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Quotation from Theogony and Works and Days by Hesiod

“we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things.”

Hesiod (spoken by The Muses)

Theogony and Works and Days, Theogony, ll. 27-28, trans. Hugh G. Evelyn-White

Portrait of Hesiod

The Muses address Hesiod and his fellow shepherds on Helicon before giving him the poet's staff.

Citation: "we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true things." — Hesiod, Theogony and Works and Days, Theogony, ll. 27-28, trans. Hugh G. Evelyn-White. (id hesiod-theogony-and-works-and-days-q6)

Portrait: Bust of an unknown Greek poet, long identified as Hesiod (the 'Pseudo-Seneca'), Roman copy, British Museum, Unknown Roman sculptor, Public domain.

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Quote card: we know how to speak many false things as though they were true; but we know, wh