Q0216

“Accept the truth from whatever source it comes.” — Maimonides (Shemonah Perakim, Preface)

Verified English quotation. Primary source: Shemonah Perakim, Preface. Theme: truth.

English

Accept the truth from whatever source it comes.
Thinker Maimonides
School Jewish Rationalism
Source Shemonah Perakim, Preface
Theme Truth
Another quotation More from this thinker

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Shemonah Perakim, Preface and files it under Jewish Rationalism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Maimonides

Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), known as Maimonides or Rambam, fled Almohad persecution from Córdoba to Fez and finally to Egypt, where he served as a communal leader and court physician. He codified Jewish law in the Mishneh Torah and wrote the Guide of the Perplexed for readers torn between Torah and Aristotelian science.

How to read this passage

Correspondence, coherence, pragmatist, and deflationary theories compete. Ethics and politics ask who gets to define truth in public life. This passage enters that discussion through truth, reason.

Concepts in this quote

Truth
Truth is among philosophy’s oldest problems: what it is for a claim to be true, and how truth relates to belief, language, and power.
Reason
Reason is the capacity to give and assess reasons—central to logic, science, ethics, and public argument.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Maimonides. (n.d.). Accept the truth from whatever source it comes. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0216

MLA: Maimonides. “Accept the truth from whatever source it comes..” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0216.

Chicago: Maimonides. “Accept the truth from whatever source it comes..” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0216.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “Accept the truth from whatever source it comes.”?

The passage is attributed to Maimonides, Shemonah Perakim, Preface. The archive attributes this English wording to Shemonah Perakim, Preface and files it under Jewish Rationalism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Maimonides mean by truth?

Correspondence, coherence, pragmatist, and deflationary theories compete. Ethics and politics ask who gets to define truth in public life. This passage enters that discussion through truth, reason.

Same thinker

More from Maimonides

  1. Silence and limiting oneself to the apprehensions of the intellect are more appropriate with regard to God than speech.
  2. The Law as a whole aims at two things: the welfare of the soul and the welfare of the body.
  3. The more the intellect is perfected, the more one draws near to God; proximity is measured by knowledge.
  4. The virtues are means between two extremes; the good character is the mean disposition.
  5. The foundation of all foundations and the pillar of all sciences is to know that there is a First Being who brought every existing thing into being.

All quotations by Maimonides

Same theme

More on truth

  1. Once in a lifetime, everything must be doubted.
  2. The things we conceive very clearly and very distinctly are all true.
  3. Truth happens to an idea. It becomes true, is made true by events.
  4. The true is precisely what is made.
  5. Do not go outside; return into yourself. Truth dwells in the inner man.

Browse the truth theme