So a lie told a million times becomes the truth.

The words of Maria Ressa—“So a lie told a million times becomes the truth”—burn like a warning carved into stone. They remind us that the human heart is not always steadfast, that repetition has the power to shape belief, and that even the foulest falsehood, if spread endlessly, can disguise itself as truth in the eyes of the many. Ressa, a journalist who has stood bravely against tyranny and disinformation in the modern age, speaks from the battlefield of words, where lies are not whispered in corners but shouted through machines, repeated in endless echo chambers until they seem to carry the weight of reality itself.

The ancients, too, understood this danger. Plato warned of sophists who could use rhetoric to make the weaker argument appear stronger. The Hebrew prophets cried against false priests who proclaimed peace where there was no peace. And in every age, rulers and demagogues have known the dark alchemy of repetition—that the mind grows accustomed to a phrase, and familiarity breeds belief. Thus, what begins as absurd becomes accepted, and what begins as monstrous becomes ordinary. A lie, told once, may falter; a lie, told a million times, may triumph.

History offers terrifying proof of this principle. In the 20th century, Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda for Nazi Germany, perfected this art. He flooded the airwaves, the newspapers, the schools with lies about the Jewish people, repeated so relentlessly that millions came to accept them as truth. Those lies paved the road to genocide. Here, Ressa’s words find their dreadful echo: the repetition of lies can shape a nation, distort reality, and lead humanity into abyss.

But history also offers examples of resistance. Consider the courage of Vaclav Havel in Czechoslovakia under communist rule. Surrounded by propaganda, he wrote that the greatest weapon of the oppressed was simply to “live in truth.” By refusing to repeat the lies, by daring to name reality as it was, he and others like him exposed the falseness of the regime. In time, the hollow lies crumbled, and the truth, though buried, rose like the sun. This shows us that lies may endure for a season, but their power rests only in the silence and compliance of the people.

Ressa’s warning is not only for nations but for every soul. In our daily lives, how often do we hear the same false whispers—“you are not enough,” “you cannot change,” “this is how it must be”? Repeated again and again, even within our own minds, these lies begin to sound like truth. But they are not truth. They are shadows, gaining strength only by repetition. To resist them, we must do as Havel urged: live in truth, speak it, write it, and remind ourselves and others that reality cannot be erased by the echo of lies.

The lesson is clear: do not be passive in the face of lies, whether they come from rulers, from society, or from within yourself. Recognize that repetition is their weapon, and vigilance is yours. Seek evidence, question narratives, and listen for the still, small voice of truth beneath the roar of falsehood. Speak truth when others are silent, for silence is the soil where lies grow strong.

Therefore, O seeker, remember Maria Ressa’s wisdom: a lie repeated may appear to be truth, but truth itself is eternal, waiting for those who dare to guard it. Do not allow your heart to be lulled by repetition. Test every word, weigh every claim, and above all, cling to honesty in speech and deed. For though lies may march like armies, only truth endures, and those who defend it join the eternal company of prophets, martyrs, and heroes who refused to bow to falsehood.