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About this quote

What does it mean?
The author prefers the imaginative impact of a fairy tale over the exhaustive facts of an encyclopedia.
In plain terms
Fiction is more valuable than facts.
What can you take from it?
Imagination outweighs data.

Where it applies

  • choosing reading material
  • valuing art

Putting it to work

  • prioritizing creative works

Questions to consider

  • Which do you prefer: stories or facts?

Another view

Encyclopedias provide essential foundational knowledge.

More from Stephen Leacock

  1. Synopsis of Previous Chapters: There are no Previous Chapters.

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  2. On the same bill and on the same side of it there should not be two charges for the same thing.

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  3. The classics are only primitive literature. They belong to the same class as primitive machinery and primitive music and primitive medicine.

    Permalink to quote #32

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