The short story form allows evocation, suggestion, implication. Its potency often lies in what it does not say.

Sometimes success demands a certain refined insanity.

Life has always been a matter of putting one's feet down carefully

Short stories do not say this happened and this happened and this happened. They are a microcosm and a magnification rather than a linear progression.

The mirror had broken into millions of pieces and the wind blew them all over the world. If a person got a speck in their eye, the person would only see the ugly side of things from then on, but if a piece got in their blood and it reached their heart, it would freeze into a solid block of ice and they couldn't feel anything anymore

That was what happened to laughter when you caged it. It became unbearably sad. It was worse than crying.

Oh yes. It's open all right, but not many people come in here to look at me now so there's no point in selling tickets. No one is interested in a man who professes to be a monster. They'll give me notice very soon. I started out being a great attraction, but people soon understood that what fascinated them about me was no more than the reflection of their own deformities. All I do is how them what is inside themselves,' He added mournfully.