Gertrude Stein Quotes

As human beings, the closest we can get to truth is through story.

Narration is as much a part of human nature as breath and the circulation of the blood.

What you see is what you get. What you hear is who I am.

The world is... the natural setting of, and field for, all my thoughts and all my explicit perceptions. Truth does not inhabit only the inner man, or more accurately, there is no inner man, man is in the world, and only in the world does he know himself.

I secretly think reality exists so we can speculate about it.

I think the most important thing when you're telling a story is to just tell the story as best as you possibly can.

Whether in cave paintings or the latest uses of the Internet, human beings have always told their histories and truths through parable and fable. We are inveterate storytellers.

I really value words. I really try to illustrate and let people draw their own conclusions.

I'm simply trying to tell the truth about human behaviour as I see it.

Every legend, moreover, contains its residuum of truth, and the root function of language is to control the universe by describing it.

I'm just writing about people. People are dark and complicated. I'm trying to tell the truth; that's all that I do.

I personally think we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain.

It's my belief we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain.

There are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth.

History is a fiction which actually happened; fiction is history which could have happened.

The truth is whatever people will believe is the truth.

People are funny in the way that they choose to express themselves.

I'm a writer. My job is to speak what - that which I think is true. If that bridges the gap, that's good. If it doesn't, that's too bad.

Through writing, one experiences something different to what one experiences with the five senses one has because language is a different metier.

Humans are fascinated with communication. I was always drawn to words and stories, staying in touch with your feelings and being open to what's around you.

People don't like reality, they like crazy stories.

You can tell a true war story by the questions you ask. Somebody tells a story, let's say, and afterward you ask, 'Is it true?' and if the answer matters, you've got your answer . . . Absolute occurrence is irrelevant. A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.

And if you ever do a survey, you'll find that people prefer illusion to reality, ten to one. Twenty, even.

Personally there is first: imagination; second: the act of writing - and third: the act/act of vocalizing.

Everything we say is a story. But nothing we say is just a story.