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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the complexity of communication and the nuanced ways in which individuals respond to questions.
Neil Gaiman shares a personal experience of corresponding with author R.A. Lafferty, highlighting how Lafferty's unique writing style allowed for both simplicity and complexity in his responses. The quote suggests that wisdom can be found in unconventional ways of communicating, and that the answers to life's questions are not always straightforward.
Themes
CommunicationComplexityAnswersQuestionsLiterature
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity, one might use this quote to illustrate the importance of unique perspectives.
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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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Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
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