David Grann Quotes

When I repent, here is where it starts. I try to name my sin as honestly and as specifically as possible. Here is what repenting is not. It is not excusing my sin, minimizing my sin, it's not rationalizing my sin ... Repentance is getting painfully honest with God.

Truth is the hardest substance in the world to pin down. But the one certainty is the awesome penalty exacted sooner or later from a society whose reporters stop trying.

My work is to be honest. My work is to try to think clearly, then have the courage to make sure that what I say is the truth.

At no time did I intend to, or do I believe that I did put forward false information to the American people.

You don’t believe things because they make your life better, you believe them because they’re true.

As a journalist, your job is to bear witness.

The moment you believe your own crap and excuses, you fail.

Be real. Try to do what you say, say what you mean, and be what you seem.

I don't believe it is more important to move forward than to know the truth.

People who are most interested in telling the truth about others are generally the least interested in having the truth told about themselves.

I got in journalism for any number of reasons, not least because it's so much fun. Journalism should be in the business of putting pressure on power, finding out the truth, of shining a light on injustice, of, when appropriate, being amusing and entertaining - it's a complicated and varied beast, journalism.

Believe those who seek the truth, doubt those who find it; doubt all, but do not doubt yourself.

I believe unconditionally in the ability of people to respond when they are told the truth. We need to be taught to study rather than believe, to inquire rather than to affirm.

I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government, but civilization itself.

Science is the search for truth - it is not a game in which one tries to beat his opponent, to do harm to others.

He who sincerely seeks his real purpose in life is himself sought by that purpose. As he concentrates on that search a light begins to clear his confusion, call it revelation, call it inspiration, call it what you will. It is mistrust that misleads. Sincerity leads straight to the goal.

Taking responsibility nurtures self-confidence, and self-confidence can help you to be a more interesting and attractive person. And best of all, the more you believe in yourself, the more power you possess to attract your good. . . . Those who speak constantly of their right to freedom must understand that an irresponsible act does not bring greater freedom but only greater bondage to the action. One law of life says, "If we are to enjoy freedom, we must accept responsibility." A great awareness is expressed in this statement.

I just try to be honest, because I think that's part of my job description as a writer.

Whatever else there may be in our nature, responsibility toward truth is one of its attributes.

Blame neither man, nor God, nor anyone in the world. When you find yourselves suffering, blame yourselves, and try to do better.

The world is hungry to hear the truth. ... We have it. Are we equal to the task-to the responsibility God has placed upon us?

When I say I believe in radical truth and radical transparency, all I mean is we take things that ordinarily people would hide, and we put them on the table, particularly mistakes, problems, and weaknesses. We put those on the table, and we look at them together. We don't hide them.

I'm planning, you see, to try to confine myself to the truth. That's hard for an old, inveterate fantasy martyr and liar who has never hesitated to give truth the form he felt the occasion demanded.

My faith in truth and nonviolence is ever growing, and as I am ever trying to follow them in my life, I too am growing every moment.

It's strange how the human mind swings back and forth, from one extreme to another. Does truth lie at some point of the pendulum's swing, at a point where it never rests, not in the dull perpendicular mean where it dangles in the end like a windless flag, but at an angle, nearer one extreme than another? If only a miracle could stop the pendulum at an angle of sixty degrees, one would believe the truth was there.