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The Faces Of Truth Trivia Quiz

Truth is a very elusive entity. This quiz involves ten quotations about truth. You need to identify who wrote them. The pictures of their faces may help you. And you should think about the meanings of the quotes as you proceed.

A photo quiz by lowtechmaster. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
lowtechmaster

Time
4 mins

Type
Photo Quiz

Quiz #
380,899

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
855

Last 3 plays: Johnmcmanners (10/10), moonraker2 (10/10), Dagny1 (9/10).

One at a Time - Single Page

Question 1 of 10

1. Which French person wrote: "I can be expected to look for truth but not to find it"? Hint

Camus

Diderot

Pascal

Sartre

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Question 2 of 10

2. "Nothing is more damaging to a new truth than an old error" comes from the works of which German icon? Hint

Schiller

Hesse

Nietzsche

Goethe

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Question 3 of 10

3. An English poet, known for his odes, wrote: "'Beauty is truth, truth beauty' -- that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." Which poet was it? Hint

Yeats

Keats

Arnold

Milton

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Question 4 of 10

4. Which 19th century American wrote: "It takes two to speak the truth -- one to speak and another to hear"? Hint

Emerson

Frost

Thoreau

Hawthorne

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Question 5 of 10

5. The American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw wrote "As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand." What pseudonym did Shaw use when he published those words? Hint

Josh Billings

Will Rogers

Mark Twain

Erma Bombeck

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Question 6 of 10

6. "Truth sits upon the lips of dying men" was penned by which 19th century British poet? Hint

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Mathew Arnold

Robert Southey

John Keats

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Question 7 of 10

7. "When in doubt tell the truth" was advised by which American writer? Hint

Arthur Miller

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Mark Twain

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Question 8 of 10

8. Which 19th century French author wrote: "Truth is on the march and nothing can stop it"? Hint

Hugo

Zola

Cocteau

Flaubert

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Question 9 of 10

9. Which British author wrote these famous words: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"? Hint

Sherlock Holmes

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Agatha Christie

Dick Francis

10. Which American author wrote: "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch, nay, you may kick it all about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening"? Hint

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Eugene O'Neill

Ernest Hemingway

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

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Most Recent Scores

Nov 30 2024 : Johnmcmanners: 10/10
Nov 28 2024 : moonraker2: 10/10
Oct 31 2024 : Dagny1: 9/10

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which French person wrote: "I can be expected to look for truth but not to find it"?

Answer: Diderot

The quotation comes from "Pens�es Philosophiques," No. 29, a 1742 work that expresses heretical anti-Christian concepts. Diderot is possibly best known for his work as chief editor of the "Encyclop�die," which was published between 1751 and 1772 in 28 volumes, 17 of text and 11 of plates.

2. "Nothing is more damaging to a new truth than an old error" comes from the works of which German icon?

Answer: Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) penned these words in his "Proverbs In Prose" (1819). A novelist, poet, dramatist, and scientist (among other pursuits), Goethe is known for many works, including his "Faust," a drama in two parts (1808, 1832), "The Sorrows Of Young Werther," a novel (1774), and "Theory Of Colors," a scientific treatise (1810).

3. An English poet, known for his odes, wrote: "'Beauty is truth, truth beauty' -- that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." Which poet was it?

Answer: Keats

The lines appear in "Ode On A Grecian Urn" (1820) by John Keats (1795-1821). It is important to note that "Beauty is truth, truth beauty" is "spoken" by the urn, not Keats. Keats is revered for his five magnificent odes. His other four are "Ode On Indolence," "Ode On Melancholy," "Ode To A Nightingale," and "Ode To Psyche." Keats had his career cut short when, only 25, he died of tuberculosis in 1821.

4. Which 19th century American wrote: "It takes two to speak the truth -- one to speak and another to hear"?

Answer: Thoreau

These words come from "Wednesday" in "A Week On The Concord And Merrimack Rivers" (1849) by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), an elegy to his brother John about a trip they took to the White Mountains in 1839. A graduate of Harvard, Thoreau wrote over twenty works.

His best known volumes are "Walden, or Life In The Woods" (1854) and "Resistance To Civil Government" aka "Civil Disobedience" (1849).

5. The American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw wrote "As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand." What pseudonym did Shaw use when he published those words?

Answer: Josh Billings

This comment on truth is from "Josh Billings: His Sayings" (1865). Shaw based his humor on the use of slang, misspellings, and fractured grammar. His books include "Josh Billings' Farmer's Allminax" [a spoof of "The Old Farmer's Almanac"] which had annual issues from 1869-1878.

6. "Truth sits upon the lips of dying men" was penned by which 19th century British poet?

Answer: Mathew Arnold

Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) made this comment on truth in line 656 of "Sohrab And Rustum" (1853). Arnold is better known for such poems as "Dover Beach" and "The Scholar Gypsy."

7. "When in doubt tell the truth" was advised by which American writer?

Answer: Mark Twain

Mark Twain (born Samuel Langhorne Clemens 1835-1910) made this suggestion in Chapter Two of "Following The Equator: Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar" (1897).
Twain, of course, is best known for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) and "Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" (1885).

8. Which 19th century French author wrote: "Truth is on the march and nothing can stop it"?

Answer: Zola

These words from Emile Zola (1840-1902) come from an article of his in "Le Figaro" on November 25, 1897. Among his many accomplishments as a writer and political activist, is his 20 volume work of interconnected novels, "Les Rougon-Macquart," which was published bewteen 1871 and 1893.

9. Which British author wrote these famous words: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth"?

Answer: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In Chapter 6 of "The Sign of The Four" (1890), Sherlock Holmes makes this statement. "The Sign of The Four" is one of 60 Sherlock Holmes stories penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle introduced Holmes in "A Study In Scarlet" in 1890, which was followed by three other novels and 56 stories.

10. Which American author wrote: "Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch, nay, you may kick it all about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening"?

Answer: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Physician, professor, poet, author, and lecturer, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., is possibly best known for his "Breakfast-Table" trilogy. The first volume of the series was "The Autocrat Of The Breakfast-Table" (1858). The next one, from which the quote on truth comes, was "The Professor At The Breakfast-Table (1859).

The series ended with "The Poet At The Breakfast-Table" (1872). (His son, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was the distinguished Supreme Court Justice.)

Source: Author lowtechmaster

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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