--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nothing factual that I write or say will…" description: "\"Nothing factual that I write or say will be as truthful as my fiction.\" — Nadine Gordimer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/nadine-gordimer-3358_factual_nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will_573826.jpg" --- # Nothing factual that I write or say will be as truthful as… ![“Nothing factual that I write or say will be as truthful as my fiction.” quote by Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/nadine-gordimer-3358_factual_nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will_573826.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/nadine-gordimer-3358_factual_nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will_573826.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/nadine-gordimer-3358_factual_nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will_573826.jpg) > “Nothing factual that I write or say will be as truthful as my fiction.” [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fiction can convey deeper truths than factual statements because it captures human experience. **In simple terms:** Stories reveal truths facts cannot. Key Takeaway Use narrative to explore deeper realities. Themes truth fiction perception artistic expression Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - teaching - personal reflection - media analysis Key Concepts subjective reality emotional truth literary craft Questions to Reflect On - Can fiction be more persuasive than data? - When does storytelling become misleading? A Different Perspective Fiction may be dismissed as less credible than facts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Factual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/factual/) [Factual Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/factual-write-4729932/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Say Truthful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-truthful-2100975/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truthful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truthful/) [Truthful Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truthful-fiction-4729931/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I think the thing that connects everything I've done is that I'm just trying to say something truthful, wherever I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-amstell/i-think-the-thing-that-connects-everything-i-ve-done-is-that-i-m-just/) [Simon Amstell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-amstell/) > [I write fiction, there's no guarantee that what I say is truthful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-toltz/i-write-fiction-there-s-no-guarantee-that-what-i-say-is-truthful/) [Steve Toltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-toltz/) > [If it is not truthful and not helpful, don't say it. If it is truthful and not helpful, don't say it. If it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/if-it-is-not-truthful-and-not-helpful-don-t-say-it-if-it-is-truthful/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [A lot of people would say, to be truthful is to tell all, every dalliance, every crisis. They might be right on paper, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-carolla/a-lot-of-people-would-say-to-be-truthful-is-to-tell-all-every/) [Adam Carolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-carolla/) > [People are going to say, ‘Well, it’s not very truthful.’ But a songwriter doesn’t care about what’s truthful. What he cares about is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/people-are-going-to-say-well-it-s-not-very-truthful-but-a-songwriter/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [To Speak or NOT to Speak If it is not truthful and not helpful don't say it If it is Truthful and not helpful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/to-speak-or-not-to-speak-if-it-is-not-truthful-and-not-helpful-don-t/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I think it's fair to ask how truthful a film is as opposed to how factual it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-miller/i-think-it-s-fair-to-ask-how-truthful-a-film-is-as-opposed-to-how/) [Bennett Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-miller/) > [Humor is, by its nature, more truthful than factual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/humor-is-by-its-nature-more-truthful-than-factual/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [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/) > [Science is not marginal. Like art, it is a universal possession of humanity, and scientific knowledge has become a vital part of our species'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/science-is-not-marginal-like-art-it-is-a-universal-possession-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelby-spong/the-bible-interprets-life-from-its-particular-perspective-it-does-not/) [John Shelby Spong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelby-spong/) > [Should our moral beliefs really prove to be dependent on factual assumptions shown to be incorrect, it would be hardly moral to defend them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/should-our-moral-beliefs-really-prove-to-be-dependent-on-factual/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [To claim that science and religion pose different questions to the world is not to suggest that if the bones of Jesus were discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/to-claim-that-science-and-religion-pose-different-questions-to-the/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [For fantasy is true, of course. It isn't factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/for-fantasy-is-true-of-course-it-isn-t-factual-but-it-is-true/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/) [Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/) ## More by Nadine Gordimer > [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'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-m-a-candle-flame-that-sways-in-currents-of-air-you-can-t-see-you/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [The facts are always less than what really happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/the-facts-are-always-less-than-what-really-happened/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“Death's the discarder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/death-s-the-discarder/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [It was a miracle; it was all a miracle: and one ought to have known, from the sufferings of saints, that miracles are horror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/it-was-a-miracle-it-was-all-a-miracle-and-one-ought-to-have-known/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Mostly I'm interviewed by white people, and identified with white society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/mostly-i-m-interviewed-by-white-people-and-identified-with-white/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“I would be guilty only if I were innocent of working to destroy racism in my country.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-would-be-guilty-only-if-i-were-innocent-of-working-to-destroy/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“Death is really the mystery of life, isn't it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/death-is-really-the-mystery-of-life-isn-t-it/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Sincerity is never having an idea of oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/sincerity-is-never-having-an-idea-of-oneself/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [“you like to have some cup of tea?-July bent at the doorway and began that day for them as his kind has always done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/you-like-to-have-some-cup-of-tea-july-bent-at-the-doorway-and-began/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Afrikaner women are lower than rats, closer related to plants, just fit enough to be raped in an act of genus preservation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/afrikaner-women-are-lower-than-rats-closer-related-to-plants-just-fit/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [The country of the tourist pamphlet always is another country, an embarrassing abstraction of the desirable that, thank God, does not exist on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/the-country-of-the-tourist-pamphlet-always-is-another-country-an/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Well, you know, in the fundamentalist milieu of the Afrikaners, there was a sense that they were a chosen people, that they were bringing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/well-you-know-in-the-fundamentalist-milieu-of-the-afrikaners-there/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Sentiment is for those who don't know what to do next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/sentiment-is-for-those-who-don-t-know-what-to-do-next/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) > [Success sometimes may be defined as a disaster put on hold. Qualified. Has to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/success-sometimes-may-be-defined-as-a-disaster-put-on-hold-qualified/) [Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) [Explore all 131 Nadine Gordimer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/) ## More Factual quotes > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/) [Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/) > [For fantasy is true, of course. It isn't factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/for-fantasy-is-true-of-course-it-isn-t-factual-but-it-is-true/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [To claim that science and religion pose different questions to the world is not to suggest that if the bones of Jesus were discovered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/to-claim-that-science-and-religion-pose-different-questions-to-the/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Should our moral beliefs really prove to be dependent on factual assumptions shown to be incorrect, it would be hardly moral to defend them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/should-our-moral-beliefs-really-prove-to-be-dependent-on-factual/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelby-spong/the-bible-interprets-life-from-its-particular-perspective-it-does-not/) [John Shelby Spong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelby-spong/) > [Science is not marginal. Like art, it is a universal possession of humanity, and scientific knowledge has become a vital part of our species'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/science-is-not-marginal-like-art-it-is-a-universal-possession-of/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [... in a capitalist society a man is expected to be an aggressive, uncompromising, factual, lusty, intelligent provider of goods,and the woman, a retiring,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/in-a-capitalist-society-a-man-is-expected-to-be-an-aggressive/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [The propositions of mathematics are devoid of all factual content; they convey no information whatever on any empirical subject matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-gustav-hempel/the-propositions-of-mathematics-are-devoid-of-all-factual-content/) [Carl Gustav Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-gustav-hempel/) > [“Advocacy groups in the USA, as in other countries, may not be able to silence this hateful, cowardly and deceitful attack upon people’s humanity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/advocacy-groups-in-the-usa-as-in-other-countries-may-not-be-able-to/) [Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/) > [A popular feel for scientific endeavors should, if possible, be restored given the needs of the twenty-first century. This does not mean that every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/a-popular-feel-for-scientific-endeavors-should-if-possible-be/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [The songs are not meant to be real life. They're meant to have a psychic - rather than a factual - bearing on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-oldham/the-songs-are-not-meant-to-be-real-life-they-re-meant-to-have-a/) [Will Oldham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-oldham/) > [There really is no foolproof or even optimal way of dealing with White House emissaries who tell whoppers on live television. On the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-wemple/there-really-is-no-foolproof-or-even-optimal-way-of-dealing-with/) [Erik Wemple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-wemple/) > [There's a certain kind of research you have to listen to - the factual stuff, not opinion. Facts are facts. Sugar is sweet -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rand/there-s-a-certain-kind-of-research-you-have-to-listen-to-the-factual/) [Paul Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rand/) > [I would say my life experiences are my poetry, whether I'm writing about those actual, factual experiences or not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/i-would-say-my-life-experiences-are-my-poetry-whether-i-m-writing/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [You need the kind of objectivity that makes you forget everything you've heard, clear the table, and do a factual study like a scientist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-wozniak/you-need-the-kind-of-objectivity-that-makes-you-forget-everything-you/) [Steve Wozniak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-wozniak/) [Browse all 211 Factual quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/factual/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nothing factual that I write or say will be as truthful as my fiction.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nadine Gordimer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will-be-as-truthful-as-my-fiction/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Factual" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will-be-as-truthful-as-my-fiction/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/nadine-gordimer-3358_factual_nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will_573826.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/nadine-gordimer-3358_factual_nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will_573826.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f75/nadine-gordimer-3358_factual_nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will_573826.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nothing factual that I write or say will be as truthful as my fiction.” — Nadine Gordimer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Nadine Gordimer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nothing factual that I write or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will-be-as-truthful-as-my-fiction/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/nothing-factual-that-i-write-or-say-will-be-as-truthful-as-my-fiction/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```