I respect most boxers because they're violent people who learned to discipline themselves ... a good boxer is an artist ... Boxing is existential - some fights are better than others.
Norman MailerRead
Any good story can galvanize a person, make him/her think about things a different way, reassess their own motives and needs, but that's never my intent. That's an unintended consequence of me just trying to entertain, to write what we used to call 'ripping yarns.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
Stories can profoundly influence thought and self-reflection, even when that isn't the author's intention.
Raymond E. Feist suggests that while storytelling has the power to impact readers by prompting them to reevaluate their perspectives and motivations, his primary goal as a writer is simply to entertain. This highlights the dual nature of storytelling, where entertainment can lead to deeper introspection as a byproduct.
Themes
StorytellingEntertainmentInfluenceReflectionMotivation
In practice
Example use cases
Sharing this quote during a writing workshop to emphasize the power of storytelling.
Similar quotes
A story was a form of telepathy. By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader's. It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it.
Ian McewanRead
I was 12 and read my first romance novel; it was a sweeping desert saga, and I got to the end of it and was like, 'I want to go back and start all over again!' That emotional response to the book and getting to the end of a story you love is what inspires me to write the next book.
Sylvia DayRead
Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.
Gustave FlaubertRead
Rock'n'roll is an attitude, it's not a musical form of a strict sort. It's way of doing things, of approaching things. Writing can be rock'n'roll, or a movie can be rock'n'roll. It's a way of living your life.
Lester BangsRead
Drama lies in extreme exaggeration of the feelings, an exaggeration that dislocates flat everyday reality.
Eugene IonescoRead