--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That was the chief difference between…" description: "\"“That was the chief difference between literature and life. In books, the proportion of exceptional to commonplace people is high; in reality, very low..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/aldous-huxley-97_books_that-was-the-chief-difference-between-li_2836636.jpg" --- # That was the chief difference between literature and life… ![“That was the chief difference between literature and life. In books, the proportion of exceptional to commonplace people is high; in reality, very low.” quote by Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/aldous-huxley-97_books_that-was-the-chief-difference-between-li_2836636.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/aldous-huxley-97_books_that-was-the-chief-difference-between-li_2836636.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/aldous-huxley-97_books_that-was-the-chief-difference-between-li_2836636.jpg) > ““That was the chief difference between literature and life. In books, the proportion of exceptional to commonplace people is high; in reality, very low.”” [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature exaggerates the number of exceptional individuals, while real life contains far fewer, highlighting a contrast between fiction and reality. **In simple terms:** Books have many heroes; real life has few. Key Takeaway Appreciate ordinary people’s value. Themes literature reality exceptionalism human nature Mood reflective analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - fiction - media - personal expectations - social comparison Key Concepts sociology storytelling expectation management Questions to Reflect On - Why do we gravitate toward extraordinary characters? - How does this affect our self‑image? A Different Perspective Fiction may set unrealistic standards for personal achievement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-life/) ## Related quotes > [In books, the proportion of exceptional to commonplace people is high; in reality, very low.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/in-books-the-proportion-of-exceptional-to-commonplace-people-is-high/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [In books, the proportion of exceptional to commonplace people is very high; in reality, very low.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/in-books-the-proportion-of-exceptional-to-commonplace-people-is-very/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Yet any distinction between literature and life is misleading. Literature for me is not merely the best part of life; it is itself the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/yet-any-distinction-between-literature-and-life-is-misleading/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“Literary criticism, as I attempt to practice it, is in the first place 'literary', which is to say personal and passionate. It is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/literary-criticism-as-i-attempt-to-practice-it-is-in-the-first-place/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [“To live in Metropolis was to know that the exceptional was as commonplace as diet soda, that abnormality was the popcorn norm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/to-live-in-metropolis-was-to-know-that-the-exceptional-was-as/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The Lord's Prayer is 66 words, the Gettysburg Address is 286 words, there are 1.322 words in the Declaration of Independence, but government regulations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-lord-s-prayer-is-66-words-the-gettysburg-address-is-286-words/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The difference between literature and journalism is that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-difference-between-literature-and-journalism-is-that-journalism/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Violence commands both literature and life, and violence is always crude and distorted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/violence-commands-both-literature-and-life-and-violence-is-always/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [“There is a difference between literature and just writing in your diary. 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Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [If to be interesting is to be uncommonplace, it is becoming a question, with me, if there are any commonplace people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-to-be-interesting-is-to-be-uncommonplace-it-is-becoming-a-question/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“There are some people about whom it is difficult to say anything which would describe them immediately and fully in their most typical and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dostoevsky/there-are-some-people-about-whom-it-is-difficult-to-say-anything/) [Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dostoevsky/) ## More by Aldous Huxley > [“Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/unorthodoxy-threatens-more-than-the-life-of-a-mere-individual-it/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. Nor am I the captain of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/my-fate-cannot-be-mastered-it-can-only-be-collaborated-with-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/impulse-arrested-spills-over-and-the-flood-is-feeling-the-flood-is/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“The question for the man of sense is: Do we or do we not want to go to hell? And his answer is: No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-question-for-the-man-of-sense-is-do-we-or-do-we-not-want-to-go-to/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“I’ll MAKE you be free whether you want to or not.’ -The Savage”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/i-ll-make-you-be-free-whether-you-want-to-or-not-the-savage/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Thought of the incomprehensible sequence of changes and chances that make up a life, all the beauties and horrors and absurdities whose conjunctions create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/thought-of-the-incomprehensible-sequence-of-changes-and-chances-that/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The third petition of the Lord's Prayer is repeated daily by millions who have not the slightest intention of letting anyone's will be done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-third-petition-of-the-lord-s-prayer-is-repeated-daily-by-millions/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Then what’s time for?” asked Lenina in some astonishment. Apparently, for going on walks in the Lake District; for that was what he now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/then-what-s-time-for-asked-lenina-in-some-astonishment-apparently-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/all-right-then-said-the-savage-defiantly-i-m-claiming-the-right-to-be/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Speed, it seems to me, provides the one genuinely modern pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/speed-it-seems-to-me-provides-the-one-genuinely-modern-pleasure/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“What you need is a gramme of soma.” “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-you-need-is-a-gramme-of-soma-all-the-advantages-of-christianity/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [To be enlightened is to be aware, always, of total reality in its immanent otherness - to be aware of it and yet remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/to-be-enlightened-is-to-be-aware-always-of-total-reality-in-its/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Quote of the day:Quote of the day: A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/quote-of-the-day-quote-of-the-day-a-democracy-which-makes-or-even/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) [Explore all 1,291 Aldous Huxley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## 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! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. 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