There are only three possible endings -aren't there? - to any story: revenge, tragedy or forgiveness. That's it. All stories end like that.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that all narratives ultimately culminate in one of three outcomes: revenge, tragedy, or forgiveness.
Jeanette Winterson reflects on the fundamental endings that stories can have, positing that every narrative can be distilled into one of three themes. The notion emphasizes the complexity of human experiences and emotions, where outcomes of conflicts either lead to revenge, destructive tragedy, or a path of reconciliation through forgiveness, thus shaping our understanding of life and storytelling.
In practice
In a discussion about the different outcomes in life, this quote can highlight the choices we make.
What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection.
To begin with myself, then, the utterances of men concerning me will differ widely, since in passing judgment almost every one is influenced not so much by truth as by preference, and good and evil report alike know no bounds.
Everyone is tearing each other apart in the name of their personal god. And the irony is, by definition, they're probably worshiping the same god.
The government doesn't want you to use YOUR drugs, they want you to use THEIR drugs.
By adopting the control strategy, the nation's environmental program has created a built-in antagonism between environmental quality and economic growth.
In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body - it is heritage.
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