Freemasonry and truth Archieven

Square and compass symbolizing truth and integrity in Freemasonry

Montaigne on Liars: Truth as the Foundation of Character

Have you ever considered what really happens when someone lies? Not just to the truth itself, but to the bond between people? In his ninth essay from the first book of his famous Essais, Michel de Montaigne tackles precisely this question. ‘On Liars’ is a compact yet powerful meditation on the nature of falsehood, the role of memory, and why sincerity forms the bedrock of every meaningful human relationship. Let’s explore the core of this timeless essay — and why it still matters, especially for those who value integrity and brotherhood. The Starting Point: A Poor Memory Montaigne opens his essay with a striking confession: he has an extraordinarily poor memory. This personal trait becomes the launching pad for his entire reflection on lying. He observes that people with weak memories are often suspected of being liars because they struggle to tell their stories consistently. Yet Montaigne turns this assumption on its head. Precisely because he knows his memory fails him, he has learned to always speak the truth. A liar, after all, needs an excellent memory to keep track of all his fabrications. This insight feels remarkably modern. Montaigne demonstrates that honesty is not merely a moral choice — […]

A journalist bearing witness in a conflict zone, symbolizing Masonic truth-seeking

Bearing Witness: The Courage to Look When Others Turn Away

On a dusty street, somewhere far away, a journalist raises his camera amid the chaos surrounding him. He knows danger is close, that every second could be his last. Yet he stays. He keeps filming. He keeps bearing witness. In that moment, he embodies something far deeper than his profession — an ancient duty to record the truth, even when that truth is painful beyond measure. The footage of a reporter struck by a drone while doing his work shocked the world. But behind the shock lies a question that concerns us all: what does it truly mean to bear witness? And why do some people choose to keep looking, keep documenting, when every fiber of their being screams at them to flee? The Journalist as a Modern Sentinel In Freemasonry, we know the symbol of the sentinel — the one who stands at the gate, who observes, who reports what he sees without personal bias or self-interest. A journalist in a conflict zone fulfills a strikingly similar role. He stands on the boundary between the known and the unknown, between safety and danger, between truth and propaganda. This position demands a particular kind of courage. Not the courage of […]