We Cannot Expect to Find Truth... Whenever

We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal.
We may be true or false, the choice is ours.
We may wear now one mask and now another, and
never, if we so desire, appear with our own true
face. But we cannot make these choices with
impunity. Causes have effects, and if we lie
to ourselves and to others, then we cannot
expect to find truth and reality whenever we
happen to want them.

- Thomas Merton, in New Seeds of Contemplation