A writer is congenitally unable to tell the truth and that is why we call what he writes fiction.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Writers are inherently unable to tell the full truth, so their work is called fiction.
- In plain terms
- Writers can't tell the truth, so they write fiction.
- What can you take from it?
- Fiction acknowledges the limits of truth-telling.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can writers tell the truth?
- Is fiction more honest?
Another view
It dismisses nonfiction and factual writing.
More from William Faulkner
A mule will labor ten years willingly and patiently for you, for the privilege of kicking you once.
Permalink to quote #45 A writer must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid.
Permalink to quote #47 It wasn't until the Nobel Prize that they really thawed out. They couldn't understand my books, but they could understand $30,000.
Permalink to quote #44
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