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
Potentially evil. Potentially good, too, I suppose. Just this huge powerful potentiality waiting to be shaped.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our abilities and the potential within us can lead to both positive and negative outcomes, depending on how we choose to shape them.
This quote by Neil Gaiman reflects the dual nature of potential, emphasizing that while we all possess immense capabilities that can lead to great achievements, the direction we take in utilizing that potential can lead to either constructive or destructive outcomes. It serves as a reminder of our responsibility in how we harness our abilities and the impact that our choices have on ourselves and the world around us.
Themes
PotentialGoodEvilPowerfulShaping
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about personal growth and responsibility.
More from Neil Gaiman
All quotes →Jesus. Low-Key Lyesmith," said Shadow. and then he heard what he was saying and he understood. "Loki," he said. "Loki Lie-smith." "You're slow," said Loki, "but you get there in the end." And his lips twisted into a scarred smile and the embers danced in the shadows of his eyes.
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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.
Neil GaimanRead
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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