👉Why is truth important?|Philosophy of life👉

What is truth?

Nobody will deny that truth is an important virtue of human life. But what exactly truth is? Is this just another human quality or is just a tool to gain social acceptance?
Before answering this, we should know what truth exactly is and how it affects our life.

According to dictionaries truth is the quality or a state of being true or truthfulness. Synonyms of truth are righteousness, correctness, veracity, verity, sincerity, honesty, authenticity etc. and antonyms are dishonesty, falsity, falsehood, etc. What we understand from these words that truth is to state facts correctly, exactly and accurately. But truth is more than that. Truth is not just an opposite of lie. In a broad sense it is a virtue for the betterment of this whole universe and a tool to attain spiritual awakening.

Whether we see truth from the viewpoint of subjectivity, objectivity, relativity or absoluteness, it remains unchanged. It boosts our morale and ignites a sense of self respect in an individual. According to the Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism the ultimate goal of truth is to attain moksha or kevalya which means a state of emancipation, liberation, salvation and release from worldly things and attaining the state of oneness where the differences between the spirit and the creator no longer exist.

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Confusion.

It is said that truth prevails in the end. Is it true?

Nobody will deny that truthfulness is the virtue which makes us true humans and keeps this world in order. But in practice we seldom tell a truth. Actually, we are hypocrites. In reality falsehood prevails in this world. Right from childhood humans are filled with so much lies that falsehood becomes truth for them. A child is taught that the religion followed by its parents is the ultimate truth and the only path of salvation. Children are made to believe on fabricated stories written in the so called holy books. They grow with intense lies and falsehood of this world. Parents tell lies, teachers tell lies, shopkeepers tell lies, businessmen tell lies and politician always tell lies. In fact no sphere of human life is free from lies and falsehood. Our belief, faith, education, prejudices, politics etc., everything is based on lies and falsehood. So, where is truth how it looks like?

The biggest lie which we are told is that truth prevails in the end. In reality truthful persons are slain for telling the truth. Socrates is an ideal example who was forced to drink poison because people could not digest what he preached. Jesus was tortured and killed (debatable) for the same reason.

When we see enormous wealth, name, fame and prosperity with the liars and unscrupulous persons while sufferings, agonies and pains for honest and truthful persons, what do we think? Is this encourages us to be truthful? Does it cement our belief on honesty and righteousness? Does this world deserver truthful persons? I afraid answer may be ‘no’.
This world is not a good place for truthful and honest persons. However, truth is necessary for this world.


In spite of prevailing lies and falsehood all over the world, life cannot sustain without truth. Truth has importance which I will explain ahead.

What is the importance of truth?

For telling a lie we have to put a lot of efforts. We have to remember what we have told to mister ‘A’ and what to mister ‘B’. We don’t want our lies to be exposed so we are always in a tension to protect our lies. We are always in fear that someday truth will come forth. We have to speak hundreds of lies to protect our single lie. This ultimately kills our inner peace and instigates a sense of fear, depression, dejection and negativity in our minds, while truth empowers our mind and soul and frees us from negativity. When we say the truth and make speaking the truth our habit, we don’t have to put pressure on our brain. We don’t have to remember what we told to mister ‘A’ and what to mister ‘B’. It keeps our mind free of tension and makes us happy and enhances our positivity. It keeps us free from stress and mental fatigue. It restores our dignity, integrity and gives us a sense of self respect.

Also, truth is necessary to keep this world in order. Imagine what will happen if everyone become a liar and dishonest in this world? Will you be able to live happily in this condition? Suppose all at once every person become dishonest and lair in this condition your spouse will not hesitate to cheat on you. Your children will steal money from you or someone else. Shop-owners will not give you genuine product. Your body guard will not hesitate to kill you if someone has bribed him to kill you. Parents will not hesitate to sell their children for prostitution or bonded slavery. Police will protect only criminals and powerful persons. Everywhere looting and robbery will start. In this condition you cannot believe anyone. Life will become a hell.

Even the most unprincipled and unscrupulous individual cannot survive without truth. He won’t appreciate his wife to have a physical relationship with his servants. He won’t admire his servants to steal his wealth. Can he bear to see his own son and daughter to indulge in a sexual act in front of him? Will he like incest to triumph in his own family? Nobody can endure so much dishonesty and infidelity in his life. Even the most unprincipled individual seeks some respect for himself.

It is said Satan works to disseminate falsehood and felony in this world. But even Satan (if he really exists) cannot continue without truth and honesty. He can never claim he prefers to see falsehood to rule and prevail everywhere because at least he demands devotion and appreciation from his worshipers. In absence of devotion of his followers, he cannot disseminate his ideology.

Hence, truth is not only important to express facts but it is also a virtue that makes this world a place worth living. It is not purely confined to telling the truth in day-to-day life. In fact, it has a broad meaning. Honesty, loyalty, dignity, a sense of self respect, justice for all, freedom from falsehood and treachery etc. are the integral part of truth. These values make us a genuine human and take us to the path of supremacy of inner self. Truth is a constructive force which makes this world more pleasant for everyone.

A great Indian sage once said…

सत्यम् ब्रूयात् प्रियम् ब्रूयात् न ब्रूयात् सत्यमप्रियम् |
प्रियम् नानृतं ब्रूयात् एष धर्मः सनातनः ||
(satyam bruyat priyam bruyat na bruyat satyam apriyam
priyam ca nanrutam bruyat esha dharmah sanatanah)
Speak truth in such a way that it should be pleasing to others. Never speak truth, which is unpleasant to others. Never speak untruth, which might be pleasant. This is the path of eternal morality, Santana dharma.

We are not ordinary animals. Are we just confined to take birth, eat, sleep, have sex, give birth to offspring, get old and then die? Is this life cycle can be the only purpose of our existence? I don’t think so. God (nature or whatever we may call that supreme power) has not created us just to live like other animals on this world. We have a purpose to live here. Killing our own soul by supporting lies and falsehood is against the purpose of our existence. So, truth is not just confined to speaking truth; it is the basis of life.

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