--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I find that short stories are almost like…" description: "\"I find that short stories are almost like palate cleansers or brain cleansers.\" — Jami Attenberg" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9be/jami-attenberg-2877_almost_i-find-that-short-stories-are-almost-lik_1448950.png" --- # I find that short stories are almost like palate cleansers… ![“I find that short stories are almost like palate cleansers or brain cleansers.” quote by Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9be/jami-attenberg-2877_almost_i-find-that-short-stories-are-almost-lik_1448950.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9be/jami-attenberg-2877_almost_i-find-that-short-stories-are-almost-lik_1448950.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9be/jami-attenberg-2877_almost_i-find-that-short-stories-are-almost-lik_1448950.png) > “I find that short stories are almost like palate cleansers or brain cleansers.” [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Short stories act as mental resets, clearing thoughts and offering fresh perspective. **In simple terms:** Short stories refresh the mind. Key Takeaway Read short fiction to reset mental clutter. Themes creativity mental health literature Mood inspirational lighthearted Type literary psychological When to use this quote - writing workshops - breaks at work - creative blocks Key Concepts cognitive reset storytelling Questions to Reflect On - When do you need a mental cleanse? - How do short stories influence your thinking? A Different Perspective Overreliance on short stories may avoid deeper processing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Short stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-stories/) [Short story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-story/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) ## Related quotes > [My short stories are like soft shadows I have set out in the world, faint footprints I have left. I remember exactly where I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/my-short-stories-are-like-soft-shadows-i-have-set-out-in-the-world/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I like fiction that deals with matters that are of burning importance to us in our private lives. And not all short stories are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorin-stein/i-like-fiction-that-deals-with-matters-that-are-of-burning-importance/) [Lorin Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorin-stein/) > [I love short stories. They're like small imploding universes. They are very tightly bound and controlled. I'd been wanting to write one for ages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-love-short-stories-they-re-like-small-imploding-universes-they-are/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [Rueful, bittersweet, funny, written with tenderness and bite, Merrill Feitell's stories, like so many classic short stories, are made from the plain and painful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/rueful-bittersweet-funny-written-with-tenderness-and-bite-merrill/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [Short stories are like individual jewel stones on a necklace, wonderful in themselves like standalone gleaming entities of semantic intensity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/short-stories-are-like-individual-jewel-stones-on-a-necklace/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [I want to be able to bring out stories like 'Verna,' as well as stories which are of the modern and new generation like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahira-khan/i-want-to-be-able-to-bring-out-stories-like-verna-as-well-as-stories/) [Mahira Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahira-khan/) > [I liked that sort of thing, those one-off stories like 'Tales of the Unexpected,' 'Hammer House of Horror,' 'The Twilight Zone' and 'Alfred Hitchcock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brooker/i-liked-that-sort-of-thing-those-one-off-stories-like-tales-of-the/) [Charlie Brooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brooker/) > [“Still, when I read the story, I felt like I'd written half of it myself, and the author guy was responsible for the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-lodato/still-when-i-read-the-story-i-felt-like-i-d-written-half-of-it-myself/) [Victor Lodato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-lodato/) > [Stories are like birds flying, here and gone in a moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-l-travers/stories-are-like-birds-flying-here-and-gone-in-a-moment/) [P. L. Travers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-l-travers/) > [I receive emails from readers that both break my heart and give me a profound sense of connection. Several months ago, I received an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/i-receive-emails-from-readers-that-both-break-my-heart-and-give-me-a/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) > [“Sometimes I think that maybe we are just stories. Like we may as well just be words on a page, because we’re only what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-lynn-anderson/sometimes-i-think-that-maybe-we-are-just-stories-like-we-may-as-well/) [Jodi Lynn Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-lynn-anderson/) > [I'm not someone who is driven by big external stories. I like big emotional stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-m-not-someone-who-is-driven-by-big-external-stories-i-like-big/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [All my stories are like the Greek and Roman myths, and the Egyptian myths, and the Old and New Testament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/all-my-stories-are-like-the-greek-and-roman-myths-and-the-egyptian/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“I like stories more than I like books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-s-magalh-es/i-like-stories-more-than-i-like-books/) Tomás Magalhães > [The only thing that I am trying to do is to find stories that I like, stories that are meaningful and that can connect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfonso-herrera/the-only-thing-that-i-am-trying-to-do-is-to-find-stories-that-i-like/) [Alfonso Herrera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfonso-herrera/) ## More by Jami Attenberg > [I just think structure can make a book feel so much bigger. It's the architecture. You could use flimsy materials if you wanted to,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-just-think-structure-can-make-a-book-feel-so-much-bigger-it-s-the/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [“And she was funny and beautiful and she liked the same books, the same music, and she wanted everything I did, was in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/and-she-was-funny-and-beautiful-and-she-liked-the-same-books-the-same/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [Most of my writer friends are women, and they're all extremely talented, so of course I think the state of contemporary fiction for women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/most-of-my-writer-friends-are-women-and-they-re-all-extremely/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [I'm not really interested in writing or reading about people who are nice and easy. I like the problem children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-m-not-really-interested-in-writing-or-reading-about-people-who-are/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [“mostly I have found myself resisting their sadness when I have so much of my own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/mostly-i-have-found-myself-resisting-their-sadness-when-i-have-so/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [You write a book, and after 50 pages you think it's about one thing, and then you write another hundred and you realize it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/you-write-a-book-and-after-50-pages-you-think-it-s-about-one-thing/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [Do you often find yourself uttering the phrase, 'I feel like I should go?' You do not need to go. You are busy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/do-you-often-find-yourself-uttering-the-phrase-i-feel-like-i-should/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [We've all got flesh. I've just got a little more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/we-ve-all-got-flesh-i-ve-just-got-a-little-more/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [In the wintertime I like macaroni and cheese.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/in-the-wintertime-i-like-macaroni-and-cheese/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [“We listen to NPR for the first two hours on the road, the strange comfort of bad news reported in reasonable tones,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/we-listen-to-npr-for-the-first-two-hours-on-the-road-the-strange/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [I am not one of those people who string their exes along. Instead, I run and hide: under the covers, behind my computer screen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-am-not-one-of-those-people-who-string-their-exes-along-instead-i/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [When I was growing up in Chicago, my family and I used to go to a local chain, Hackney's, for burgers and their French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/when-i-was-growing-up-in-chicago-my-family-and-i-used-to-go-to-a/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [I remember being banned from other houses as a younger child during the winter holiday season; I was the only one who didn't believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-remember-being-banned-from-other-houses-as-a-younger-child-during/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [Sometimes, things are just exercises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/sometimes-things-are-just-exercises/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [I've just always written, and always considered myself a writer. I wrote my first story when I was five. There was nothing else I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/i-ve-just-always-written-and-always-considered-myself-a-writer-i/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) [Explore all 147 Jami Attenberg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) ## More Almost quotes > [My mother worked in the white world, but I lived almost exclusively in a black world. I don't think I had ever seen a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/my-mother-worked-in-the-white-world-but-i-lived-almost-exclusively-in/) [Edward P. 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Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, Bob Dylan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jolene-blalock/i-like-men-who-are-very-cool-but-who-are-also-so-brilliant-that-they/) [Jolene Blalock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jolene-blalock/) > [If you watch wrestling, you now know the hip-hop culture is being represented with wrestling. For the longest time, the cultures have almost been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cena/if-you-watch-wrestling-you-now-know-the-hip-hop-culture-is-being/) [John Cena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cena/) > [Almost every Monday I have a charity thing. I like that. I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yogi-berra/almost-every-monday-i-have-a-charity-thing-i-like-that-i-do/) [Yogi Berra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yogi-berra/) > [Pete Seeger is a modest, unassuming, cheerful, and kind-natured man. He's a good folk singer, if you can stand folk singing. And he's such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/pete-seeger-is-a-modest-unassuming-cheerful-and-kind-natured-man-he-s/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Almost immediately, I remember right when Tikrit even fell, a few days after Baghdad fell, there was talks of insurgency, there was talks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farnaz-fassihi/almost-immediately-i-remember-right-when-tikrit-even-fell-a-few-days/) Farnaz Fassihi > [While it is often true that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, it seems like Yahoo's almost obsessive focus on Google is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kara-swisher/while-it-is-often-true-that-the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend-it/) [Kara Swisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kara-swisher/) > [I'd had episodes before, but I swept them under the carpet. This time, I couldn't do that because everyone knew. 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