A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick -- a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.
Neil GaimanRead
He had noticed that events were cowards: they didn't occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Events tend to happen in groups rather than isolation, often overwhelming us when they do.
In this quote, Neil Gaiman captures the essence of how we often experience life's events; they do not typically come one at a time, but rather in clusters that can leave us feeling overwhelmed. This observation reflects a common human experience where challenges, news, or significant moments seem to arrive all at once, making them feel like they are ganging up on us, which can instill a sense of chaos in our lives.
Themes
EventsLifeOverwhelmingChaosExperience
In practice
Example use cases
Reflecting on a tough week where everything seemed to go wrong at once.
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As a teenager I wrote to R.A. Lafferty. And he responded, too, with letters that were like R.A. Lafferty short stories, filled with elliptical answers to straight questions and simple answers to complicated ones.
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The important thing to understand about American history, wrote Mr. Ibis, in his leather-bound journal, is that it is fictional, a charcoal-sketched simplicity for the children, or the easily bored.
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Nothing’s changed. You’ll go home. You’ll be bored. You’ll be ignored. No one will listen to you, really listen to you. You’re too clever and too quiet for them to understand. They don’t even get your name right.
Neil GaimanRead
I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend...I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Gods come, and gods go. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Worlds don't last; and stars and galaxies are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend.
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