Of course that is not the whole story, but that is the way with stories; we make them what we will. It's a way of explaining the universe while leaving the universe unexplained, it's a way of keeping it all alive, not boxing it into time.
Interpretation
Stories shape our understanding of the universe, allowing us to explore its mysteries without confining them.
In this quote, Jeanette Winterson suggests that the narratives we create about our lives and the universe serve a vital purpose. They not only help us make sense of complex realities but also keep the essence of those realities vibrant and ever-evolving, preventing them from becoming stagnant or overly simplified through strict definitions and boundaries. Essentially, stories are a means of engaging with the infinite complexities of existence.
In practice
In a discussion about literature, you could use this quote to emphasize the power of storytelling.
What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
The cause of war is preparation for war.
I think it only makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority, hierarchy, and domination in every aspect of life, and to challenge them; unless a justification for them can be given, they are illegitimate, and should be dismantled, to increase the scope of human freedom.
The accent of a man's native country remains in his mind and his heart, as it does in his speech.
Compared to the unleashed forces of warfare and of faith, Mount Vesuvius was kinder to the legacy of antiquity.
Why, this hath not a finger's dignity.
What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.
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