--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A novelist has mad a fictional…" description: "\"A novelist has mad a fictional representation of life. I doing so, he has revealed to us more significance, it may be, than he could find in life itsel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/205/bernard-devoto-23837_fictional_a-novelist-has-mad-a-fictional-represent_451774.png" --- # A novelist has mad a fictional representation of life. I… ![“A novelist has mad a fictional representation of life. I doing so, he has revealed to us more significance, it may be, than he could find in life itself.” quote by Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/205/bernard-devoto-23837_fictional_a-novelist-has-mad-a-fictional-represent_451774.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/205/bernard-devoto-23837_fictional_a-novelist-has-mad-a-fictional-represent_451774.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/205/bernard-devoto-23837_fictional_a-novelist-has-mad-a-fictional-represent_451774.png) > “A novelist has mad a fictional representation of life. I doing so, he has revealed to us more significance, it may be, than he could find in life itself.” [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A novelist creates a fictional world that can highlight deeper truths than reality itself may reveal. **In simple terms:** Fiction can expose hidden meaning beyond real life. Key Takeaway Look for deeper insights in stories. Themes creativity truth perception Mood reflective inquisitive Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - reading novels - writing fiction - teaching literature Key Concepts literature metafiction philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What truths have you found in a story that reality missed? - How does imagination shape our understanding of life? A Different Perspective Fiction may distort facts, leading to misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist/) [Novelists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelists/) [Representation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/representation/) [Significance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/significance/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [That's the nature of representation; every time we represent something we alter it and slightly change it. And so with that as my foundation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/titus-kaphar/that-s-the-nature-of-representation-every-time-we-represent-something/) Titus Kaphar > [I don't like the word 'autobiography.' I rather like the term 'autofiction.' The second you make a script out of the story of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-don-t-like-the-word-autobiography-i-rather-like-the-term/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [“Fictional worlds are a great place to indulge in unspoken fantasies. . . like writing the dad you never had. . . but desperately wanted growing up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jc-morrows/fictional-worlds-are-a-great-place-to-indulge-in-unspoken-fantasies/) Jc Morrows > [I don't think there's any show comparable to 'Game of Thrones' in terms of the way it does the fantasy element to such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-murray/i-don-t-think-there-s-any-show-comparable-to-game-of-thrones-in-terms/) [Hannah Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-murray/) > [The fictional narratives that television, film, and the news provide for girls and young women are appalling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/the-fictional-narratives-that-television-film-and-the-news-provide/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [When you're playing a fictional character reacting to the real world, it's incredibly difficult and confusing and kind of messes with your values a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-helms/when-you-re-playing-a-fictional-character-reacting-to-the-real-world/) [Ed Helms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-helms/) > [I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/i-want-to-write-about-people-i-love-and-put-them-into-a-fictional/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“She smiled sinisterly. Light mist started to slowly swirl around us. All I could see was her, the tall rocks and the white wall.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-sehyun-song/she-smiled-sinisterly-light-mist-started-to-slowly-swirl-around-us/) [Erica Sehyun Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-sehyun-song/) > [Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/unlike-the-actual-the-fictional-explains-itself/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Mostly we are addicted to television shows for two reasons; whether it's because we get to connect with the story-line as somewhat similar is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sudha-chandran/mostly-we-are-addicted-to-television-shows-for-two-reasons-whether-it/) [Sudha Chandran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sudha-chandran/) > [The best part of being a writer for me is immersing myself in a fictional world, which is the opposite of being on social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-sittenfeld/the-best-part-of-being-a-writer-for-me-is-immersing-myself-in-a/) [Curtis Sittenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-sittenfeld/) > [“Grayson: Fiction is just a lie anyway. Brianna: But it's not - it's a different kind of truth - it would be your truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/grayson-fiction-is-just-a-lie-anyway-brianna-but-it-s-not-it-s-a/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [“When you “lose yourself” inside the world of a fictional character while reading a story, you may actually end up changing your own behavior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-marselle/when-you-lose-yourself-inside-the-world-of-a-fictional-character/) [Terry Marselle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-marselle/) > [There are things you can say in the voice of a fictional character that you could not explore any other way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/contrapoints/there-are-things-you-can-say-in-the-voice-of-a-fictional-character/) ContraPoints > [When I wrote my fictional novels, they always had a starting point of something real. Those images that are not real are exactly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/when-i-wrote-my-fictional-novels-they-always-had-a-starting-point-of/) [Karl Ove Knausgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) ## More by Bernard DeVoto > [Art is man determined to die sane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/art-is-man-determined-to-die-sane/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [Let us candidly admit that there are shameful blemishes on the American past, of which the worst by far is rum. Nevertheless, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/let-us-candidly-admit-that-there-are-shameful-blemishes-on-the/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [The dawn of knowledge is usually the false dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/the-dawn-of-knowledge-is-usually-the-false-dawn/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [Sure the people are stupid: the human race is stupid. Sure Congress is an inefficient instrument of government. But the people are not stupid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/sure-the-people-are-stupid-the-human-race-is-stupid-sure-congress-is/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [New England is a finished place. Its destiny is that of Florence or Venice, not Milan while the American empire careens onward toward its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/new-england-is-a-finished-place-its-destiny-is-that-of-florence-or/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [The achieved West had given the United States something that no people had ever had before, an internal, domestic empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/the-achieved-west-had-given-the-united-states-something-that-no/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [The best reason for putting anything down on paper is that one may then change it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/the-best-reason-for-putting-anything-down-on-paper-is-that-one-may/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [Art is the terms of an armistice signed with fate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/art-is-the-terms-of-an-armistice-signed-with-fate/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [The water of life was given to us to make us see for a while that we are more nearly men and women, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/the-water-of-life-was-given-to-us-to-make-us-see-for-a-while-that-we/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [You can no more keep a martini in the refrigerator than you can keep a kiss there. The proper union of gin and vermouth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/you-can-no-more-keep-a-martini-in-the-refrigerator-than-you-can-keep/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [One may lack words to express the impact of beauty but no one who has felt it remains untouched. It is renewal, enlargement, intensification.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/one-may-lack-words-to-express-the-impact-of-beauty-but-no-one-who-has/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [Between the amateur and the professional . . . there is a difference not only in degree but in kind. The skillful man is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/between-the-amateur-and-the-professional-there-is-a-difference-not/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [The trouble with Reason is that it becomes meaningless at the exact point where it refuses to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/the-trouble-with-reason-is-that-it-becomes-meaningless-at-the-exact/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [You can no more keep a Martini in the refrigerator than you can keep a kiss there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/you-can-no-more-keep-a-martini-in-the-refrigerator-than-you-can-keep-2/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) > [“They came to Virginia City as soon as the true value of the Comstock was perceived. They constituted, no doubt, a deplorable source of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-devoto/they-came-to-virginia-city-as-soon-as-the-true-value-of-the-comstock/) [Bernard DeVoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) [Explore all 25 Bernard DeVoto quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-devoto/) ## More Fictional quotes > [When I wrote my fictional novels, they always had a starting point of something real. Those images that are not real are exactly the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-ove-knausgard/when-i-wrote-my-fictional-novels-they-always-had-a-starting-point-of/) [Karl Ove Knausgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-ove-knausgard/) > [There are things you can say in the voice of a fictional character that you could not explore any other way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/contrapoints/there-are-things-you-can-say-in-the-voice-of-a-fictional-character/) ContraPoints > [“When you “lose yourself” inside the world of a fictional character while reading a story, you may actually end up changing your own behavior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-marselle/when-you-lose-yourself-inside-the-world-of-a-fictional-character/) [Terry Marselle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-marselle/) > [“Grayson: Fiction is just a lie anyway. Brianna: But it's not - it's a different kind of truth - it would be your truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/grayson-fiction-is-just-a-lie-anyway-brianna-but-it-s-not-it-s-a/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [The best part of being a writer for me is immersing myself in a fictional world, which is the opposite of being on social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-sittenfeld/the-best-part-of-being-a-writer-for-me-is-immersing-myself-in-a/) [Curtis Sittenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-sittenfeld/) > [Mostly we are addicted to television shows for two reasons; whether it's because we get to connect with the story-line as somewhat similar is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sudha-chandran/mostly-we-are-addicted-to-television-shows-for-two-reasons-whether-it/) [Sudha Chandran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sudha-chandran/) > [Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/unlike-the-actual-the-fictional-explains-itself/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“She smiled sinisterly. Light mist started to slowly swirl around us. All I could see was her, the tall rocks and the white wall.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-sehyun-song/she-smiled-sinisterly-light-mist-started-to-slowly-swirl-around-us/) [Erica Sehyun Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-sehyun-song/) > [I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/i-want-to-write-about-people-i-love-and-put-them-into-a-fictional/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [When you're playing a fictional character reacting to the real world, it's incredibly difficult and confusing and kind of messes with your values a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-helms/when-you-re-playing-a-fictional-character-reacting-to-the-real-world/) [Ed Helms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-helms/) > [The fictional narratives that television, film, and the news provide for girls and young women are appalling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/the-fictional-narratives-that-television-film-and-the-news-provide/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [I don't think there's any show comparable to 'Game of Thrones' in terms of the way it does the fantasy element to such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-murray/i-don-t-think-there-s-any-show-comparable-to-game-of-thrones-in-terms/) [Hannah Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-murray/) > [“Fictional worlds are a great place to indulge in unspoken fantasies. . . like writing the dad you never had. . . but desperately wanted growing up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jc-morrows/fictional-worlds-are-a-great-place-to-indulge-in-unspoken-fantasies/) Jc Morrows > [I don't like the word 'autobiography.' I rather like the term 'autofiction.' The second you make a script out of the story of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-don-t-like-the-word-autobiography-i-rather-like-the-term/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [“I told you; I am Arianna, the Siren, your Guardian, and how is a Guardian supposed to do her job if she is clueless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-sehyun-song/i-told-you-i-am-arianna-the-siren-your-guardian-and-how-is-a-guardian/) [Erica Sehyun Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-sehyun-song/) Browse all 322 Fictional quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A novelist has mad a fictional representation of life. 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