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.
More from O. Henry
All quotes βIt's said that love makes the world go around. Let me tell you, the announcement lacks verification. It's the wind from the dinner horn that does it.
O. HenryRead
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.
O. HenryRead
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.
O. HenryRead
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.
O. HenryRead
She had become so thoroughly annealed into his life that she was like the air he breathed--necessary but scarcely noticed.
O. HenryRead
Similar quotes
There has to be a balance, Vin," Elend said. "Somehow, we'll find it. The balance between whom we wish to be and whom we need to be." He sighed. "But for now," he said, nodding to the side, "we simply have to be satisfied with who we are.
Brandon SandersonRead
In failing circumstances no one can be relied on to keep their integrity.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
As so often happens in philosophy, clever people accept a false general principle on a priori grounds and then devote endless labour and ingenuity to explaining away plain facts which obviously conflict with it.
C. D. BroadRead
if a person wishes to achieve peace of mind and happiness then they should acquire faith, but if they want to be a disciple of truth, which can be "frightening and ugly,β then they need to search.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
No history can be a faithful mirror. If it were, it would be as long and as dull as life itself. It must be a selection, and, being a selection, must inevitably be biased.
T. E. HulmeRead
Apakah penampilanku satu-satunya hal yang membuatku berharga? Jika begitu, jangan tatap aku. Wajahku bisa menyembunyikan hati yang palsu.
Deepak ChopraRead