The truth is on the march and nothing will stop it.

This line is widely associated with Émile Zola’s intervention in the Dreyfus Affair, the French political and judicial crisis ignited by the wrongful conviction of Jewish army officer Alfred Dreyfus (1894). Zola became the most famous public defender of Dreyfus with his open letter “J’accuse…!” (published in 1898), which accused the military and government of a cover-up and triggered Zola’s prosecution for libel and subsequent exile. The sentiment “truth is on the march” reflects the pro-Dreyfusard conviction that evidence and public scrutiny would ultimately overturn institutional injustice, even if the process was slow and met with fierce resistance.

Zola’s aphorism frames truth not as a static possession but as a historical force: once set in motion—through investigation, testimony, and public debate—it advances despite censorship, intimidation, or temporary defeats. The phrase carries a moral optimism characteristic of Zola’s public stance during the Dreyfus Affair: institutions may suppress facts, but sustained exposure and collective conscience can make concealment untenable. It also functions rhetorically as encouragement to persist when justice seems blocked, implying that setbacks are delays rather than final outcomes. In quotation culture, it has become a general-purpose maxim about progress, transparency, and the eventual triumph of evidence over propaganda.

“La vérité est en marche et rien ne l’arrêtera.”
“The truth is on the march; nothing can stop it.”
“Truth is on the march, and nothing shall stop it.”