A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick -- a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.
Neil GaimanRead
A god's relationship to the world, even a world in which he was walking, was about as emotionally connected as that of a computer gamer playing with knowledge of the overall shape of the game and armed with a complete set of cheat codes.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote compares a god's detachment from the world to a gamer's dissociated play, suggesting a lack of emotional engagement despite knowledge and power.
In this thought-provoking quote, Neil Gaiman explores the nature of a god's relationship with the world, likening it to a computer gamer who, despite having intimate knowledge of the game's mechanics and access to cheat codes, remains emotionally disconnected from the characters and events within the game. This analogy suggests that omnipotence and knowledge do not necessarily equate to genuine emotional involvement, highlighting a philosophical perspective on divinity and existence.
Themes
DivinityDetachmentKnowledgeGamingPhilosophyEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the nature of divinity, this quote can prompt discussions about emotional connection in spirituality.
More from Neil Gaiman
All quotes →Jesus. Low-Key Lyesmith," said Shadow. and then he heard what he was saying and he understood. "Loki," he said. "Loki Lie-smith." "You're slow," said Loki, "but you get there in the end." And his lips twisted into a scarred smile and the embers danced in the shadows of his eyes.
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As a teenager I wrote to R.A. Lafferty. And he responded, too, with letters that were like R.A. Lafferty short stories, filled with elliptical answers to straight questions and simple answers to complicated ones.
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The important thing to understand about American history, wrote Mr. Ibis, in his leather-bound journal, is that it is fictional, a charcoal-sketched simplicity for the children, or the easily bored.
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Nothing’s changed. You’ll go home. You’ll be bored. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right.
Neil GaimanRead
I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
Neil GaimanRead
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