Written by the ancient Chinese philosopher of the same name, the 'Zhuangzi' is one long perplexing puzzle of a rambling collection of enigmatic short stories. It's a strange feeling to laugh at a joke written by someone in the 4th century B.C.

Patrick Stump

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Related Quotes

Short fiction seems more targeted - hand grenades of ideas, if you will. When they work, they hit, they explode, and you never forget them. Long fiction feels more like atmosphere: it's a lot smokier and less defined.

— Paolo Bacigalupi

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Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner.

— Neil Gaiman

I love short stories because I believe they are the way we live. They are what our friends tell us, in their pain and joy, their passion and rage, their yearning and their cry against injustice.

— Andre Dubus

I've read short stories that are as dense as a 19th century novel and novels that really are short stories filled with a lot of helium.

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So many people can now write competent stories that the short story is in danger of dying of competence.

— Flannery O'Connor

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