Can one know "the truth"?

Well, the OP is just once more reminding us again of platonic philosophy, isn't it? You can't see the truth unless you are a lie. You being a lie implies that you do not exist, which could be interpreted as akin to the idea of Plato of the body corrupting the pure nature of the soul. You cannot understand existence if you actually exist, presumably because the reason behind it, or its order, lay beyond it.
 
You cannot understand existence if you actually exist, presumably because the reason behind it, or its order, lay beyond it.

Re-read your sentence. No one said 'you cannot understand existence if you actually exist'. (sic).

If, by chance, you wanted to allude to the idealism which has been discussed a bit here, then it would have been logical to claim that according to idealism one cannot know the truth about the external objects because they are not part of the system that is used to study them. If the system (here the human mind) did not exist, then the objects again would not be known, cause no observer would be there to know their truth or non-truth. The objects would still exist, but truth obviously requires some sort of sentience to form as a notion.
Which is part of why it is deemed as being out of the system formed by said sentience.

Another issue is the truth in regards to the system itself. That too, ultimately, due to other reasons, seems less that entirely accessible (for starters you cannot have full consciousness of your mental world, the unconscious parts will always be there).
 
My sentence is perfect as it is.
 
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