--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is absolutely everything in great…" description: "\"“There is absolutely everything in great fiction but a clear answer. Humanity itself seems to matter more to the novelist than what humanity thinks it ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/eudora-welty-1564_fiction_there-is-absolutely-everything-in-great_259689.png" --- # There is absolutely everything in great fiction but a… ![“There is absolutely everything in great fiction but a clear answer. Humanity itself seems to matter more to the novelist than what humanity thinks it can prove. When” quote by Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/eudora-welty-1564_fiction_there-is-absolutely-everything-in-great_259689.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/eudora-welty-1564_fiction_there-is-absolutely-everything-in-great_259689.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f63/eudora-welty-1564_fiction_there-is-absolutely-everything-in-great_259689.png) > ““There is absolutely everything in great fiction but a clear answer. Humanity itself seems to matter more to the novelist than what humanity thinks it can prove. When”” [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great fiction often raises questions without giving definitive answers, emphasizing human experience over logical proof. **In simple terms:** Stories pose questions, not solutions. Key Takeaway Embrace ambiguity and focus on human depth. Themes humanity uncertainty literature philosophy Mood thoughtful reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - reading fiction - writing workshops - teaching literature - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism narrative ambiguity Questions to Reflect On - What does ambiguity reveal about our own beliefs? - How can we value questions over answers? A Different Perspective Not all readers desire clear answers; some may find ambiguity unsatisfying. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Answer Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/answer-humanity-2563800/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Clear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-clear-1948183/) [Great Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-fiction-1325223/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Novelist Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist-humanity-2563799/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [There is absolutely everything in great fiction but a clear answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/there-is-absolutely-everything-in-great-fiction-but-a-clear-answer-2/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Sharing is the answer for humanity. When we share we recognize that God is our brother, and unless we have that trust created by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-creme/sharing-is-the-answer-for-humanity-when-we-share-we-recognize-that/) [Benjamin Creme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-creme/) > [Great fiction shows us not how to conduct our behavior but how to feel. Eventually, it may show us how to face our feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/great-fiction-shows-us-not-how-to-conduct-our-behavior-but-how-to/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Maybe the world isn't enough, or maybe the distinction between the world and fiction is not so clear. Fiction is made from the stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/maybe-the-world-isn-t-enough-or-maybe-the-distinction-between-the/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [The boundary between philosophy and fiction is not as clear cut as you may think and the two definitely interact..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-follett/the-boundary-between-philosophy-and-fiction-is-not-as-clear-cut-as/) [Ken Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-follett/) > [I used to write fiction, non-fiction, fiction, non-fiction and have a clear pattern because I'd need a break from one style when going into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-foster-blake/i-used-to-write-fiction-non-fiction-fiction-non-fiction-and-have-a/) [Zoe Foster Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-foster-blake/) > [“Great fiction is the art of a soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-christiansen/great-fiction-is-the-art-of-a-soul/) [Douglas Christiansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-christiansen/) > [The joy of great fiction is that it transports the reader to another world, where new characters live in otherwise unimaginable ways. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-katyal/the-joy-of-great-fiction-is-that-it-transports-the-reader-to-another/) [Neal Katyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-katyal/) > [Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/government-is-the-great-fiction-through-which-everybody-endeavors-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [And I do think that great fiction, even when it's comedic, has an urgency or an inevitability to it, a sense that the writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/and-i-do-think-that-great-fiction-even-when-it-s-comedic-has-an/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [Jon Land writes great fiction, and Betrayal reads like the best of it. The fact that it's true makes the story all the more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-leuci/jon-land-writes-great-fiction-and-betrayal-reads-like-the-best-of-it/) [Robert Leuci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-leuci/) > [“The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-state-is-that-great-fiction-by-which-everyone-tries-to-live-at/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [there are elements of truth in all great fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-medeiros/there-are-elements-of-truth-in-all-great-fiction/) [Teresa Medeiros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-medeiros/) > [Great fiction has been written out of the very darkest circumstances of our narco violence, and nothing written in either fiction or nonfiction has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francisco-goldman/great-fiction-has-been-written-out-of-the-very-darkest-circumstances/) [Francisco Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francisco-goldman/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) ## More by Eudora Welty > [“She (my mother) could still recite them (the poems) in full when she was lying helpless and nearly blind, in her bed, an old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-could-still-recite-them-the-poems-in-full-when-she-was/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/long-before-i-wrote-stories-i-listened-for-stories-listening-for-them/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Once you're into a story everything seems to apply-what you overhear on a city bus is exactly what your character would say on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/once-you-re-into-a-story-everything-seems-to-apply-what-you-overhear/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Two by two, I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/two-by-two-i-read-library-books-as-fast-as-i-could-go-rushing-them/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“When somebody, no matter who, gives everything, it makes people feel ashamed for him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-somebody-no-matter-who-gives-everything-it-makes-people-feel/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Daydreaming had started me on the way; but story writing, once I was truly in its grip, took me and shook me awake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/daydreaming-had-started-me-on-the-way-but-story-writing-once-i-was/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“All children in those small-town, unhurried days had a vast inner life going on in the movies. Children were allowed to go without chaperone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/all-children-in-those-small-town-unhurried-days-had-a-vast-inner-life/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“At the sting in her eyes, she remembered for him that there must be no tears in his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/at-the-sting-in-her-eyes-she-remembered-for-him-that-there-must-be-no/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“We do need to bring to our writing, over and over again, all the abundance we possess. To be able, to be ready, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/we-do-need-to-bring-to-our-writing-over-and-over-again-all-the/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Could she ever be, would she be, where she was going?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/could-she-ever-be-would-she-be-where-she-was-going/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“When one of us (children) caught measles or whooping cough and we were isolated in bad upstairs, we wrote notes to each other perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-one-of-us-children-caught-measles-or-whooping-cough-and-we-were/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“She (my mother) stood always prepared in herself to challenge the world in our place. She did indeed tend to make the world look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-stood-always-prepared-in-herself-to-challenge-the-world/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“For there is hate as well as love, she supposed, in the coming together and continuing of our lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/for-there-is-hate-as-well-as-love-she-supposed-in-the-coming-together/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“In children's art class we sat in a ring of kindergarten chairs and drew three daffodils that had just been picked out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/in-children-s-art-class-we-sat-in-a-ring-of-kindergarten-chairs-and/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [People are mostly layers of violence and tenderness wrapped like bulbs, and it is difficult to say what makes them onions or hyacinths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/people-are-mostly-layers-of-violence-and-tenderness-wrapped-like/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) [Explore all 227 Eudora Welty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) ## More Fiction quotes > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [The thing about science fiction is that it's totally wide open. But it's wide open in a conditional way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavia-butler/the-thing-about-science-fiction-is-that-it-s-totally-wide-open-but-it/) [Octavia Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavia-butler/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) [Edward Einhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-einhorn/) > [Fiction is a way of exploring possibilities present but undreamt of in the living of a single life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/fiction-is-a-way-of-exploring-possibilities-present-but-undreamt-of/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [I love writing fiction and can do it anywhere - I once even missed a flight because I was so engrossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-love-writing-fiction-and-can-do-it-anywhere-i-once-even-missed-a/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [“The fiction will seek the real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coheed-and-cambria/the-fiction-will-seek-the-real/) [Coheed and Cambria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coheed-and-cambria/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [There's always that discussion about fiction about how do you market it - these are books for boys, these are books for girls, these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-weatherly/there-s-always-that-discussion-about-fiction-about-how-do-you-market/) [L.A. Weatherly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-weatherly/) > [Inspiration comes from so many sources. Music, other fiction, the non-fiction I read, TV shows, films, news reports, people I know, stories I hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/inspiration-comes-from-so-many-sources-music-other-fiction-the-non/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [I'm not interested in making a diagnostic novel or a concern. I'm 100 percent committed in fiction to the pleasure principle - that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/i-m-not-interested-in-making-a-diagnostic-novel-or-a-concern-i-m-100/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [“His hands on my waist he gently pulled me n embrace. I could feel his breath on my face our lips were about to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-eglinger/his-hands-on-my-waist-he-gently-pulled-me-n-embrace-i-could-feel-his/) [Nicole Eglinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-eglinger/) > [In early drafts, one of the trickiest things for me to do was to realize that the techniques and devices that make readable and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-rooney/in-early-drafts-one-of-the-trickiest-things-for-me-to-do-was-to/) [Kathleen Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-rooney/) > [I don't think it's always a sign of respect for persons (inside or outside of fiction) to pretend to be able to represent, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/i-don-t-think-it-s-always-a-sign-of-respect-for-persons-inside-or/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Metafiction says something. It has to do with taking a large fiction itself and writing within it; that kind of self-reflecting writing that emerges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-coover/metafiction-says-something-it-has-to-do-with-taking-a-large-fiction/) [Robert Coover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-coover/) [Browse all 7,410 Fiction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is absolutely everything in great fiction but a clear answer. Humanity itself seems to matter more to the novelist than what humanity thinks it can prove. 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