Put together some more quotes about the difference between something that is literally factually “true” and something which is actually “Truth,” as discussed in that last post. This is from an interview with fantasy author Madeleine L’Engle.

“Facts are limited. It is a fact that we’re sitting here, but whether any truth comes out of this meeting is something else again. We don’t always know [truth]. I write stories because that’s how I look for truth. I was looking for truth when I was writing Wrinkle. We live in a world where it’s very difficult for people to understand that a story can be truthful and not factual.

“Nothing that’s worth anything as far as living our lives is concerned is in the realm of fact‹it’s all in the realm of truth. Jesus was talking about a man with a plank of wood in his eye. It’s a true story, it’s not factual; it’s about people who are slow to recognize their own faults and too quick to point out others’ flaws.”

L’Engle notes that similar stories can be found in all major religious traditions. “But we’re told to outgrow stories‹they’re only for kids. That’s one of the most terrible things that has happened to us as a people; we’ve been impaled upon literalism; it’s a great crippler.

And this passage later on is good too:

“Truth transcends facts. If I don’t believe it, it isn’t true. I’m going to stay on the side of truth no matter how much it hurts. Facts end; stories are infinite. Stories have a richness that goes way beyond fact. My writing knows more than I know. What a writer must do is listen to her book. It might take you where you don’t expect to go. That’s what happens when you write stories. You listen and you say ‘a ha,’ and you write it down. A lot of it is not planned, not conscious; it happens while you’re doing it. You know more about it after you’re done.