“The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself.”

Last update Sept. 29, 2023. History

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Eleanor Roosevelt 148
American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady… 1884–1962

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“To overcome the resistance to truth, literature makes use of fictions that are images of truth.”

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Context: Literature... seeks to entertain — and why is this?... The reason, fundamentally, is that literature knows something that science does not: the human resistance to hearing the truth. Science does not inform scientists of this basic fact.... The wisdom of literature arises mainly from its attention to this point. To overcome the resistance to truth, literature makes use of fictions that are images of truth.

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“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”

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Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar, Ch. XV
Misquoted as "Why shouldn’t truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense." by Laurence J. Peter in "Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time", among many others.
Following the Equator (1897)
Source: Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World

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