--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It’s only literature, I know, but it does…" description: "\"“It’s only literature, I know, but it does something, or at least it says something.”\" — Alaa Alghamdi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/alaa-alghamdi-16479_books_it-s-only-literature-i-know-but-it-does_787574.jpg" --- # It’s only literature, I know, but it does something, or at… ![“It’s only literature, I know, but it does something, or at least it says something.” quote by Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/alaa-alghamdi-16479_books_it-s-only-literature-i-know-but-it-does_787574.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/alaa-alghamdi-16479_books_it-s-only-literature-i-know-but-it-does_787574.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/565/alaa-alghamdi-16479_books_it-s-only-literature-i-know-but-it-does_787574.jpg) > ““It’s only literature, I know, but it does something, or at least it says something.”” [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature, while fictional, conveys truths and provokes thought. **In simple terms:** Stories reveal truths and provoke thought. Key Takeaway Read to explore ideas beyond reality. Themes literature truth expression imagination Mood reflective inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - classroom discussions - personal reflection - creative writing - book clubs Key Concepts Narrative truth cultural critique emotional resonance Questions to Reflect On - What does this passage make you feel? - How does fiction shape your worldview? A Different Perspective Fiction may mislead if taken literally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [What a person does is what he IS, not what he says.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd-field/what-a-person-does-is-what-he-is-not-what-he-says/) [Syd Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd-field/) > [Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or who says it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/wrong-is-wrong-no-matter-who-does-it-or-who-says-it/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [No matter what you or anyone else does, there will be someone who says that there's something bad about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-clancy/no-matter-what-you-or-anyone-else-does-there-will-be-someone-who-says/) [Tom Clancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-clancy/) > [ Through it \[literature\] we know the past, govern the present, and influence the future. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/through-it-literature-we-know-the-past-govern-the-present-and/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [Having spent half my time at university studying English literature, I know from experience that reading lists often contain more white men than Jacob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nish-kumar/having-spent-half-my-time-at-university-studying-english-literature-i/) [Nish Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nish-kumar/) > [Google "brooklyn writer" and you'll get, Did you mean: the future of literature as we know it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/google-brooklyn-writer-and-you-ll-get-did-you-mean-the-future-of/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [The poem is at last between two persons instead of two pages. In all modesty, I confess that it may be the death of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/the-poem-is-at-last-between-two-persons-instead-of-two-pages-in-all/) [Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/) > [“It can also be useful to politics, enabling that science to discover how much of it is no more than verbal construction, myth, literary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/it-can-also-be-useful-to-politics-enabling-that-science-to-discover/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [In literature, you know only what you imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-fuentes/in-literature-you-know-only-what-you-imagine/) [Carlos Fuentes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-fuentes/) > [I've been on 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa,' and I know it does wonders for your career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithvik-dhanjani/i-ve-been-on-jhalak-dikhhla-jaa-and-i-know-it-does-wonders-for-your/) [Rithvik Dhanjani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithvik-dhanjani/) > [If you don't know how to do it, get around someone else who does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/if-you-don-t-know-how-to-do-it-get-around-someone-else-who-does/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [“I KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND IT DOES ME NO GOOD AT ALL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-holzer/i-know-who-you-are-and-it-does-me-no-good-at-all/) [Jenny Holzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-holzer/) > [“Does he know you’re with me? 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He was a giver, not a taker.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/he-was-not-a-colonizer-he-was-a-giver-not-a-taker/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/if-i-m-going-to-do-this-i-m-going-to-do-it-right/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“When did that higher, more spiritual conviction become something craven and greedy? And then again when did that greed transform itself into something worse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/when-did-that-higher-more-spiritual-conviction-become-something/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“When in Rome, do as the Romans. That was not just friendly advice. That was survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/when-in-rome-do-as-the-romans-that-was-not-just-friendly-advice-that/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“Their bodies were tanned, toned, and golden. From where had come the notion that the British were all pale and pasty-looking? … Would they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/their-bodies-were-tanned-toned-and-golden-from-where-had-come-the/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“We have to make our right Wherever we are, out of whatever is there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/we-have-to-make-our-right-wherever-we-are-out-of-whatever-is-there/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“It never hurts to know your enemy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/it-never-hurts-to-know-your-enemy/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“Saudi girls stay home, or they get good jobs or good educations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/saudi-girls-stay-home-or-they-get-good-jobs-or-good-educations/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“People just begin to fall apart, and it’s hard for anyone else, anyone on the outside, to hold them together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/people-just-begin-to-fall-apart-and-it-s-hard-for-anyone-else-anyone/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“Jerusalem, How cruel it was, after all, That the geographical center of their faith was not actually located within the confines of the Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/jerusalem-how-cruel-it-was-after-all-that-the-geographical-center-of/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“Jerusalem, ----How cruel it was, after all, that the geographical center of their faith was not actually located within the confines of the Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/jerusalem-how-cruel-it-was-after-all-that-the-geographical-center-of-2/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“There was much love but no pretense between them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/there-was-much-love-but-no-pretense-between-them/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) > [“The most amoral man could write a brilliant literary work. 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Those who didn’t have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-alghamdi/you-needed-experience-in-order-to-get-a-job-so-in-effect-you-needed/) [Alaa Alghamdi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) [Explore all 39 Alaa Alghamdi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-alghamdi/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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