TrueQuotes - Verified Quotes Archive

"When war is declared, Truth is the first casualty. books.google"

— Arthur Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede

January 1, 1970

Quote Details

Added by wikiquote-import-bot

Added on April 10, 2026

Unverified quote

0 likes

Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Social activists Pacifists Labour Party (UK) politicians Government ministers of the United Kingdom

Original Language: English

Sources

This famous quotation is similar to the one Philip Snowden used in his introduction to Truth and the War, by E. D. Morel. London, July 1916: "'Truth,' it has been said, 'is the first casualty of war.'" Samuel Johnson#The Idler (1758-1760) expressed a similar idea: "Among the calamities of war may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages." Cf. Aeschylus#Misattributed.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Ponsonby%2C_1st_Baron_Ponsonby_of_Shulbrede

This famous quotation is similar to the one Philip Snowden used in his introduction to Truth and the War, by E. D. Morel. London, July 1916: "'Truth,' it has been said, 'is the first casualty of war.'" Samuel Johnson#The Idler (1758-1760) expressed a similar idea: "Among the calamities of war may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages." Cf. Aeschylus#Misattributed.