"A story is a way to say something that can't be said any other way, and it takes every word in the story to say what the meaning is. You tell a story because a statement would be inadequate. When anybody asks what a story is about, the only proper thing is to tell them to read the story. The meaning of fiction is not abstract meaning but experienced meaning."

Source : Flannery O'Connor (1969). “Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose”, p.96, Macmillan

You may also like: