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For the journalist, anything probable is gospel truth.
Honore De Balzac
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote suggests that journalists often accept likely events as indisputable facts.

In this quote, HonorΓ© de Balzac reflects on the nature of journalism and the tendency of journalists to treat probable occurrences as undeniable truths. This highlights a potential flaw in the media's approach to reporting, where conjecture may be confused with certainty, and it raises questions about the ethical responsibility of journalists to verify their information before presenting it as fact.

Themes

JournalismTruthMediaReportingEthics

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about media accuracy, this quote can illustrate how journalists sometimes report speculative information as fact.

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However gross a man may be, the minute he expresses a strong and genuine affection, some inner secretion alters his features, animates his gestures, and colors his voice. The stupidest man will often, under the stress of passion, achieve heights of eloquence, in thought if not in language, and seem to move in some luminous sphere. Goriot's voice and gesture had at this moment the power of communication that characterizes the great actor. Are not our finer feelings the poems of the human will?
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Love is a religion, and its rituals cost more than those of other religions. It goes by quickly and, like a street urchin, it likes to mark its passage by a trail of devastation.
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