Truth exists; only lies are invented.
"Truth exists; only lies are invented." Thus spoke Georges Braque, the artist who helped birth Cubism, a man who sought the eternal in fractured forms. His words are simple, yet they carry the thunder of revelation. Truth is not fashioned by human hands; it is the foundation upon which existence itself rests. It was here before us, and it will endure after us. But lies—those are our inventions, fragile constructions of fear and desire, woven to shield us from the piercing light of reality.
The ancients knew this distinction. When Plato spoke of the Forms, he spoke of eternal truths: the Good, the Beautiful, the Just. These did not need invention, for they simply were. But when men sought power, when they wished to conceal, when they feared exposure, they invented myths not of gods but of excuses, stories that twisted reality into palatable shapes. Thus the earliest philosophers already discerned Braque’s truth: that the eternal stands on its own, while deception must be crafted and maintained with effort.
History bears this out with unrelenting clarity. Consider the trial of Galileo. The truth—that the earth moved around the sun—existed, unshaken, regardless of the church’s denial. The lies that condemned him had to be built, reinforced, and defended with prisons and threats. Yet in time, those lies withered, while truth remained. This is the fate of all inventions of falsehood: they may stand tall for a season, but they cannot endure against the weight of what simply is.
Think, too, of slavery. The truth—that all human beings share the same dignity—has existed since the dawn of humanity. Yet generations invented lies to deny it: lies of race, lies of destiny, lies of superiority. These lies required books, speeches, laws, chains, and cruelty to prop them up. But the truth, though buried, remained. In time, it rose again in the words of abolitionists, in the blood of martyrs, in the movements that would not be silenced. Lies may be many, but they cannot erase a truth that has always existed.
Braque, as an artist, understood that creation was not about inventing truth but uncovering it. His Cubist works did not make reality; they revealed it from new angles. In this sense, the artist is like the philosopher or the prophet: not a fabricator of what does not exist, but a seer who clears away the inventions of falsehood to let truth shine through. His words remind us that all authentic art, all authentic life, is aligned with what is, not with what is fabricated.
The lesson for us is clear: do not waste your strength inventing lies, for they demand constant maintenance and crumble under the weight of reality. Instead, seek the truth that already exists—whether in science, in justice, in your own heart. Lies may win applause, but truth endures. Lies may protect for a moment, but truth liberates forever. To live in truth is to be rooted like a mountain; to live in lies is to be tossed like a leaf in the storm.
Practically, this means cultivating honesty in word and deed. When tempted to deceive for gain, remember that you are building on sand. When tempted to deny a truth because it is painful, remember that denial only multiplies suffering. Instead, align yourself with truth, however hard. In art, in speech, in action, let your aim be revelation, not invention. For truth does not require creation—only recognition.
So remember, children of tomorrow: "Truth exists; only lies are invented." Let this be your compass. Build your life not on shifting inventions but on the solid ground of reality. For truth is the oldest companion of humanity, and those who walk with it may stumble, may suffer, but they will not fall. Lies pass away like smoke in the wind, but truth endures like the stars.
VNVy Nguyen
Braque’s quote feels like a call to strip away the illusions we create for ourselves. If truth exists independently, what does it mean for us when we fabricate lies, even with good intentions? Does the act of creating lies—whether to protect ourselves or others—degrade the truth in some way? And if the truth is so steadfast, why does it seem so difficult to recognize or agree on sometimes?
TNvuong tuyet nhi
The idea that ‘only lies are invented’ is both reassuring and unsettling. It suggests that truth, in its pure form, exists outside of human creation, but it raises the question—how do we define truth? What happens when the truth is so elusive or subjective that it becomes indistinguishable from lies? How do we know when we are embracing truth, and when we are constructing our own version of it, perhaps unknowingly?
๖N๖ۣۜThu Nguyen
Braque’s perspective on truth versus lies strikes me as both simple and profound. Lies seem to have a temporary, constructed nature, while truth feels more permanent and essential. But how do we reconcile the fact that what one person believes to be truth might be completely different from another’s? Is truth truly objective, or is it something that varies depending on individual experience, culture, or historical context?
KLle thi kieu linh
I’m intrigued by Braque’s view on truth and lies. If truth is something that exists, does that imply that everything else, including personal beliefs, cultural norms, and even societal structures, are in some way based on invented lies? Could the complexity of human experience mean that even the most well-intentioned truths are ultimately colored by perception? How do we navigate the line between truth and what we’ve invented to explain or cope with life?
DKDạng Nguyẽn Nhạt Dang Khoa
Braque’s quote makes me think about the inherent nature of truth versus the construct of lies. If truth is something that ‘exists,’ it feels like a foundation or a constant, while lies are temporary creations meant to mask or distort it. But can truth always be perceived the same way by everyone, or do our perspectives shape what we consider to be true? Is it possible that what we call ‘truth’ is just a consensus among people rather than an objective reality?