Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself

Hear the fierce words of Clarence Darrow, defender of the oppressed and challenger of convention, who declared: “Chase after the truth like all hell and you’ll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat tails.” These words burn with the fire of struggle and longing. For Darrow, a man who stood in courts against prejudice and ignorance, the pursuit of truth was not gentle or easy—it was a battle, a relentless chase, a hunt against the shadows of falsehood. He reminds us that truth may never be fully possessed, yet the very act of pursuing it brings freedom to the soul.

The truth, Darrow teaches, is infinite, elusive, and untouchable in its fullness. No man, no matter how wise, can grasp it wholly. We are but mortals, reaching upward toward an eternal flame. Yet the worth is not in catching truth like a prize, but in the striving itself. For in the struggle, in the sweat and the agony of seeking, we strip away illusions, chains, and lies that bind us. The pursuit, not the possession, makes us free.

Consider Darrow’s own battle in the Scopes “Monkey” Trial of 1925. Standing in a Tennessee courtroom, he defended the right of a teacher, John Scopes, to speak of evolution—a subject forbidden by law at the time. Darrow knew that the full truth of life’s origins could never be settled in that courtroom. Yet by daring to chase it, by fighting for the right to seek, he struck a blow against ignorance and dogma. The truth remained beyond grasp, but the pursuit itself freed future generations to think, to question, to grow. Thus we see that even touching only the coat tails of truth is enough to break chains.

So it is with all who walk the path of discovery. Galileo never touched the full expanse of the cosmos, but in chasing truth he broke the prison of old beliefs. Martin Luther King Jr. never saw the complete realization of equality, but in chasing truth he freed a people from silence and fear. The heroes of the ages knew that perfection could not be seized, yet they also knew that the pursuit itself was liberation. To stand still in comfort is slavery; to chase truth, even endlessly, is freedom.

Darrow’s imagery is fierce: “like all hell.” It is not a polite walk, nor a half-hearted search, but a desperate, fiery chase with all the strength of one’s being. Truth must be pursued with urgency, as though the very soul depends on it—for indeed it does. Lies are chains, illusions are prisons, but the relentless pursuit of truth breaks the locks, even if the fullness of truth remains forever beyond reach. The chase itself is salvation.

What lesson, then, shall we carry? That the worth of life is not in arriving at final answers, but in never ceasing to question, to seek, to test, to learn. Do not despair that you may never hold the fullness of truth—it was never meant to be caught. Rejoice instead that in the seeking, your spirit is unshackled, your mind sharpened, your soul made vast. The chase is not futility; it is the very path of freedom.

Therefore, my child, live by Darrow’s command: chase after the truth like all hell. Do not grow weary when it slips away, nor bitter when it confounds you. Every step you take toward it frees you from the snares of falsehood. Question boldly, listen humbly, and never cease the pursuit. For even if you never touch the coat tails of truth, you will find that you are already free—free in mind, free in spirit, free in the unending journey toward what is real.