Interesting.

Here goes one from Mishima: German philosophy lacks a valve scape.

I read that quote in one of their essays - or novels, I can't remember quite well - about the post-nuclear attack on Japan.

Basically, Mishima argued that Japan was wrong to be very influenced by German philosophy. Although they are very important for the development of human knowledge, they lack praxis and that's why they lost WWII against more practical nations.

Now, I guess that quote should be included in "false-sounding truthhoods"

It must be true, I found it on the internet. :rofl:

No need to explain this one.

Hats off for the Tolstoy starter kit. My problem with it is that styles of 'happiness' cannot be reduced to a known set of characteristics.

"Same shit, different day." The reverse is true.

"You couldn't be more wrong." That remains to be seen.

"if it was possible, it would have happened already." Trust, but verify. Oh wait, that might be another problem.....

"Could care less" is both wrong and incorrect.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. (Tell that to the guy in school I bullied)

It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings (though perhaps the one I had in mind simply was not fat enough)

Lightning never strikes twice. (if that were the case anyone with the towering symbol of ignorance that would be a lightning rod should be tested for mental illness)

You reap what you sow. (perhaps I planted a very long-term flowering plant at a second home a squatter dug up shortly after and planted something else and, after having him shot by police on my return, I reaped something else)

It's best to let sleeping dogs lie. (Perhaps they were friendly and joined me on my daily walk and ended up mauling a would-be robber to death)

I could go on really.

"What goes around comes around". This doesn't always happen. Some bad actions never got consequences.

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." — BC

Finding happiness requires a whole bunch of circumstances to align just right, but there are infinitely many ways that it can remain unattained.

Or, unhappy families are more interesting to hear about from a storyteller, whereas happiness or contentment is always similarly boring from the outsiders' perspective. Every unhappy family's unhappiness has a unique drama.

I think we can say that there is truth to Tolstoy's opening line, although it may not be true without exception and without qualification. This is true of a lot of things you find in literature. Nietzsche and Oscar Wilde are full of stuff like that but they were not being stupid. Even just simple metaphors sound good but are in some sense false, at the same time as being good metaphors. As you get older, time flies, but it doesn't literally fly.

But here is my contender, which I think is truthful despite being false:

Only exaggeration is true. — Adorno, Dialectic of Enlightenment

When you tell someone their work is below par, that should mean it's good because you want to be under par. Birdies and eagles are good.

If you sleep like a baby, that should mean you get up every two hours really pissed off.

The purpose of this thread is to collect true-sounding falsehoods and false-sounding truthhoods and thus free the world of great sounding quotes that seem helpful but actually, probably, or possibly ARE NOT TRUE. — BC

Most of what's cited so far are true some of the time or are poetic truths. Are there any that are never true?

"With all due respect"?

Never true? I've used it and meant it.

↪Paine
Never true? I've used it and meant it. — Tom Storm

Interesting for sure. Perhaps, where respect that is due, mentioning it superfluously becomes a mockery. Does it not? My kind, smart, sir, @Tom Storm :joke:

Perhaps, where respect that is due... — Outlander

Exactly.

I guess 'never' is too much to claim. Strike it from the list.

I have seen a lot of the dark side of it, though.

Are there any that are never true? — Tom Storm

Like, "The check is in the mail"?

No, that doesn't work because sometimes the check actually is in the mail.

How about "the United States is a democracy"? We have and have had a one-party state controlled by an oligarchy since the get-go. That the Republicans and Democrats are different parties is true every now and then, but mostly it's not true.

"Any American can be President." I would say this is obviously not true, but then there is Trump.

"Peace-loving nation"? Obviously a false platitude no matter which nation one is describing.

"You can be whatever you want to be." False, in ever so many ways.

That reminds me of a once oft heard slogan: "Army of One."

Nicely done. I think the first three are more factoids which can be contested rather than sayings per say. But I get it.

How about "the United States is a democracy"? — BC

I'd probably say it is. It may be a dysfunctional democracy, with vested interests predominating, but there is still a vote and, presumably, if the eligible voting public were really motivated and involved, real change could still happen. The problem with many political systems is the quality of the voting.

Any American can be President — BC

False. :up: Any American within certain parameters - rich, native born, connected, etc.

Peace-loving nation"? — BC

Is that a saying or just a descriptive term which is almost incoherent? I think, perhaps, you can love peace yet be in constant conflict.

You can be whatever you want to be. — BC

For some this is true. Obviously the 'whatever' can be interpreted in crazy ways outside, I think, the expression's intention. I cannot be a nuclear power plant, for instance. However, if you are rich and smart the chances are you can be whatever you want to be. Sometimes it just takes one of those.

I have seen a lot of the dark side of it, though. — Paine

For sure. And that is the issue here. Many of us are so disillusioned that we are almost incredulous at the thought there might be appropriate instantiations of such a sentiment.

A watched pot never boils.

Not true. I have personally watched a pot of cold water put over a fire come to a boil.

What is true is that watching a pot of cold water heat up and boil is not very interesting.

I cannot be a nuclear power plant, for instance. — Tom Storm

This is true.

But I maintain that even a rich and smart person can not not be anything he wants to be. He may be rich; he may be smart. But he can't be the world's greatest lover if he is as sexy as a cold wet dish rag. He might be able to become a saint if he gave up all his wealth. Brains would be helpful, as would not being too sexy for his sandals and shabby clothes. Saint Augustine had to pray to God Almighty for chastity, "just not yet!"

There doesn't seem to be a big trend for rich smart people opting for the sorts of lifestyles that lead to eventual sainthood.

That is a tough one and I have not been wearing shining armor enough times to speak with authority about it.

I have found, in work situations, that saying the phrase without saying the phrase has merit. Connecting with what is honored rather than claiming one has done so. Easier said than done, of course. But if it is impossible then it is a conflict, honor should call it that.

I hear you and it has got me thinking that there's a separate aspect to these 'Hallmark' style affirmations.

When someone says - 'You can be anything you want', I don't think it is meant to be taken as a literalist declaration of unlimited possibility. I think the sentiment of the saying is - 'Go after whatever you want, because you never know. Many fights are lost before they begin.'

Quite possibly some of these sorts of sayings are not intended as literalist accounts of potentialities or states of affairs, but rather they are aspirational or 'sketches' of approximate wisdom.

One of my favorites is attributed to Balzac - "Behind every great fortune, there is a great crime." It's by no means entirely true, but it is so rich in aesthetic truth that it might as well be a fact.

Many fights are lost before they begin. — Tom Storm

This accords with my experience of tilting at windmills. It never turned out well. And, I've never read your pithy sentence before, as far as I can recall.

Hallmark sentiments are positive sounding non-inferential statements which are quite harmless as long as we don't take them seriously. I suppose graduation speakers and teachers trying to inspire their students do well to invoke platitudes. It would be bad form for the speaker to say to the 2024 graduating class that "you are lucky to be graduating at all!" or "You people are going to need every bit of underserved good luck you can get!"

The children leaving posh academies and graduating from elite institutions don't really need commencement platitudes. They, privileged bastards born with golden spoons in their mouths, know things will turn out well for them under almost all circumstances.

Which brings me to agreeing how nice is Balzac's "Behind every great fortune, there is a great crime". Only I think it much more true than not. I also like Pierre-Joseph Proudon's formulation, "All property is theft." Is my 100 year old 800 square ft. house on a narrow lot theft? I rented apartments until I was over 50, so I had many years to enjoy the Proudhon without feeling guilty. Was Pierre-Joseph talking about "capital property" or personal property? I don't know. Personal property which greatly exceeds need qualifies as theft, IMHO. A small family does not need a vast McMansion on 5 acres of farm land planted in high maintenance Kentucky blue grass (popular lawn grass) and other landscaping cliches. Don't forget the 4 car garage.

How about "Workers of the world Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!" Is that true? I used to think it was unquestionably and obviously true, but I am less certain that we have nothing to lose but our chains, however chains are defined. And workers of all lands uniting seems quite far-fetched indeed, these days.

How about "Workers of the world Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!" Is that true? — BC

Wouldn’t have thought so. You may also lose your jobs or your life - depending upon the country. But the sentiment is laudable and we need more of it.

Personal property which greatly exceeds need qualifies as theft, IMHO. A small family does not need a vast McMansion on 5 acres of farm land planted in high maintenance Kentucky blue grass (popular lawn grass) and other landscaping cliches. Don't forget the 4 car garage. — BC

That’s a tough one. I think one can argue that personal property is fine. Where do we draw the line in terms of what is enough for one family? My biggest gripe with McMansions is the aesthetic crime. The vulgarity and banality of the architecture. Appalling ‘entertainment’ rooms and the like. In Australia, all the new money favours French Provincial ‘architecture’ - which is neither French nor provincial. It’s the brutal tastelessness and cultural soup of a Disney Company style guide.

Basically any Mark Twain quote.

We may wonder whether there is such a thing as a "happy family", no one questions the abundance of unhappy families. What with oedipal conflicts, penis envies, death wishes, and run of the mill neuroses, one might say that "happy families" are merely simmering pots that haven't boiled over yet. — BC

There really are happy families, with no end to their happiness in sight. There really are such people. I don't know how come, but there really are such people. I guess they just lack all sense of drama.


As for "sounds great but is false": fake Buddha quotes. There's a whole website dedicated to them:
https://fakebuddhaquotes.com/all-fake-buddha-quotes/

Basically any Mark Twain quote. — Lionino

How can you tell, since most of them are ironic or sarcastic anyway?

The Buddha misquote site is quite a rich vein. For instance, “Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.”

I thought it was DECAY is inherent in all compounded beings.

How can you tell, since most of them are ironic or sarcastic anyway? — baker

Not sure where you got that sample from, Google shows me otherwise.

Basically any Mark Twain quote.
— Lionino
How can you tell, since most of them are ironic or sarcastic anyway? — baker

Yes, he was a primarily a humorist, so most of his quotes were intended as provocations or quips.

Hence -

'Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.'

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”'

'God created war so that Americans would learn geography.'

"It's a free country".

"The meek shall inherit the Earth".