It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
I talk about the gods, I am an atheist. But I am an artist too, and therefore a liar. Distrust everything I say. I am telling the truth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the inherent contradiction between being an artist and truthful, highlighting the complexity of artistic expression as both a reflection of and departure from reality.
Ursula K. Le Guin's quote explores the duality of existence as an artist, where one can simultaneously engage with the divine, reject belief, and present narratives that may not be 'truthful' in a traditional sense. She suggests that while art can convey deep truths, it can also involve fabrication; hence, one should approach her words with skepticism, even as she asserts that she seeks to convey reality through her art.
Themes
ArtistTruthLiesAtheismExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on creativity, one might use this quote to illustrate the complex relationship between truth and artistic expression.
More from Ursula K. Le Guin
All quotes βIn reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find - if it's a good novel - that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have changed a little... But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Reason is a faculty far larger than mere objective force. When either the political or the scientific discourse announces itself as the voice of reason, it is playing God, and should be spanked and stood in the corner.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. βDo they expect students not to be anarchists?β he said. βWhat else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
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