The greatest homage we can pay to truth, is to use it.

Lowell’s aphorism argues that truth is not best honored by mere assent, praise, or abstract reverence, but by practical application. To “use” truth is to let it guide judgment, speech, and conduct—testing it in life rather than treating it as a decorative ideal. The line also implies an ethical duty: once one recognizes what is true, one should act accordingly, even when inconvenient. In a broader literary and civic sense, it critiques empty professions of principle (in politics, religion, or culture) and elevates integrity and usefulness over rhetoric. Truth, for Lowell, earns its highest respect when it becomes operative in the world.