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Words of Wisdom

Mary Augusta Ward: “Truth has never been contained in any one creed or system.”

"Truth has never been, can never be, contained in any one creed or system."  

Mary Augusta Ward (née Arnold) (1851-1920) was a British novelist who wrote under her married name as Mrs. Humphry Ward. She was born into an influential family and claims Aldous Huxley, Matthew Arnold, and Thomas Arnold as relatives. Ward’s writing résumé includes an eclectic mix of children’s literature, Victorian novels, and reporting from the front lines during World War I. Ward was also notable for her work in the anti-suffrage movement, campaigning through the middle of her life against women receiving the right to vote. Her most famous works include the novels Robert Elsmere and Lady Rose’s Daughter.


“Truth has never been, can never be, contained in any one creed or system.”

from the novel Robert Elsmere (1888). Book vi. Chap. xxxviii, reported in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

(h/t Wikiquote)


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