Fiction is to the grown man what play is to the child; it is there that he changes the atmosphere and tenor of his life.
In plain words
Made-up stories are grown-ups' version of pretend play. They can change how you see and feel about your own life.
Where these words come from
- 85% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- 'A Gossip on Romance,' Longman's Magazine, November 1882 — Wikiquote sourced section, named periodical + date.
- A Gossip on Romance (Longman's Magazine)
- 1882
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
See allto travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour.
Robert Louis StevensonOf what shall a man be proud, if he is not proud of his friends?Robert Louis StevensonIn this world of imperfection we gladly welcome even partial intimacies. And if we find but one to whom we can speak out of our heart freely, with whom we can walk in love and simplicity without dissimulation, we have no ground of quarrel with the world or God.Robert Louis StevensonWith our chosen friends, on the other hand, and still more between lovers (for mutual understanding is love’s essence), the truth is easily indicated by the one and aptly comprehended by the other.Robert Louis StevensonBut we are all travellers in what John Bunyan calls the wilderness of this world—all, too, travellers with a donkey; and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend.Robert Louis StevensonIf you want a person’s faults, go to those who love him. They will not tell you, but they know. And herein lies the magnanimous courage of love, that it endures this knowledge without change.Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis StevensonOf what shall a man be proud, if he is not proud of his friends?Robert Louis StevensonIn this world of imperfection we gladly welcome even partial intimacies. And if we find but one to whom we can speak out of our heart freely, with whom we can walk in love and simplicity without dissimulation, we have no ground of quarrel with the world or God.Robert Louis StevensonWith our chosen friends, on the other hand, and still more between lovers (for mutual understanding is love’s essence), the truth is easily indicated by the one and aptly comprehended by the other.Robert Louis StevensonBut we are all travellers in what John Bunyan calls the wilderness of this world—all, too, travellers with a donkey; and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend.Robert Louis StevensonIf you want a person’s faults, go to those who love him. They will not tell you, but they know. And herein lies the magnanimous courage of love, that it endures this knowledge without change.Robert Louis StevensonMore on stories
Books, the children of the brain.
Jonathan SwiftI'd write of people and places like I knew, and I'd make my characters talk everyday English.
L.M. MontgomeryIf you find a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.
Toni MorrisonA single conversation with a wise man is worth a month's study of books.Chinese proverbA thing of beauty is a joy forever.
John KeatsDo not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.
Erasmus
Jonathan SwiftI'd write of people and places like I knew, and I'd make my characters talk everyday English.L.M. MontgomeryIf you find a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.Toni MorrisonA single conversation with a wise man is worth a month's study of books.Chinese proverbA thing of beauty is a joy forever.John KeatsDo not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.Erasmus