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
You see, the outcome of the battle is unimportant. What matters is the chaos, and the slaughter.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The focus on the process and experience of conflict is more significant than the final result.
In this quote, Neil Gaiman emphasizes that the journey through chaos and struggle is more meaningful than merely achieving victory. It suggests that the experiences, challenges, and turmoil we encounter during our endeavors shape us and hold intrinsic value, overshadowing the importance of the final outcome.
Themes
BattleChaosSlaughterProcessJourney
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing the importance of experience in a leadership workshop.
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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.
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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.
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