Plato said that poets should be excluded from the ideal republic because they are such liars. I am a poet, and I affirm that this is true. About no subject are poets tempted to lie so much as about their own lives; I know one of them who has floated at least five versions of his autobiography, none of them true. I of course - being also a novelist - am a much more truthful person than that. But since poets lie, how can you believe me?
Margaret AtwoodWe still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.
Margaret AtwoodI could end this with a moral, as if this were a fable about animals, though no fables are really about animals.
Margaret AtwoodThere's the story, then there's the real story, then there's the story of how the story came to be told. Then there's what you leave out of the story. Which is part of the story too.
Margaret AtwoodWhen we think of the past it's the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that.
Margaret AtwoodWhatever the scientists may come up with, writers and artists will continue to portray altered mental states, simply because few aspects of our nature fascinate people so much. The so-called mad person will always represent a possible future for every member of the audience - who knows when such a malady may strike?
Margaret Atwood