“It seems to me that life's circumstances, being ephemeral, teach us less about durable truths than the fictions based on those truths; and that the best lessons of delicacy and self-respect are to be found in novels where the feelings are so naturally portrayed that you fancy you are witnessing real life as you read.” RealSelfFeelingsSeemsFoundFictionTeachNovelCircumstancesLessonsReal LifeFancySelf RespectEphemeralDelicacy Author:Madame de Stael
“In the form of the oeuvre, the actual circumstances are placed in another dimension where the given reality shows itself as that which it is. Thus it tells the truth about itself; its language ceases to be that of deception, ignorance, and submission. Fiction calls the facts by their name and their reign collapses; fiction subverts everyday experience and shows it to be mutilated and false.” FactsShowsRealityFormNamesLanguageGivenFictionIgnoranceCircumstancesEverydayCeaseDeceptionDimensionsTelling The TruthCollapseReignSubmissionReality Shows Book:One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society Source: One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society
“Realism is to fiction what gravity is to walking: a confinement that allows dancing under the right circumstances.” FictionCircumstancesWalkingDancingGravityRealismConfinement Author:George Saunders
“Fantasy involves that which general opinion regards as impossible; science fiction involves that which general opinion regards as possible under the right circumstances. This is in essence a judgment call, since what is possible and what is not cannot be objectively known but is, rather, a subjective belief on the part of the reader.” BeliefFictionKnownOpinionFantasyImpossibleReaderCircumstancesJudgmentEssenceRegardScience FictionSubjective Book:Pandemonium Source: Pandemonium
“Or is anyone's identity a matter of fragments held together by convenient or useful narrative, that in ordinary circumstances never reveals itself as a fiction? Or is it really a fiction?” MatterTogetherFictionIdentityCircumstancesOrdinaryNarrativeFragmentsConvenient Author:Ann Leckie
“Journeys become very good metaphors. They always have the character put into circumstances that reveal him. If I had based my characters in New York and had them just sitting and thinking about life, it would be like what contemporary U.S. fiction is about. That is very heavy, literally, for me. It doesn't become mainstream enough because the pages don't turn themselves.” IfsThinkingEnoughCharacterWould BeTurnsFictionJourneyNew YorkCircumstancesPagesSittingVery GoodMetaphorHeavyContemporaryMainstreamThinking About Life Author:Karan Bajaj
“There's no specific punishment in the books of fiqh (Islamic laws) that relate to homosexuality per se. They apply to any illicit sexual relations, including prohibited heterosexual acts like adultery. And the punishments are strong, but they are legal fictions because they are impossible to prove. You need four witnesses to say they witnessed (sexual) penetration. In what circumstances are you going to find someone to testify to that?” NeedsBookLawStrongFictionFourImpossibleCircumstancesProveRelationIncludingPunishmentWitnessRelateIslamicHomosexualityAdulteryPenetrationIslamic Law Author:Hamza Yusuf