“Stories," he'd said, his voice low and almost husky, "we are made up of stories. And even the ones that seem the most like lies can be our deepest hidden truths.”

“Here's my life, why not, it is one, if you like, if you must, I don't say no, this evening. There has to be one, it seems, once there is speech, no need of a story, a story is not compulsory, just a life, that's the mistake I made, one of the mistakes, to have wanted a story for myself, whereas life alone is enough.”

“But the truth is that no person ever understands another, from beginning to end of life, there is no truth that can be known, only the story we imagine to be true, the story they really believe to be true about themselves; and all of them lies.”

“He wondered whether growing up was learning that most stories turned out to be lies.”

“I am almost inclined to set it up as a canon that a children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children’s story. The good ones last. A waltz which you can like only when you are waltzing is a bad waltz.”

“you can tell the deepest truths with the lies of fiction”

“Let's not despise story-telling. Like all novelists, I have this low desire to tell people stories.”

“I've always believed the lies we use to make our fictions reveal the truth with far more honesty than any history or herstory or life story.”

“There are two sides to every story and the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.”

“So what are we saying?
Our Eden's a failure.
A made-up story to fit the picture-perfect world.
The one with "I do"s and "I love you."
And "we are made for each other."”