Vacuously True Statements

Famous quotes containing the words true and/or statements:

“Can he who has discovered only some of the values of whalebone and whale oil be said to have discovered the true use of the whale?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

“We assume that politicians are without honor. We read their statements trying to crack the code. The scandals of their politics: not so much that men in high places lie, only that they do so with such indifference, so endlessly, still expecting to be believed. We are accustomed to the contempt inherent in the political lie.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)