Southerners love a good tale. They are born reciters, great memory retainers, diary keepers, letter exchangers . . . great talkers.
Eudora WeltyRead
It had been startling and disappointing to me to find out that story books had been written by people, that books were not natural wonders, coming of themselves like grass.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a disillusionment with the realization that stories are crafted by individuals rather than being spontaneous creations of nature.
Eudora Welty's quote reflects a profound moment of realization where the speaker encounters a shift in perspective about literature. What was once perceived as a natural and magical phenomenon—books and stories arising effortlessly like grass—reveals itself to be a structured, intentional creation of human effort. This understanding can be startling and disappointing, as it strips away some of the mystery and awe associated with reading and storytelling. It highlights the contrast between the perceived spontaneity of stories and the reality of their human origins, inviting reflection on the complexity and artistry involved in writing.
Themes
BooksStoriesCreationLiteratureDisillusionment
In practice
Example use cases
In a book club discussion about the nature of storytelling.
More from Eudora Welty
All quotes →Writing a story or a novel is one way of discovering sequence in experience, of stumbling upon cause and effect in the happenings of a writer's own life.
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A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.
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For the source of the short story is usually lyrical. And all writers speak from, and speak to, emotions eternally the same in all of us: love, pity, terror do not show favorites or leave any of us out.
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The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order the continuous thread of revelation.
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The first act of insight is throw away the labels. In fiction, while we do not necessarily write about ourselves, we write out of ourselves, using ourselves; what we learn from, what we are sensitive to, what we feel strongly about--these become our characters and go to make our plots. Characters in fiction are conceived from within, and they have, accordingly, their own interior life; they are individuals every time.
Eudora WeltyRead
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