"If you take a lie and allow your desire for the truth, you'll end up with some truth - not fact, but something that gets you closer to the truth. That's what we want. When we go to a play, we need to be assured that the experience we're having"
- Denis Johnson
About this Quote
This quote talks to the power of creativity and the value of storytelling. Johnson is suggesting that if we permit ourselves to be available to the possibility of fact, even if it is not fact, we can get closer to the fact. He is highlighting the significance of suspending shock and allowing ourselves to be taken in by the story. He is likewise recommending that when we go to a play, we ought to be open to the experience and permit ourselves to be taken in by the story. Johnson is recommending that if we allow ourselves to be open to the possibility of fact, even if it is not fact, we can get closer to the fact. He is highlighting the significance of suspending disbelief and enabling ourselves to be taken in by the story. He is likewise recommending that when we go to a play, we must be open to the experience and allow ourselves to be taken in by the story. By doing so, we can get closer to the truth and have a more meaningful experience.
"The law condemns and punishes only actions within certain definite and narrow limits; it thereby justifies, in a way, all similar actions that lie outside those limits"