillusionment after World War I, when grand narratives sounded obscene. Hemingway offers no comforting synthesis. He offers stamina: hold contradictions without flinching, and call that honesty.
Quote Details
| Topic | Truth |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Hemingway, Ernest. (2026, January 17). There's no one thing that is true. They're all true. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-no-one-thing-that-is-true-theyre-all-true-35007/
Chicago Style
Hemingway, Ernest. "There's no one thing that is true. They're all true." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-no-one-thing-that-is-true-theyre-all-true-35007/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"There's no one thing that is true. They're all true." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/theres-no-one-thing-that-is-true-theyre-all-true-35007/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.













