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
It's just I might get distracted, and I get lost kind of easily, and sometimes I have really bad days...when, you know, I just want to hide or scream or bleed or something, and...all that...
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses vulnerability and the struggle with distracting thoughts and overwhelming emotions.
In this quote, Neil Gaiman candidly acknowledges the challenges he faces with distraction and negative feelings, portraying a deep sense of vulnerability. He highlights that it is normal to experience bad days and intense emotions, suggesting that such experiences are part of being human. By sharing this, he emphasizes the importance of recognizing and accepting one's struggles rather than hiding from them.
Themes
DistractionVulnerabilityBad DaysEmotionsMental Health
In practice
Example use cases
In a mental health awareness event to illustrate the importance of acknowledging our feelings.
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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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