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Who really said it

Believe Those Who Are Seeking the Truth; Doubt Those Who Find It

Not François Truffaut — actually André Gide André Gide 1869–1951 · French writer, Nobel Prize in Literature 1947
Disputed In copyright

The line comes from Gide’s Ainsi soit-il, ou Les jeux sont faits (Gallimard, 1952), and the popular English wording is Justin O’Brien’s 1959 translation, So Be It. Truffaut’s 1964 film La Peau douce included a passage matching Gide’s words, according to Quote Investigator ↗ — the likeliest reason his name got attached.

Last verified 1 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed wording — copy with the correction

“Believe Those Who Are Seeking the Truth; Doubt Those Who Find It” André Gide, So Be It: Or The Chips Are Down (Ainsi soit-il, 1952; trans. Justin O’Brien, 1959). Often misattributed to François Truffaut. · Verbatim: “Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it; doubt everything...”

Can you use it?

Gide’s French original has been public domain in France and the EU since 2022, but is still in copyright in the US (published 1952, restored term). The English wording shown is Justin O’Brien’s 1959 translation, which is in copyright. A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of André Gide — French novelist, essayist & diarist; Nobel Prize in Literature 1947. Theme: "Believe Those Who Are Seeking the Truth; Doubt Those Who Find It". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Believe Those Who Are Seeking the Truth; Doubt Those Who Find It". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where the line actually comes from

Work
Ainsi soit-il, ou Les jeux sont faits
Author
André Gide
First published
1952, Gallimard (French), p. 174
Translation
Justin O’Brien, So Be It: Or The Chips Are Down (1959 copyright; Chatto & Windus 1960 edition, p. 146)

Croyez ceux qui cherchent la vérité, doutez de ceux qui la trouvent ; doutez de tout, mais ne doutez pas de vous-même.

Gide’s French original, as given on Wikiquote ↗. Justin O’Brien’s 1959 English translation opens “believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it; doubt everything…”, which is the wording people now credit to Truffaut, as transcribed by Quote Investigator ↗.

Quote Investigator: Believe Those Who Are Seeking the Truth; Doubt Those Who Find It

The paper trail

  • 1952: Gide’s Ainsi soit-il, ou Les jeux sont faits is published with the French line “Croyez ceux qui cherchent la vérité, doutez de ceux qui la trouvent” (Quote Investigator ↗). Wikiquote cites the Gallimard 1952 edition, p. 174 (Wikiquote ↗).
  • 1959: Justin O’Brien’s English translation, So Be It: Or The Chips Are Down, renders it “believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it” (p. 146 of the 1960 Chatto & Windus edition). Newsweek reprints the excerpt in a review on 25 May 1959 (Quote Investigator ↗).
  • 1964: François Truffaut releases La Peau douce (The Soft Skin), which includes a passage matching Gide’s words (Quote Investigator ↗). In the plot, the hero agrees to introduce a screening of the documentary Avec André Gide (Wikipedia ↗).
  • 1972: C. G. Crisp’s book François Truffaut reprints the film’s speech in English (Quote Investigator ↗).
In copyright

The French original first appeared in Gide’s Ainsi soit-il (Gallimard, 1952), and the English wording shown is Justin O’Brien’s translation, copyrighted 1959. Both came out after 1931, so under US rules both are treated as still in copyright. Quoting one sentence for commentary is normal practice.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Who else gets the credit

Gide’s line has picked up many owners. Some borrowed it outright, and others reworded it into “follow the man who seeks the truth” versions. Quote Investigator ↗ lists the claimants.

François Truffaut Borrowed

Truffaut’s 1964 film La Peau douce included a passage matching Gide’s words. C. G. Crisp’s 1972 book on Truffaut reprinted the speech as “Believe those who seek the truth, doubt those that find it, doubt everything, but don’t doubt yourself.” Crisp said the words came from Gide’s La Séquestrée de Poitiers, a claim QI has not verified (Quote Investigator ↗).

Václav Havel Unconfirmed

In 2007 The Observer quoted Andrew Wakefield crediting Havel with “Follow the man who seeks the truth; run from the man who has found it.” QI could not confirm that Havel said it, and notes it could not search Czech-language databases (Quote Investigator ↗).

Marcel Proust No support found

A 1971 Car and Driver column gave Proust “Love those who seek the truth; beware of those who find it.” QI found no support for that attribution (Quote Investigator ↗).

Voltaire Late attribution

In 2010 The Age reported A. C. Grayling crediting Voltaire with “I love the man who seeks the truth and hate the man who claims to have it” (Quote Investigator ↗).

The documented source is André Gide’s Ainsi soit-il (1952), and the familiar English wording is Justin O’Brien’s 1959 translation. Quote Investigator credits Gide with both the French and the English statements (Quote Investigator ↗).

Context

How Truffaut got involved

Gide died in February 1951, and Ainsi soit-il appeared in 1952, so the line reached readers as one of his last reflections. Truffaut, a filmmaker known for loving books, put Gide into La Peau douce: in the story, the hero agrees to introduce a screening of the documentary Avec André Gide (Wikipedia ↗).

Quote Investigator doesn’t say how the credit moved to Truffaut. Our guess: C. G. Crisp’s 1972 book on Truffaut, which reprinted the film’s speech in English, is one likely route. It would fit a common pattern, where a line spoken in a famous person’s work gets credited to that person rather than to the writer they were quoting.

Croyez ceux qui cherchent la vérité, doutez de ceux qui la trouvent.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Truth Doubt Humility

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigatorquoteinvestigator.com

The full chronology: Gide 1952 and 1959, Truffaut 1964, and later variants credited to Havel, Proust and Voltaire.
Wikiquote: André Gideen.wikiquote.org

Gives the French original with its source: Ainsi soit-il (Gallimard, 1952), p. 174.
The Soft Skin (La Peau douce)en.wikipedia.org

Truffaut's 1964 film, whose plot includes a screening of the documentary Avec André Gide.
So Be It, or The Chips Are Downopenlibrary.org

Catalog record for the 1959 Knopf edition of the English translation.
André Gideen.wikipedia.org

Biography of the French writer and 1947 Nobel laureate.

The author

About André Gide

André Gide

1869–1951 · French novelist, essayist & diarist; Nobel Prize in Literature 1947

André Gide (born Paris, 22 November 1869; died Paris, 19 February 1951) was one of the great French writers of the twentieth century. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947. His late book of reflections, Ainsi soit-il, ou Les jeux sont faits, came out in 1952, after his death. It contains the advice to trust people who are still looking for the truth and to doubt people who say they have found it.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

André Gide, Ainsi soit-il, ou Les jeux sont faits (Gallimard, 1952), 174; English translation by Justin O’Brien, So Be It: Or The Chips Are Down (London: Chatto & Windus, 1960; copyright 1959), 146.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Believe Those Who Are Seeking the Truth; Doubt Those Who Find It’?” Last verified 1 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/believe-those-who-are-seeking-the-truth-doubt-those-who/

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