"The Truth" in Quotes Quiz / Test | Thematic Fun

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "The truth shall set you free" or "veritas vos liberabit" or "veritas liberabit vos" or something similar is the motto, inscription or inspiration of the California Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Idaho State University, the University of Portland, Ottawa University, Southern Methodist University, Canterbury Christ Church University, as well as the Knights Hospitaller during the crusades and the modern US Central Intelligence Agency. Who said it first?

Answer: Jesus Christ

Jesus spoke these words in the Gospel According to Saint John 8:32. There is a sense in which Pilate responds to Jesus later in verse 18:38 where he answers "Quid est veritas?" ("What is truth?")

2. In what major motion picture does a U.S. Marine colonel played by Jack Nicholson shout at a U.S. Navy JAG lieutenant "You can't handle the truth!"?

Answer: A Few Good Men

A large measure of the success of "A Few Good Men" (1992) is attributable to the screenplay written by Aaron Sorkin on which it is based. The confrontation between Colonel Jessup and Lt. Kaffee is, in a sense, the result of a Marine Corps evolving from a tradition of solving its own internal problems internally under an unwritten code and a modern military service accountable through the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

3. In what U.S. state is the city of Truth or Consequences located?

Answer: New Mexico

The New Mexican town of Truth or Consequences was originally named Hot Springs. The name was legally changed on 31 March 1950. Ralph Edwards, the host of an NBC radio game show called "Truth or Consequences" asked a town to change its name to the name of the programme in honour of their tenth anniversary on the air.

4. Which European fictional detective asked, "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"?

Answer: Sherlock Holmes

This observation appears in (at least) the following works of Arthur Conan Doyle: "The Sign of the Four", "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" and "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier".

5. In which professional sport did Carl "The Truth" Williams excel?

Answer: boxing

Williams (1959-2013) was the USBA Heavyweight boxing champion. Probably his greatest fight was a loss to Mike Tyson. Jamie Foxx parodied Williams on the Fox TV programme "In Living Color" as Carl "The Tooth" Williams -- a boxer with only one tooth in front.

6. From which American Civil War era song does the lyric "his truth is marching on" come?

Answer: Battle Hymn of the Republic

Julia Ward Howe heard troops marching off to participate in the American Civil War singing "John Brown's Body" to a popular tune. Believing that more fitting words were appropriate, she wrote the text of the Battle Hymn of the Republic which was first published in Atlantic Magazine in 1862.

7. In what Broadway musical does the protagonist sing to himself in the shaving mirror: "You have the cool clear eyes of a seeker of wisdom and truth"?

Answer: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

In the ridiculously-successful Broadway musical "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," J. Pierrepont Finch sings to himself; "You have the cool clear eyes of a seeker of wisdom and truth. Yet there's that up-turned chin and the grin of impetuous youth. Oh, I believe in you, I believe in you." The movie version and the Broadway revival did well, too.

8. "Truth or Dare" is a parlour game in which a player must either answer an embarrassing question or perform an embarrassing act. Which performer made a movie called "Truth or Dare" out of her 1990 world tour?

Answer: Madonna

This 1991 documentary included footage of Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition Tour. Directed by Alek Keshishian, shot the film so that the backstage parts are black-and-white while the concert footage is in colour. This movie was rated rather emphatically R by the MPAA.

9. Paraphrasing, who first said (wrote), "Truth is stranger than fiction"?

Answer: Lord Byron

In his long narrative poem "Don Juan," Lord Byron wrote "'Tis strange - but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction; if it could be told." Many others have repeated it, some even with attribution.

10. What title is shared by a 1994 album by heavy metal music group Pro-Pain, an April 2004 episode of the Walt Disney TV programme "Kim Possible," a 1993 skateboarding documentary produced by "Thrasher" Magazine and a 1985 book by major-league baseball player Jimmy Piersall?

Answer: The Truth Hurts

Jimmy Piersall had a tempestuous career as a professional baseball player, due, in large measure, to his bipolar affective disorder (manic depression). Much of this is disclosed in the movie of his life "Fear Strikes Out" (1957) and in a memoir which he wrote in 1985: "The Truth Hurts."

11. Where does the oath to tell "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" come from?

Answer: nobody knows for sure

This form of oath is used widely in British and American courts and other legal proceedings. The form is very old (common in the 13th Century), probably English (it appears in Old English), and perhaps derived from Celtic, Danish, Roman or Norman law ... but who knows for sure?

12. Which President of the United States wrote, "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom"?

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

This quotation appears in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon on 12 January 1819. A copy of the handwritten original is preserved in the Library of Congress.

13. In what professional sport has Paul "The Truth" Pierce excelled?

Answer: basketball

Pierce was a first-team college All-America at Kansas. He went on to set all manner of records while a member of the Boston Celtics. He earned his nickname "The Truth" from Shaquille O'Neal after the 2001 Lakers victory over the Celtics in which Pierce scored 42 points. Shaq told a reporter "Paul Pierce is the truth."

14. In which American television science-fiction series was the tagline "The truth is out there" used?

Answer: The X-Files

"The X-Files" ran from 1993 to 2002 on Fox. For most of this run, it starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. The tagline "The truth is out there" appeared in opening and closing sequences. It was also the title of a book about the series: Brian Lowry, "The Truth is Out There: The Official Guide to the X-Files" (Harper Prism, 1995).

15. In the New Testament of the Holy Bible, who wondered aloud, maybe rhetorically, certainly philosophically, "What is truth?"

Answer: Pontius Pilate

When the local Jewish authorities brought Jesus to Pilate and charged him with heresy and sedition sufficient to warrant his death, Pilate interrogated him. When Jesus claimed to be "a witness to the truth," Pilate (some say jestingly) retorted "Quid est veritas? ("What is truth?). John 18:38.

Source: Author FatherSteve

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor trident before going online.
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"The Truth" in Quotes Trivia Quiz

It might seem a sad day when one has to put "the truth" in quotes, but it can afford one a bit of fun.

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