--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The prologues are over. It is a question…" description: "\"The prologues are over. It is a question, now, Of final belief. So, say that final belief Must be in a fiction. It is time to choose.\" — Wallace Stevens" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/wallace-stevens-846_belief_the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question_550400.jpg" --- # The prologues are over. It is a question, now, Of final… ![“The prologues are over. It is a question, now, Of final belief. So, say that final belief Must be in a fiction. It is time to choose.” quote by Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/wallace-stevens-846_belief_the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question_550400.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/wallace-stevens-846_belief_the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question_550400.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/wallace-stevens-846_belief_the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question_550400.jpg) > “The prologues are over. It is a question, now, Of final belief. So, say that final belief Must be in a fiction. It is time to choose.” [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Final belief must be a narrative we choose; fiction becomes our guiding truth. **In simple terms:** Choose a belief as story. Key Takeaway Embrace purposeful narrative. Themes belief fiction choice Mood introspective inspirational Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal philosophy - creative writing - decision making Key Concepts existentialism literature Questions to Reflect On - What story do you live by? - How does narrative shape your purpose? A Different Perspective Fiction may not reflect reality fully. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Belief Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief-fiction-4584034/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-time-265575/) [Final Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/final-belief-3618036/) [Finals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finals/) [Over it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/over-it/) [Prologue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prologue/) [Prologues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prologues-322903/) [Prologues Question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prologues-question-4584033/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Preparations are good in life, prologues ruinous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fuller/preparations-are-good-in-life-prologues-ruinous/) [Margaret Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fuller/) > [Avoid Prologues. They can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/avoid-prologues-they-can-be-annoying-especially-a-prologue-following/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [Most agents hate prologues. Just make the first chapter relevant and well written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-brown/most-agents-hate-prologues-just-make-the-first-chapter-relevant-and/) [Andrea Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-brown/) > [The final belief is to believe in a fiction, which you know to be a fiction, there being nothing else. The exquisite truth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-final-belief-is-to-believe-in-a-fiction-which-you-know-to-be-a/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [My final belief is suffering. And I begin to believe that I do not suffer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/my-final-belief-is-suffering-and-i-begin-to-believe-that-i-do-not/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [I hate prologues because they're kind of gimmicks to suck you in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grisham/i-hate-prologues-because-they-re-kind-of-gimmicks-to-suck-you-in/) [John Grisham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grisham/) > [We've had fiction from the time of cave drawings. I think fiction, storytelling, and narrative in general will always exist in some form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwidge-danticat/we-ve-had-fiction-from-the-time-of-cave-drawings-i-think-fiction/) [Edwidge Danticat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwidge-danticat/) > [“Marjorie Luesebrink of Irvine Valley College convinced me I could write fiction at a time when, in retrospect, it’s clear”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-j-smith/marjorie-luesebrink-of-irvine-valley-college-convinced-me-i-could/) [Martin J. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-j-smith/) > [I had been contemplating working on fiction show for some time and 'Humsafars' seemed like the perfect choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/payal-rohatgi/i-had-been-contemplating-working-on-fiction-show-for-some-time-and/) [Payal Rohatgi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/payal-rohatgi/) > [If I write nothing but fiction for some time I begin to get stupid, and to feel rather as if it had been a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-mary-yonge/if-i-write-nothing-but-fiction-for-some-time-i-begin-to-get-stupid/) [Charlotte Mary Yonge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-mary-yonge/) > [I read fiction all the time. It's true that I don't like fantasy or science fiction. I like "realistic" novels, particularly those in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustavo-perez-firmat/i-read-fiction-all-the-time-it-s-true-that-i-don-t-like-fantasy-or/) [Gustavo Perez Firmat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustavo-perez-firmat/) > [Once confined to fantasy and science fiction, time travel is now simply an engineering problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/once-confined-to-fantasy-and-science-fiction-time-travel-is-now/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [When I'm absorbed in a work of fiction, time and place melts away, as though I've drifted away from my usual reality and been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/when-i-m-absorbed-in-a-work-of-fiction-time-and-place-melts-away-as/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [Palaeontologists use fiction all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-macleod/palaeontologists-use-fiction-all-the-time/) [Norman Macleod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-macleod/) > [Kane and Abel' is the best popular fiction of all time. As a kid, I wanted to be prime minister when I read 'First…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-mensch/kane-and-abel-is-the-best-popular-fiction-of-all-time-as-a-kid-i/) [Louise Mensch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-mensch/) ## More by Wallace Stevens > [Poet, patting more nonsense foamed From the sea, conceive for thecourts Of these academies, the diviner health Disclosed in common forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poet-patting-more-nonsense-foamed-from-the-sea-conceive-for-thecourts/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-way-through-the-world-is-more-difficult-to-find-than-the-way/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The magnificent cause of being, The imagination, the one reality In this imagined world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-magnificent-cause-of-being-the-imagination-the-one-reality-in/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Music falls on the silence like a sense / A passion that we feel, not understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/music-falls-on-the-silence-like-a-sense-a-passion-that-we-feel-not/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The life of the city never lets you go, nor do you ever want it to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-life-of-the-city-never-lets-you-go-nor-do-you-ever-want-it-to/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [After a lustre of the moon, we say We have not the need of any paradise, We have not the need of any seducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/after-a-lustre-of-the-moon-we-say-we-have-not-the-need-of-any/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I am what is around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/i-am-what-is-around-me/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“We live in an old chaos of the sun, Or old dependency of day and night, Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, Of that wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/we-live-in-an-old-chaos-of-the-sun-or-old-dependency-of-day-and-night/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“Lunar Paraphrase" The moon is the mother of pathos and pity. When, at the wearier end of November, Her old light moves along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/lunar-paraphrase-the-moon-is-the-mother-of-pathos-and-pity-when-at/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Poetry is the scholar's art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poetry-is-the-scholar-s-art/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“The stars are putting on their glittering belts, They throw around their shoulders cloaks that flash Like a great shadow's last embellishment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-stars-are-putting-on-their-glittering-belts-they-throw-around/) [wallace stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unfortunately-there-is-nothing-more-inane-than-an-easter-carol-it-is/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The word is the making of the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-word-is-the-making-of-the-world/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [A diary is more or less the work of a man of clay whose hands are clumsy and in whose eyes there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/a-diary-is-more-or-less-the-work-of-a-man-of-clay-whose-hands-are/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [It is never the thing but the version of the thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/it-is-never-the-thing-but-the-version-of-the-thing/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) [Explore all 352 Wallace Stevens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“MIND & GRIND Self-belief and hard work can propel you past more talented peers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-ali/mind-grind-self-belief-and-hard-work-can-propel-you-past-more/) [Kamil Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-ali/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [It took me 20 years of hard training to get the physique I have today. what you need is what i had - BELIEF…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/branch-warren/it-took-me-20-years-of-hard-training-to-get-the-physique-i-have-today/) [Branch Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/branch-warren/) > [“Here is a fundamental difference between the man of faith and the man of unbelief. The unbeliever is 'of the world', judges everything by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/here-is-a-fundamental-difference-between-the-man-of-faith-and-the-man/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [“She herself vacillated when it came to belief. She did not particularly believe in God. Or, rather, she didn't believe in a particular God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/she-herself-vacillated-when-it-came-to-belief-she-did-not/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [“Rigid traditions capture souls prisons of spiritual thought man’s religion has captured a god grown too small and very weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-earle/rigid-traditions-capture-souls-prisons-of-spiritual-thought-man-s/) [David W Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-w-earle/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [In business, as in politics, it is never easy to go against the beliefs and attitudes held by the majority. The businessman who moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/in-business-as-in-politics-it-is-never-easy-to-go-against-the-beliefs/) [J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) > [There's no greatest moment in the arts. It's a life; it's a continuity thing. You can't have a great moment because it's spiritual. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/there-s-no-greatest-moment-in-the-arts-it-s-a-life-it-s-a-continuity/) [LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) [Browse all 10,268 Belief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The prologues are over. It is a question, now, Of final belief. So, say that final belief Must be in a fiction. It is time to choose.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wallace Stevens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question-now-of-final-belief-so-say/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Belief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question-now-of-final-belief-so-say/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/wallace-stevens-846_belief_the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question_550400.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/wallace-stevens-846_belief_the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question_550400.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/wallace-stevens-846_belief_the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question_550400.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The prologues are over. It is a question, now, Of final belief. So, say that final belief Must be in a…” — Wallace Stevens", "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": "Wallace Stevens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The prologues are over. It is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question-now-of-final-belief-so-say/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-prologues-are-over-it-is-a-question-now-of-final-belief-so-say/#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 } } ] } ```