“You can’t handle the truth.” 

During a heated exchange in a classic court-martial scene from A Few Good Men, U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps lawyer Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise), who leads the defense team in the trial of two U.S. Marines who are accused of murdering a fellow Marine, shouts at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base commander Colonel Nathan R. Jessup (Jack Nicholson), “I want the truth!”  To which Jessup responds, with a typical Nicholsonian snarl, “You can’t handle the truth!”

Jessup goes on to chastise Kaffee and his defense team for not wanting to know the truth about what it takes for the Marines to protect and save lives.  He ends his dressing down of Kaffee with, “I would rather you just said thank you and went on your way.”

I’ve written a great deal over the years about the subject of truth, which is why this particular line from A Few Good Men caught my attention.  The truth can often be harsh.  The truth can be scary.  The truth can be embarrassing.  The truth can be costly.  Yes, for all these reasons, and more, most people can’t handle the truth.

And because they can’t handle truth, they learn to hate it.  That’s right, instead of loving truth, most people try to make true that which they love.  They much prefer the comfort of self-delusion to the pain often associated with truth.

If you were an alien who had just landed here from another galaxy, and suddenly found yourself watching advertising on TV, you would quickly conclude that the people living on this galactic sphere must surely be delusional.  Ditto if you studied politics, sports, and most other areas of our earthly lives on your visit to our planet.

In politics, for example, any newcomer quickly discovers that if he is totally committed to truth, he will likely find himself on the outside looking in.  Because a majority of voters can’t handle the truth, politicians believe they have no choice but to lie.  And if they refuse to do so, they usually — and quickly — become ex-politicians.

You have no control over TV advertising, politics, or anyone else’s life.  But the one life over which you do have control is yours.  That’s why you would be wise to heed Jack Nicholson’s scornful words in A Few Good Men and embrace truth … love truth … revel in truth.  As I said, it can sometimes be very painful, but the rewards far outweigh the pain.