Only the peak feels so sound and stable that the beginning of the falling is hidden for a little while.
William FaulknerRead
People write fiction in their minds all the time - every time we read a 'human interest' news story, or a true crime tale, we find ourselves fascinated because we're trying to understand why people behave the way they do, why they make the choices they do, how we become who we become.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on our innate curiosity about human behavior and the narratives we construct in our minds.
Dan Chaon's quote suggests that fiction is a mental construct we engage with constantly, especially when reading stories that delve into human experiences. It highlights our fascination with understanding the motivations behind people's actions and the complex web of choices that shape our identities, illustrating how our minds seek to create narratives that explain the human condition.
In practice
In a book club discussing the themes of human interest in fiction.
Only the peak feels so sound and stable that the beginning of the falling is hidden for a little while.
I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.
[E]very act of a delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.
Anyone can be a barbarian; it requires a terrible effort to remain a civilized man.
Eternity is not an unending succession of days in the calendar, but something more like the supreme moment of satisfaction, in which totality embraces us and we embrace totality.
Whatever we, as prospective participants unaware of our specific features, would desire society to be like is what, morally speaking, we ought to institute.
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