--- title: "7 Fiction Purpose Quotes by 5 authors" description: "Browse 7 Fiction Purpose quotes by 5 authors. Discover the best Fiction Purpose sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/katie-kitamura-13105_books_life-rarely-finds-its-exact-likeness-in_178189.jpg" --- > [“life rarely finds its exact likeness in a novel, that is hardly fiction’s purpose,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-kitamura/life-rarely-finds-its-exact-likeness-in-a-novel-that-is-hardly/) [Katie Kitamura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-kitamura/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/katie-kitamura-13105_books_life-rarely-finds-its-exact-likeness-in_178189.jpg) > [Religion, if it is genuine, is so profoundly interwoven with individual thought and experience that it is no more exhaustible than consciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/religion-if-it-is-genuine-is-so-profoundly-interwoven-with-individual/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/marilynne-robinson-602_christianity_religion-if-it-is-genuine-is-so-profound_883862.png) > [“I guess a bit part of serious fiction’s purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us is sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-guess-a-bit-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose-is-to-give-the-reader/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b8/david-foster-wallace-161_books_i-guess-a-bit-part-of-serious-fiction-s_995051.jpg) > [“In a book of fiction the purpose is to create, for myself, the kind of world I want and to live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/in-a-book-of-fiction-the-purpose-is-to-create-for-myself-the-kind-of/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4aa/ayn-rand-59_books_in-a-book-of-fiction-the-purpose-is-to-c_1019721.jpg) > [“A big part of serious fiction’s purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us is sort of marooned in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/a-big-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose-is-to-give-the-reader-who/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f8/david-foster-wallace-161_art_a-big-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose_2383192.jpg) > [“I had a teacher I liked who used to say good fiction’s job was to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-had-a-teacher-i-liked-who-used-to-say-good-fiction-s-job-was-to-2/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/david-foster-wallace-161_real-world_i-had-a-teacher-i-liked-who-used-to-say_3048687.jpg) > [“There exist few things more tedious than a discussion of general ideas inflicted by author or reader upon a work of fiction.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than-a-discussion-of-general/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/vladimir-nabokov-198_abstract-art_there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than_3079059.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/#itemlist", "name": "Fiction Purpose Quotes", "numberOfItems": 7, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“life rarely finds its exact likeness in a novel, that is hardly fiction’s purpose,”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Katie Kitamura" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-kitamura/life-rarely-finds-its-exact-likeness-in-a-novel-that-is-hardly/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/katie-kitamura-13105_books_life-rarely-finds-its-exact-likeness-in_178189.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/katie-kitamura-13105_books_life-rarely-finds-its-exact-likeness-in_178189.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/katie-kitamura-13105_books_life-rarely-finds-its-exact-likeness-in_178189.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“life rarely finds its exact likeness in a novel, that is hardly fiction’s purpose,” — Katie Kitamura", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Religion, if it is genuine, is so profoundly interwoven with individual thought and experience that it is no more exhaustible than consciousness itself. And fiction whose purpose is didactic is bad no matter whether the matter to be \"taught\" is Christianity or the world view of Ayn Rand. It seems often to be assumed by writers that religion is a pose, meant to deceive oneself or others, or that it is a bad patch on doubt or complexity. This is only convention, however. The writers I know have a much deeper engagement with the real issues of religion.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marilynne Robinson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/religion-if-it-is-genuine-is-so-profoundly-interwoven-with-individual/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/marilynne-robinson-602_christianity_religion-if-it-is-genuine-is-so-profound_883862.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/marilynne-robinson-602_christianity_religion-if-it-is-genuine-is-so-profound_883862.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/marilynne-robinson-602_christianity_religion-if-it-is-genuine-is-so-profound_883862.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Religion, if it is genuine, is so profoundly interwoven with individual thought and experience that it is no…” — Marilynne Robinson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I guess a bit part of serious fiction’s purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us is sort of marooned in her own skull, to give her imaginative access to other selves.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Foster Wallace" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-guess-a-bit-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose-is-to-give-the-reader/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b8/david-foster-wallace-161_books_i-guess-a-bit-part-of-serious-fiction-s_995051.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b8/david-foster-wallace-161_books_i-guess-a-bit-part-of-serious-fiction-s_995051.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b8/david-foster-wallace-161_books_i-guess-a-bit-part-of-serious-fiction-s_995051.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I guess a bit part of serious fiction’s purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us is sort of…” — David Foster Wallace", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In a book of fiction the purpose is to create, for myself, the kind of world I want and to live in while I am creating it; then, as a secondary consequence, to let others enjoy this world, if, and to the extent that, they can.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ayn Rand" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/in-a-book-of-fiction-the-purpose-is-to-create-for-myself-the-kind-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4aa/ayn-rand-59_books_in-a-book-of-fiction-the-purpose-is-to-c_1019721.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4aa/ayn-rand-59_books_in-a-book-of-fiction-the-purpose-is-to-c_1019721.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4aa/ayn-rand-59_books_in-a-book-of-fiction-the-purpose-is-to-c_1019721.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In a book of fiction the purpose is to create, for myself, the kind of world I want and to live in while I…” — Ayn Rand", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A big part of serious fiction’s purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us is sort of marooned in her own skull, to give her imaginative access to other selves … I strongly suspect a big part of real art fiction’s job is to aggravate this sense of entrapment and loneliness and death in people, to move people to countenance it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Foster Wallace" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/a-big-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose-is-to-give-the-reader-who/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f8/david-foster-wallace-161_art_a-big-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose_2383192.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f8/david-foster-wallace-161_art_a-big-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose_2383192.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f8/david-foster-wallace-161_art_a-big-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose_2383192.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A big part of serious fiction’s purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us is sort of marooned in her…” — David Foster Wallace", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I had a teacher I liked who used to say good fiction’s job was to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. I guess a big part of serious fiction’s purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us is sort of marooned in her own skull, to give her imaginative access to other selves. Since an ineluctable part of being a human self is suffering, part of what we humans come to art for is an experience of suffering, necessarily a vicarious experience, more like a sort of “generalization” of suffering. Does this make sense? We all suffer alone in the real world; true empathy’s impossible. But if a piece of fiction can allow us imaginatively to identify with a character’s pain, we might then also more easily conceive of others identifying with our own. This is nourishing, redemptive; we become less alone inside.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Foster Wallace" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-had-a-teacher-i-liked-who-used-to-say-good-fiction-s-job-was-to-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/david-foster-wallace-161_real-world_i-had-a-teacher-i-liked-who-used-to-say_3048687.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/david-foster-wallace-161_real-world_i-had-a-teacher-i-liked-who-used-to-say_3048687.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/david-foster-wallace-161_real-world_i-had-a-teacher-i-liked-who-used-to-say_3048687.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I had a teacher I liked who used to say good fiction’s job was to comfort the disturbed and disturb the…” — David Foster Wallace", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There exist few things more tedious than a discussion of general ideas inflicted by author or reader upon a work of fiction. The purpose of this foreword is not to show that \"Bend Sinister\" belongs or does not belong to \"serious literature\" (which is a euphemism for the hollow profundity and the ever-welcome commonplace). I have never been interested in what is called the literature of social comment (in journalistic and commercial parlance: \"great books\"). I am not \"sincere,\" I am not \"provocative,\" I am not \"satirical.\" I am neither a didacticist nor an allegorizer. Politics and economics, atomic bombs, primitive and abstract art forms, the entire Orient, symptoms of \"thaw\" in Soviet Russia, the Future of Mankind, and so on, leave me supremely indifferent. As in the case of my \"Invitation to a Beheading\" - with which this book has obvious affinities - automatic comparisons between \"Bend Sinister\" and Kafka's creations or Orwell's cliches would go merely to prove that the automaton could not have read either the great German writer or the mediocre English one.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Vladimir Nabokov" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than-a-discussion-of-general/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/vladimir-nabokov-198_abstract-art_there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than_3079059.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/vladimir-nabokov-198_abstract-art_there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than_3079059.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/vladimir-nabokov-198_abstract-art_there-exist-few-things-more-tedious-than_3079059.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There exist few things more tedious than a discussion of general ideas inflicted by author or reader upon a…” — Vladimir Nabokov", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/", "name": "Fiction Purpose Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/628/katie-kitamura-13105_books_life-rarely-finds-its-exact-likeness-in_178189.jpg" }, "description": "Browse 7 Fiction Purpose quotes by 5 authors. Discover the best Fiction Purpose sayings and thoughts.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fiction Purpose Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-purpose/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```