--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The stories that confirm that bigger…" description: "\"The stories that confirm that bigger story are brought in and easily digested. But there's another set of stories that are always there, which do not c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71f/elliott-colla-15941_art_the-stories-that-confirm-that-bigger-sto_2045643.jpg" --- # The stories that confirm that bigger story are brought in… ![“The stories that confirm that bigger story are brought in and easily digested. But there's another set of stories that are always there, which do not confirm, but which complicate and contradict what we think we already know. And I'm always attracted to that. There doesn't seem to be much of a…” quote by Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71f/elliott-colla-15941_art_the-stories-that-confirm-that-bigger-sto_2045643.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71f/elliott-colla-15941_art_the-stories-that-confirm-that-bigger-sto_2045643.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71f/elliott-colla-15941_art_the-stories-that-confirm-that-bigger-sto_2045643.jpg) > “The stories that confirm that bigger story are brought in and easily digested. But there's another set of stories that are always there, which do not confirm, but which complicate and contradict what we think we already know. And I'm always attracted to that. There doesn't seem to be much of a market for it. Translated books rarely get reviewed in the press. Books or poems or works of art that don't seem to have a corresponding style or figure or theme, obviously they're hard to digest.” [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He values stories that challenge prevailing narratives, even if they are hard to market or digest. **In simple terms:** He likes complex, contradictory stories. Key Takeaway Seek out challenging narratives. Themes truth complexity contradiction market literature Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - publishing - academic curricula - book clubs - media analysis Key Concepts critical theory cognitive dissonance Questions to Reflect On - Why do we resist contradictory information? - How can we make complex works more accessible? A Different Perspective Such stories may alienate mainstream audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Translated books rarely get reviewed in the press. Books or poems or works of art that don't seem to have a corresponding style or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/translated-books-rarely-get-reviewed-in-the-press-books-or-poems-or/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [“I appreciate you more because of the road I've traveled. My story brought me to you, and I wouldn't revise a word of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-polson/i-appreciate-you-more-because-of-the-road-i-ve-traveled-my-story/) Aaron Polson > [In the last 1,000 years, the Arabs have translated as many books as Spain translates in just one year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-elder/in-the-last-1-000-years-the-arabs-have-translated-as-many-books-as/) [Larry Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-elder/) > [Regardless of whether the authors I've translated have been "dead and canonized," or "living and established," or even simply "emerging," I must put myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/regardless-of-whether-the-authors-i-ve-translated-have-been-dead-and/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [I've never translated more than one book by any author. But I'm fascinated by translators who have, like Richard Zenith, who's translated so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/i-ve-never-translated-more-than-one-book-by-any-author-but-i-m/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [“Books ... rarely, if ever, talk about what children can make of themselves, about the powers that from the day or moment of birth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/books-rarely-if-ever-talk-about-what-children-can-make-of-themselves/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [“It holds my essential stuff, including a book—for true contentment, one must carry a book at all times, and great books so rarely fit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/it-holds-my-essential-stuff-including-a-book-for-true-contentment-one/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“It is surely significant that the adults who feature in children's books are rarely, if ever, Regional Sales Managers or Building Services Engineers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-surely-significant-that-the-adults-who-feature-in-children-s/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [When we talk about books, we rarely talk about the economic side of writing, especially of writing literary works, and that, at base, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olga-tokarczuk/when-we-talk-about-books-we-rarely-talk-about-the-economic-side-of/) [Olga Tokarczuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olga-tokarczuk/) > [I think it may be even a bigger story than the internet. You know, it's like saying, 'how big a deal is the internet?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-packer/i-think-it-may-be-even-a-bigger-story-than-the-internet-you-know-it-s/) [James Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-packer/) > [The BIGGER the STORY, The BIGGER the LIE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-bigger-the-story-the-bigger-the-lie/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [TV is bigger than any story it reports. It's the greatest teaching tool since the printing press.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-w-friendly/tv-is-bigger-than-any-story-it-reports-it-s-the-greatest-teaching/) [Fred W. Friendly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-w-friendly/) > [People are always yearning for a bigger story to be part of, it's not enough to live our own private lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-bregman/people-are-always-yearning-for-a-bigger-story-to-be-part-of-it-s-not/) [Rutger Bregman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-bregman/) > [Your success story is a bigger story than whatever you're trying to say on stage. Success makes life easier. It doesn't make living easier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/your-success-story-is-a-bigger-story-than-whatever-you-re-trying-to/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I have always been a big meta guy because I think the way journalism is practiced in Washington, and the way everyone sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-leibovich/i-have-always-been-a-big-meta-guy-because-i-think-the-way-journalism/) [Mark Leibovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-leibovich/) ## More by Elliott Colla > [In the Green Zone in Iraq you have your radio, you have your food, you have your own electricity, your own toilets. Everything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/in-the-green-zone-in-iraq-you-have-your-radio-you-have-your-food-you/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [There are certainly times in history where power associates itself closely with fields that we would call the humanities, like rulers surrounding themselves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/there-are-certainly-times-in-history-where-power-associates-itself/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [A high-ranking Syrian official in DC laughed when he heard I was reading Michel Aflaq and writing this book. He said, "Let me tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/a-high-ranking-syrian-official-in-dc-laughed-when-he-heard-i-was/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Academic writing you have to get right. Fiction you have to get plausible. And there's a world of difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/academic-writing-you-have-to-get-right-fiction-you-have-to-get/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Noir is where the clarity of moral divisions break down, the black and whites turn into grays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/noir-is-where-the-clarity-of-moral-divisions-break-down-the-black-and/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [In translation studies we talk about domestication - translation styles that make something familiar - or estrangement - translation styles that make something radically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/in-translation-studies-we-talk-about-domestication-translation-styles/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [You always have regime-friendly poets like Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri, whose career basically spans the twentieth century. He's an anti-imperialist, friendly with the Communists, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/you-always-have-regime-friendly-poets-like-muhammad-mahdi-al-jawahiri/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Take Ezra Pound's translations of poetry from Chinese. He doesn't really know Chinese, and the very strange results that he comes up with aren't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/take-ezra-pound-s-translations-of-poetry-from-chinese-he-doesn-t/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Arabs don't do crime fiction. I read crime fiction and I read Arabic literature, and I wish this was a novel I could have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/arabs-don-t-do-crime-fiction-i-read-crime-fiction-and-i-read-arabic/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Michel Aflaq - is bad poetry wrapped in the guise of utopian politics, or great poetry wrapped in the guise of horrible politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/michel-aflaq-is-bad-poetry-wrapped-in-the-guise-of-utopian-politics/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Each discipline has the capacity to be interested in politics, and each would ask different questions of what politics is, what constitutes power, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/each-discipline-has-the-capacity-to-be-interested-in-politics-and/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [The more I've reflected on that and asked Iraqi friends, the more I realize that the corruption in Iraq has nothing to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/the-more-i-ve-reflected-on-that-and-asked-iraqi-friends-the-more-i/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Culture is invited to the table usually only as raw material that needs no analysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/culture-is-invited-to-the-table-usually-only-as-raw-material-that/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Palestinian society is filled with poetry, but not experimental poetry. The Palestinian poetry that people know is not the modernist experimentations, it's certain kinds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/palestinian-society-is-filled-with-poetry-but-not-experimental-poetry/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [There's actually a lot of information on a lot of people and that is a major achievement of a police state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/there-s-actually-a-lot-of-information-on-a-lot-of-people-and-that-is/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) [Explore all 41 Elliott Colla quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The stories that confirm that bigger story are brought in and easily digested. 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