--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That's the power of fiction, that it can…" description: "\"That's the power of fiction, that it can take the collective and make it personal.\" — Anthony Doerr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/anthony-doerr-886_collective_that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can_555584.png" --- # That's the power of fiction, that it can take the… ![“That's the power of fiction, that it can take the collective and make it personal.” quote by Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/anthony-doerr-886_collective_that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can_555584.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/anthony-doerr-886_collective_that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can_555584.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/anthony-doerr-886_collective_that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can_555584.png) > “That's the power of fiction, that it can take the collective and make it personal.” [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fiction transforms broad societal narratives into intimate personal experiences, allowing readers to see themselves in collective stories. **In simple terms:** Stories make big ideas feel personal. Key Takeaway Use stories to connect people to larger issues. Themes empathy storytelling culture Mood reflective inspired Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - teaching - public speaking - community building - marketing Key Concepts Narrative psychology collective identity Questions to Reflect On - How can you make a collective issue feel personal? - What personal story illustrates a broader trend? A Different Perspective Stories may oversimplify complex realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“The power of fiction is that it gives us, as readers, the opportunity to move inside another human being, to look out through that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-dane-bauer/the-power-of-fiction-is-that-it-gives-us-as-readers-the-opportunity/) [Marion Dane Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-dane-bauer/) > [I can tell you that I like to take a character where everyone may have an idea of what it's supposed to look like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-carrigan/i-can-tell-you-that-i-like-to-take-a-character-where-everyone-may/) [Anthony Carrigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-carrigan/) > [Always be on time. Never try to make any personal engagements. 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It is a tremendous burden, she says, to be responsible for every little thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/she-is-in-charge-of-everything-but-no-one-knows-it-is-a-tremendous/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [I guess you could say I've been writing all my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/i-guess-you-could-say-i-ve-been-writing-all-my-life/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [Only Numbers. Pure math. You have to accustom yourself to thinking that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/only-numbers-pure-math-you-have-to-accustom-yourself-to-thinking-that/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) [Explore all 336 Anthony Doerr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) ## More Collective quotes > [Close contact between science and the practice of collective farms and State farms creates inexhaustible opportunities for the development of theoretical knowledge, enabling us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trofim-lysenko/close-contact-between-science-and-the-practice-of-collective-farms/) [Trofim Lysenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trofim-lysenko/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [America gave the world the notion of the melting pot - an alchemical cooking device wherein diverse ethnic and religious groups voluntarily mix together,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-krastev/america-gave-the-world-the-notion-of-the-melting-pot-an-alchemical/) [Ivan Krastev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-krastev/) > [I believe the personal is the collective. One of the ironies of writing memoir is in using the "I" it becomes an alchemical "we."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-believe-the-personal-is-the-collective-one-of-the-ironies-of/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [The Internet is a collective hallucination: one of the best humanity has ever generated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/the-internet-is-a-collective-hallucination-one-of-the-best-humanity/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [We do not focus test our games and never had. People ask why we don't, and I say, 'I have so many opinions in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-howard/we-do-not-focus-test-our-games-and-never-had-people-ask-why-we-don-t/) [Todd Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-howard/) > [“No intelligent idea can gain general acceptance unless some stupidity is mixed in with it. Collective thought is stupid because it’s collective. Nothing passes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/no-intelligent-idea-can-gain-general-acceptance-unless-some-stupidity/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [It is the individual's task to differentiate himself from all the others and stand on his own feet. All collective identities . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/it-is-the-individual-s-task-to-differentiate-himself-from-all-the/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I think. as a child, there's something frightening about certain adults, particularly when you're in their clutches or power. That must be the reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertie-carvel/i-think-as-a-child-there-s-something-frightening-about-certain-adults/) [Bertie Carvel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertie-carvel/) > [The living expression of the nation is the collective consciousness in motion of the entire people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-living-expression-of-the-nation-is-the-collective-consciousness/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [When people in stadiums do the Wave, it's the group-mind collective organism spontaneously organizing itself to express an emotion, pass time, and reflect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/when-people-in-stadiums-do-the-wave-it-s-the-group-mind-collective/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [“Now we're in that sweet period where everyone agrees that our recent horrors should never be repeated. But collective thinking is usually short-lived. We're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/now-we-re-in-that-sweet-period-where-everyone-agrees-that-our-recent/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [Women's progress has been a collective effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-s-progress-has-been-a-collective-effort/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“...I take as a point of departure the possibility and desirability of a fundamentally different form of society--call it communism, if you will--in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-burawoy/i-take-as-a-point-of-departure-the-possibility-and-desirability-of-a/) Michael Burawoy > [The power of the story sheds a light and great perspective on well known facts. The power of cinema draws on that collective history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/the-power-of-the-story-sheds-a-light-and-great-perspective-on-well/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) Browse all 308 Collective quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That's the power of fiction, that it can take the collective and make it personal.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anthony Doerr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can-take-the-collective-and-make/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Collective" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can-take-the-collective-and-make/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/anthony-doerr-886_collective_that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can_555584.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/anthony-doerr-886_collective_that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can_555584.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36f/anthony-doerr-886_collective_that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can_555584.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That's the power of fiction, that it can take the collective and make it personal.” — Anthony Doerr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Anthony Doerr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That's the power of fiction, that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can-take-the-collective-and-make/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/that-s-the-power-of-fiction-that-it-can-take-the-collective-and-make/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```