The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head.

Meaning of the quote

The quote suggests that the real facts or "truth" may be hard to find, but the ideas or "lies" that we believe are inside our own minds. This means that we have to be careful about the information we take in and the thoughts we have, because they might not always match up with what is actually true. It's important to think critically and not just believe everything we hear or imagine.

About Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett was an acclaimed English author best known for his Discworld fantasy novels. He was a prolific writer, producing over 40 books, and received numerous awards for his contributions to literature. Despite being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease late in his life, Pratchett remained an influential and beloved figure in the literary world until his passing in 2015.

More about the author

More quotes from Terry Pratchett

The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don’t find out til too late that he’s been playing with two queens all along.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Writing is the most fun you can have by yourself.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

You can’t trample infidels when you’re a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a meaningful look.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes. It is in fact true. It’s called living.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Of course, I could be wrong.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Sometimes it is better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

The intelligence of the creature known as a crowd, is the square root of the number of people in it.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

He was the sort of person who stood on mountaintops during thunderstorms in wet copper armour shouting “All the Gods are bastards.”

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Sooner or later we’re all someone’s dog.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

It’s not worth doing something unless you were doing something that someone, somewere, would much rather you weren’t doing.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Taxation is just a sophisticated way of demanding money with menaces.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

Five exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)

They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.

Terry Pratchett

English fantasy author (1948-2015)