How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"A film that shows the world is a Bates Motel, well, that's... the stuff of Buchenwald, dystopia, depression." (3.5.1)
Luisa is making a good analogy here. Films that are popular either ignore evil for a general feel-good vibe or make us think that evil is an anomaly. Films that make us uncomfortable are not usually commercially successful. Is that because people don't want to face the truth, or because of something else?
Quote #2
"What price would you pay, as a journalist I mean, to protect a source?" (3.6.5)
The Luisa Rey sections of the novel are all about the truth. Luisa represents how far some people will go to preserve it, while Seaboard Corp. represents how far some people will go to cover it up. How far would you go for the truth?
Quote #3
"Anything is true if enough people believe it is." (3.8.5)
While Grelsch is talking about his tabloid rag's sensational stories, what other manmade narratives could this statement apply to? Politics? Religion? The Easter Bunny?
Quote #4
"I became a scientist because... it's like panning for gold in a muddy torrent. Truth is the gold." (3.31.39)
When Isaac Sachs says that searching for scientific truth is like searching for gold, we're reminded of the California Gold Rush, which was the backdrop for the Adam Ewing sections of the novel.
Sachs is a contrast though: he shows us that some people are motivated by something other than money.
Quote #5
Did I ever lie to get my story? Ten-mile-high whoppers every day before breakfast if it got me one inch closer to the truth. (3.35.22)
Here's an interesting dilemma. Luisa's dad often lied to get closer to the truth. Which lies are worth it when it comes to the truth?
Quote #6
Truth is singular. Its "versions" are mistruths. (5.1.2)
This is Sonmi-451's first line. It implies that she knows what the "truth" is, or at least that she's aware that there is a difference between truth and lies (which include versions of the truth that are almost—but not quite—true). By the end of her story, do you believe she's telling the truth, or just one of its "versions"?
Quote #7
Speech bubbles ballooned from Seed-Corp's logoman's juicy mouth, guaranteeing that his products were 100 percent genomically modified. (5.1.299)
Marketing is all about advertisers spinning their own versions of the truth to make you think they're products (or ideas, or whatever) are the best. In Sonmi's world, GMOs are good things.
Quote #8
Times are you say a person's b'liefs ain't true, they think you're sayin' their lifes ain't true an' their truth ain't true. (6.1.180)
This goes back to the first quote here, which suggested that people don't want to face the truth. If people believe something strongly, even if they believe something like 2 + 2 = 5, they do not want to be told what they believe in is wrong.
Quote #9
The true true is diff'rent to the seemin' true? said I. Yay, an' it usually is, I mem'ry Meronym sayin', an' that's why true true is presher'n'rarer'n diamonds. (6.1.187)
This quote reminds us of Sonmi's statement about truth and its "versions." In Zachry's language, the real truth is known as the true-true. Is it possible for even Meronym to know the true-true, though? Or is absolute truth beyond our capability?
Quote #10
Where there's bluster [...] there's duplicity. (9.54.19)
Luisa's an expert at figuring out if people are lying. She can read people. You can do the same thing with a few tips from Lifehacker.