Have you ever found, when reading a work of fiction or poetry, that you are stopped cold by a sentence that perfectly expresses something you have felt but have never been able to put so clearly into words? The thought is not new, but suddenly it seems stronger and more real. The recognition of truth can be as strong and sudden as a shot of electric current, and the insight you gain will stay with you. This is the power of imaginative literature: it helps us more poignantly know what we know, feel what we feel, believe what we believe.
