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're no help," he told the lime. This was unfair. It was only a lime; there was nothing special about it at all. It was doing the best it could.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the idea that we often judge others harshly without recognizing their limitations.
In this quote, Neil Gaiman emphasizes the importance of understanding and compassion. The speaker's unfair criticism of the lime illustrates how we can overlook the efforts and inherent value of others simply because they don't meet our expectations. It serves as a reminder that everyone is doing their best within their own constraints, and it encourages us to practice empathy rather than judgment.
Themes
EmpathyUnderstandingCompassionJudgmentEffort
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about empathy during a team meeting, one might say, 'As Neil Gaiman reminds us, sometimes we need to recognize that everyone is doing their best, just like the lime.'
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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.
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