--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fable has strong shoulders that carry far…" description: "\"Fable has strong shoulders that carry far more truth than fact can.\" — Barry Hughart" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/barry-hughart-19013_fable_fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-fa_2227353.png" --- # Fable has strong shoulders that carry far more truth than… ![“Fable has strong shoulders that carry far more truth than fact can.” quote by Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/barry-hughart-19013_fable_fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-fa_2227353.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/barry-hughart-19013_fable_fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-fa_2227353.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/barry-hughart-19013_fable_fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-fa_2227353.png) > “Fable has strong shoulders that carry far more truth than fact can.” [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories often convey deeper insights than literal facts, using imagination to reveal truths about life. **In simple terms:** Stories reveal truths beyond facts. Key Takeaway Seek meaning in narratives. Themes storytelling truth imagination Mood reflective thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - teaching lessons - cultural critique - creative writing Key Concepts myth allegory symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What truth have you learned from a story? - How do narratives shape your perception? A Different Perspective Facts may be limited, but stories can oversimplify complex realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fable/) [Fable Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fable-strong-4995702/) [Fables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fables/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Far Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far-truth-3428224/) [Shoulders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shoulders/) [Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Fact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-fact-371109/) ## Related quotes > [For me, the photography, in its purest form, is a variant of the fable. Another way of saving the appearances - a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/for-me-the-photography-in-its-purest-form-is-a-variant-of-the-fable/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [“But is the unicorn a falsehood? It's the sweetest of animals and a noble symbol. It stands for Christ and for chastity; it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/but-is-the-unicorn-a-falsehood-it-s-the-sweetest-of-animals-and-a/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [What profit has not that fable of Christ brought us!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-x/what-profit-has-not-that-fable-of-christ-brought-us/) [Pope Leo X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-x/) > [Fiction or fable allures to instruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/fiction-or-fable-allures-to-instruction/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The Allwise Creator hath been dishonored by being made the author of fable and the human mind degraded by believing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-allwise-creator-hath-been-dishonored-by-being-made-the-author-of/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The American public is a very specialized public. The reason it is taken as a realistic film is because inside the fable, I've put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-leone/the-american-public-is-a-very-specialized-public-the-reason-it-is/) [Sergio Leone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-leone/) > [The fable of Christ and his twelve apostles is a parody of the sun and the twelve signs of the Zodiac, copied from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-fable-of-christ-and-his-twelve-apostles-is-a-parody-of-the-sun/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [I am thoroughly tired of the fable style of narrative and shall do my best to get up something entirely different and possibly little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ade/i-am-thoroughly-tired-of-the-fable-style-of-narrative-and-shall-do-my/) [George Ade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ade/) > [A man with great talents, but void of discretion, is like Polyphemus in the fable, strong and blind, endued with an irresistible force, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/a-man-with-great-talents-but-void-of-discretion-is-like-polyphemus-in/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Why the hell are we conditioned into the smooth strawberry-and-cream Mother-Goose-world, Alice-in-Wonderland fable, only to be broken on the wheel as we grow older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/why-the-hell-are-we-conditioned-into-the-smooth-strawberry-and-cream/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [The fable of a god or gods visiting the earth did not originate with Christianity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-carlile/the-fable-of-a-god-or-gods-visiting-the-earth-did-not-originate-with/) [Richard Carlile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-carlile/) > [ Owen \[Suskind\], in a sense, grew up on a diet of myth and fable, and has become an expert on their themes, which contain… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/owen-suskind-in-a-sense-grew-up-on-a-diet-of-myth-and-fable-and-has/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“Some women have kissed—and some are kissing—a lot of frogs, even though the very first man that they have each kissed was and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-women-have-kissed-and-some-are-kissing-a-lot-of-frogs-even/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [As though she had entered a fable, as though she were no more than words crawling along a dry page, or as though she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/as-though-she-had-entered-a-fable-as-though-she-were-no-more-than/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The story of Terisa and Geraden began very much like a fable. She was a princess in a high tower. He was a hero…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-donaldson/the-story-of-terisa-and-geraden-began-very-much-like-a-fable-she-was/) [Stephen R. Donaldson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-donaldson/) ## More by Barry Hughart > [“The mind is a miser," he said. "Nothing is ever thrown away, and it's amazing what you can find if you dig deep enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/the-mind-is-a-miser-he-said-nothing-is-ever-thrown-away-and-it-s/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [I have never been able to understand why perfectly sensible people waste time being wittily obscure instead of just saying what they want and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/i-have-never-been-able-to-understand-why-perfectly-sensible-people/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [“Master Li turned bright red while he scorched the air with the Sixty Sequential Sacrileges with which he had won the all-China Freestyle Blasphemy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/master-li-turned-bright-red-while-he-scorched-the-air-with-the-sixty/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world. May your villages remain ignorant of tax collectors, and may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/i-shall-clasp-my-hands-together-and-bow-to-the-corners-of-the-world/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [“Occasionally a moderately intelligent thought misses a turn and accidentally enters my mind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/occasionally-a-moderately-intelligent-thought-misses-a-turn-and/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [“Ox, at an early age a Chinese genius gazes at the path that lies ahead and reaches for a wine jar," Master Li said.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/ox-at-an-early-age-a-chinese-genius-gazes-at-the-path-that-lies-ahead/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [“everybody knows that the soul of a cat is formed from the composite souls of nine debauched nuns who failed in their vows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/everybody-knows-that-the-soul-of-a-cat-is-formed-from-the-composite/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [“Ox, what occupation is most closely linked to insanity?' 'Emperor,' I said promptly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/ox-what-occupation-is-most-closely-linked-to-insanity-emperor-i-said/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [“Nothing on the face of this earth - and I do mean nothing - is half so dangerous as a children's story that happens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/nothing-on-the-face-of-this-earth-and-i-do-mean-nothing-is-half-so/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [“Mystery and terror are the bulwarks of tyranny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/mystery-and-terror-are-the-bulwarks-of-tyranny/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [Blessed are the idiots, for they are happiest people on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/blessed-are-the-idiots-for-they-are-happiest-people-on-earth/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [ “The problem with 'the crown jewel of Chinese literature' \[Dream of the Red Chamber\] is that it has two thousand pages and an equal… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/the-problem-with-the-crown-jewel-of-chinese-literature-dream-of-the/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [“...the problem with poetic justice is that it never knows when to stop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/the-problem-with-poetic-justice-is-that-it-never-knows-when-to-stop/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > ['Immortality is only for the gods,' he whispered. 'I wonder how they can stand it.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/immortality-is-only-for-the-gods-he-whispered-i-wonder-how-they-can/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) > [“Boy, just look at the soul shining through my eyes! It’s like a goddamned flower!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/boy-just-look-at-the-soul-shining-through-my-eyes-it-s-like-a/) [Barry Hughart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) [Explore all 32 Barry Hughart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/) ## More Fable quotes > [In 'Fable III' we have taken away the experience system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-molyneux/in-fable-iii-we-have-taken-away-the-experience-system/) [Peter Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-molyneux/) > [Despite the strength of the feminist movement in the 1970s and beyond, a fable has persisted that educated women are rejected as marriage partners.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-decrow/despite-the-strength-of-the-feminist-movement-in-the-1970s-and-beyond/) [Karen DeCrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-decrow/) > [“This isn’t a game to me, Fable. This is my life. And I want you to be a part of it … I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-murphy/this-isn-t-a-game-to-me-fable-this-is-my-life-and-i-want-you-to-be-a/) [Monica Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-murphy/) > [When we transitioned from the PC to the console with 'Fable,' it took us five years to do that. And that's just going from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-molyneux/when-we-transitioned-from-the-pc-to-the-console-with-fable-it-took-us/) [Peter Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-molyneux/) > [“A Little Fable "Alas," said the mouse, "the whole world is growing smaller every day. At the beginning it was so big that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/a-little-fable-alas-said-the-mouse-the-whole-world-is-growing-smaller/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“A fable from the Age of Heroes." The maester tsked. "You must put these dreams aside, they will only break your heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/a-fable-from-the-age-of-heroes-the-maester-tsked-you-must-put-these/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [“In the specially Christian case we have to react against the heavy bias of fatigue. It is almost impossible to make the facts vivid,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/in-the-specially-christian-case-we-have-to-react-against-the-heavy/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [From this, without doubt, sprang the fable. Man created it thus, because it was not given him to see more than himself and nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-vigny/from-this-without-doubt-sprang-the-fable-man-created-it-thus-because/) [Alfred de Vigny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-vigny/) > [Fable is more historical than fact, because fact tells us about one man and fable tells us about a million men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/fable-is-more-historical-than-fact-because-fact-tells-us-about-one/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [For me, the photography, in its purest form, is a variant of the fable. Another way of saving the appearances - a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/for-me-the-photography-in-its-purest-form-is-a-variant-of-the-fable/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [As though she had entered a fable, as though she were no more than words crawling along a dry page, or as though she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/as-though-she-had-entered-a-fable-as-though-she-were-no-more-than/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I think it's fantastic that people still remember Fable, and some of them are really passionate about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-molyneux/i-think-it-s-fantastic-that-people-still-remember-fable-and-some-of/) [Peter Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-molyneux/) > [The Fable story hinted at a dramatic time before 'Fable 1' when the Guild was founded, this would be a perfect setting for 'Fable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-molyneux/the-fable-story-hinted-at-a-dramatic-time-before-fable-1-when-the/) [Peter Molyneux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-molyneux/) > [The moral of a fable is eternal. The moral of a story is temporary to a story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/the-moral-of-a-fable-is-eternal-the-moral-of-a-story-is-temporary-to/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Buy Fable! the book that rejuvenates your soul! makes your belly belly-laugh! turns your cares to dust!...likewise your moods, woes an wounds!...turns everything rosy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-ferdinand-celine/buy-fable-the-book-that-rejuvenates-your-soul-makes-your-belly-belly/) [Louis-Ferdinand Céline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-ferdinand-celine/) [Browse all 103 Fable quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fable/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fable has strong shoulders that carry far more truth than fact can.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Barry Hughart" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-far-more-truth-than-fact-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fable" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-far-more-truth-than-fact-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/barry-hughart-19013_fable_fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-fa_2227353.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/barry-hughart-19013_fable_fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-fa_2227353.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/barry-hughart-19013_fable_fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-fa_2227353.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fable has strong shoulders that carry far more truth than fact can.” — Barry Hughart", "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": "Barry Hughart", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-hughart/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fable has strong shoulders that carry...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-far-more-truth-than-fact-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-hughart/fable-has-strong-shoulders-that-carry-far-more-truth-than-fact-can/#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 } } ] } ```