Bohemia is nothing more than the little country in which you do not live. If you try to obtain citizenship in it, at once the court and retinue pack the royal archives and treasure and move away beyond the hills.
O. HenryRead
Humans were denied the speech of animals. The only common ground of communication upon which dogs and men can get together is in fiction.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humans and animals cannot truly communicate, but fiction allows us to bridge that gap imaginatively.
The quote by O. Henry reflects on the lack of direct communication between humans and animals, particularly dogs. It suggests that while we may struggle to understand each other in reality, literature and storytelling create a fictional realm where humans can explore and empathize with the experiences and perspectives of animals, thus establishing a form of connection through imagination.
Themes
CommunicationFictionAnimalsDogsHumanEmpathy
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of empathy in storytelling, one could use this quote to highlight how fiction connects us to the animal experience.
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Yes, I get dry spells. Sometimes I can't turn out a thing for three months. When one of those spells comes on I quit trying to work and go out and see something of life. You can't write a story that's got any life in it by sitting at a writing table and thinking. You've got to get out into the streets, into the crowds, talk with people, and feel the rush and throb of real life-that's the stimulant for a story writer.
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But the best, in my opinion, was the home life in the little flat--the ardent, voluble chats after the day's study; the cozy dinners and fresh, light breakfasts; the interchange of ambitions--ambitions interwoven each with the other's or else inconsiderable--the mutual help and inspiration; and--overlook my artlessness--stuffed olives and cheese sandwiches at 11 p.m.
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You can't appreciate home till you've left it, money till it's spent, your wife till she's joined a woman's club, nor Old Glory till you see it hanging on a broomstick on the shanty of a consul in a foreign town.
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She had become so thoroughly annealed into his life that she was like the air he breathed--necessary but scarcely noticed.
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