--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fiction may be, whatever else, an…" description: "\"Fiction may be, whatever else, an exercise in the capacity for imaginative love, or sympathy, or identification,\" — Marilynne Robinson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a12/marilynne-robinson-602_capacity_fiction-may-be-whatever-else-an-exercise_947156.png" --- # Fiction may be, whatever else, an exercise in the capacity… ![“Fiction may be, whatever else, an exercise in the capacity for imaginative love, or sympathy, or identification,” quote by Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a12/marilynne-robinson-602_capacity_fiction-may-be-whatever-else-an-exercise_947156.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a12/marilynne-robinson-602_capacity_fiction-may-be-whatever-else-an-exercise_947156.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a12/marilynne-robinson-602_capacity_fiction-may-be-whatever-else-an-exercise_947156.png) > “Fiction may be, whatever else, an exercise in the capacity for imaginative love, or sympathy, or identification,” [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fiction serves as a practice in expanding our capacity for love, empathy, and identification. **In simple terms:** Stories help us grow empathy and love. Key Takeaway Read fiction to deepen emotional understanding. Themes literature empathy human connection Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - book clubs - educational curricula - creative writing workshops Key Concepts narrative empathy psychological insight ethical imagination Questions to Reflect On - What novel changed your view of others? - How does reading fiction affect moral decisions? A Different Perspective Fiction may not reflect real experiences for all readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Capacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capacity/) [Capacity Imaginative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capacity-imaginative-1661960/) [Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exercise/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Exercise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-exercise-1661958/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Identification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identification/) [Imaginative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginative/) [Imaginative Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginative-love-1661959/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“I would say, for the moment, that community, at least community larger than the immediate family, consists very largely of imaginative love for people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-would-say-for-the-moment-that-community-at-least-community-larger/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I think fiction is all about the exercise of the empathetic imagination. Part of what I do is let the stuff I read about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-shepard/i-think-fiction-is-all-about-the-exercise-of-the-empathetic/) [Jim Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-shepard/) > [In fiction, I exercise my nosiness. I am as curious as my cats, and indeed that has led to trouble often enough and used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/in-fiction-i-exercise-my-nosiness-i-am-as-curious-as-my-cats-and/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [ \[Children\] use up the same part of my head as poetry does. To deal with children is a matter of terrific imaginative identification. And… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libby-houston/children-use-up-the-same-part-of-my-head-as-poetry-does-to-deal-with/) [Libby Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libby-houston/) > [Daumier paints with an enormous capacity for absolute empathy; a complete identification of himself with the figures he paints. 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Her brothers' sister, her father's daughter, Her husband's wife, her children's mother”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-elliott/what-is-a-woman-her-brothers-sister-her-father-s-daughter-her-husband/) [David Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-elliott/) > [I like pacifists and people who have a heavy emotional identification with deathism and war would probably call me a pacifist, but I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-like-pacifists-and-people-who-have-a-heavy-emotional-identification/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [In fiction, imaginary people become realer to us than any named celebrity glimpsed in a series of rumored events, whose causes and subtler ramifications…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/in-fiction-imaginary-people-become-realer-to-us-than-any-named/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [There are evils that have the ability to survive identification and go on for ever... money, for instance, or war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-are-evils-that-have-the-ability-to-survive-identification-and/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [The moment it begins to question itself, the mind becomes so clear that it starts working with itself rather than with the body's identification.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/byron-katie/the-moment-it-begins-to-question-itself-the-mind-becomes-so-clear/) [Byron Katie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/byron-katie/) ## More by Marilynne Robinson > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“I think sometimes there might be an advantage in making people aware how worn and stale these old transgressions are. 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High expectations mean your higher capacity and belief in abilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasneem-hameed/disappointment-contains-an-appointment-for-doing-much-better-high/) [Tasneem Hameed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tasneem-hameed/) > [For years mental health professionals taught people that they could be psychologically healthy without social support, that “unless you love yourself, no one else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-d-perry/for-years-mental-health-professionals-taught-people-that-they-could/) [Bruce D. 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