--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I used to distinguish between my fiction…" description: "\"I used to distinguish between my fiction and nonfiction in terms of superiority or inferiority.\" — Peter Matthiessen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/peter-matthiessen-5795_fiction_i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction_1206873.png" --- # I used to distinguish between my fiction and nonfiction in… ![“I used to distinguish between my fiction and nonfiction in terms of superiority or inferiority.” quote by Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/peter-matthiessen-5795_fiction_i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction_1206873.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/peter-matthiessen-5795_fiction_i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction_1206873.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/peter-matthiessen-5795_fiction_i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction_1206873.png) > “I used to distinguish between my fiction and nonfiction in terms of superiority or inferiority.” [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author once judged fiction and nonfiction by perceived quality, revealing bias toward perceived superiority. **In simple terms:** He judged stories by quality, showing bias. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge bias in evaluating works. Themes literature bias evaluation Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - reading clubs - academic critique - personal writing - media consumption Key Concepts subjectivity truth artistic merit Questions to Reflect On - How do you assess a work’s value? - Can you appreciate both equally? A Different Perspective Bias can limit appreciation of diverse narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Distinguish Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinguish-fiction-2699811/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Nonfiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-nonfiction-524979/) [Inferiority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inferiority/) [Nonfiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonfiction/) [Superiority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superiority/) [Superiority Inferiority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superiority-inferiority-737704/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) ## Related quotes > [Superiority and inferiority are individual, not racial or national.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/superiority-and-inferiority-are-individual-not-racial-or-national/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) > [But we are as other men, exactly. Of one blood, one species, one brain, one figure, one fundamental set of collective instincts, one solitary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/but-we-are-as-other-men-exactly-of-one-blood-one-species-one-brain/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) > [No woman has ever existed who did not know perfectly well in her heart what to expect from the superiority or inferiority of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/no-woman-has-ever-existed-who-did-not-know-perfectly-well-in-her/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Difference is not equated with superiority or inferiority, dominating or being dominated, being served or serving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riane-eisler/difference-is-not-equated-with-superiority-or-inferiority-dominating/) [Riane Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riane-eisler/) > [The different ness of races, moreover, is no evidence of superiority or of inferiority. This merely indicates that each race has certain gifts which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-g-woodson/the-different-ness-of-races-moreover-is-no-evidence-of-superiority-or/) [Carter G. Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carter-g-woodson/) > [I just can't see either a man or a woman in a dependency position, because from this sort of relationship flows a feeling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/i-just-can-t-see-either-a-man-or-a-woman-in-a-dependency-position/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [The question of whether one alleges the Superiority or Inferiority of any given race is irrelevant; racism has only one psychological root: the racist's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/the-question-of-whether-one-alleges-the-superiority-or-inferiority-of/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It is a tragedy that religion for us means, today, nothing more than restrictions on food and drink, nothing more than adherence to absence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-is-a-tragedy-that-religion-for-us-means-today-nothing-more-than/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [A reader who quarrels with postulates, who dislikes Hamlet because he does not believe that there are ghosts or that people speak in pentameters,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/northrop-frye/a-reader-who-quarrels-with-postulates-who-dislikes-hamlet-because-he/) [Northrop Frye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/northrop-frye/) > [There's an imperative to make sure you distinguish fiction from the fact, because if the fact is doing the work, why did you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-d-aguiar/there-s-an-imperative-to-make-sure-you-distinguish-fiction-from-the/) [Fred D'Aguiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-d-aguiar/) > [I'm open to reading almost anything - fiction, nonfiction - as long as I know from the first sentence or two that this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/i-m-open-to-reading-almost-anything-fiction-nonfiction-as-long-as-i/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [It's hard to do fiction and nonfiction simultaneously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-s-hard-to-do-fiction-and-nonfiction-simultaneously/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Whether it's fiction or nonfiction, writing takes me to another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/whether-it-s-fiction-or-nonfiction-writing-takes-me-to-another-world/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) > [Fiction and nonfiction, for me, involve very different processes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/fiction-and-nonfiction-for-me-involve-very-different-processes/) [Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/) > [At least for me, it takes more knowledge to write fiction than nonfiction. At least about someplace that I begin with a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-vollmann/at-least-for-me-it-takes-more-knowledge-to-write-fiction-than/) [William T. Vollmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-vollmann/) ## More by Peter Matthiessen > [Alec Wilkinson is a spare, clear, and lucid writer who works in stylistic simplicity with material that is not simple at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/alec-wilkinson-is-a-spare-clear-and-lucid-writer-who-works-in/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [Figures dark beneath their loads pass down the far bank of the river, rendered immortal by the streak of sunset upon their shoulders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/figures-dark-beneath-their-loads-pass-down-the-far-bank-of-the-river/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [I think in any writing you're paying attention to detail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-think-in-any-writing-you-re-paying-attention-to-detail/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [The great stillness in these landscapes that once made me restless seeps into me day by day, and with it the unreasonable feeling that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/the-great-stillness-in-these-landscapes-that-once-made-me-restless/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [“...experience was static in the valley; it was older than time itself, for time was a thing of but two generations, dated by moons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/experience-was-static-in-the-valley-it-was-older-than-time-itself-for/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [“The central feature of the practice of meditation and hard work known as Zen is that, as Matthiessen says, it “has no patience with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/the-central-feature-of-the-practice-of-meditation-and-hard-work-known/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [Be light, light, light - full of light!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/be-light-light-light-full-of-light/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [For some time I watch the coming of the night? Above is the glistening galaxy of childhood, now hidden in the Western world by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/for-some-time-i-watch-the-coming-of-the-night-above-is-the-glistening/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [“Nonfiction at its best is like fashioning a cabinet. It can be elegant and very beautiful but it can never be sculpture. Captive to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/nonfiction-at-its-best-is-like-fashioning-a-cabinet-it-can-be-elegant/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [Soon the child’s clear eye is clouded over by ideas and opinions, preconceptions, and abstractions. Simple free being becomes encrusted with the burdensome armor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/soon-the-child-s-clear-eye-is-clouded-over-by-ideas-and-opinions/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [“In the book of Job, the Lord demands, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” “I was there!”-surely that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/in-the-book-of-job-the-lord-demands-where-wast-thou-when-i-laid-the/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [I meditate for the last time on this mountain that is bare, though others all around are white with snow. Like the bare peak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-meditate-for-the-last-time-on-this-mountain-that-is-bare-though/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [I was just very interested in the American frontier and the growth of capitalism - those enormous fortunes that were being made, more often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-was-just-very-interested-in-the-american-frontier-and-the-growth-of/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [“A far cicada rings high and clear over the river’s heavy wash. Morning glory, a lone dandelion, cassia, orchids. So far from the nearest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/a-far-cicada-rings-high-and-clear-over-the-river-s-heavy-wash-morning/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) > [I ... had what Kierkegaard called 'the sickness of infinitude,' wandering from one path to another with no real recognition that I was embarked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-had-what-kierkegaard-called-the-sickness-of-infinitude-wandering/) [Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) [Explore all 99 Peter Matthiessen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/) ## 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": "I used to distinguish between my fiction and nonfiction in terms of superiority or inferiority.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Matthiessen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction-and-nonfiction-in-terms-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fiction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction-and-nonfiction-in-terms-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/peter-matthiessen-5795_fiction_i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction_1206873.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/peter-matthiessen-5795_fiction_i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction_1206873.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c1/peter-matthiessen-5795_fiction_i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction_1206873.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I used to distinguish between my fiction and nonfiction in terms of superiority or inferiority.” — Peter Matthiessen", "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": "Peter Matthiessen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I used to distinguish between my...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction-and-nonfiction-in-terms-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/i-used-to-distinguish-between-my-fiction-and-nonfiction-in-terms-of/#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 } } ] } ```