Who Gets Believed? Quotes

“Believing can end suffering; it's a kind of love.”
― Dina Nayeri, Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn't Enough

“I know now that expertise is gained quietly, alone in dark hours, digging into the dirt as the skills to present that knowledge erode. When so many professionals are satisfied projecting bulk onto a funhouse mirror, craving only the prescription pad, the office, the veneer of expertise, who’s going to believe the quiet hermit who appears like a frightened kitten on television? We’ve relaxed into our shortcuts and we’re primed to be fooled.”
― Dina Nayeri, Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn't Enough

“As a foreign kid, I knew that "American" was a performance. So is "refugee," "good mother," "top manager." "Scientist" is harder, but still a performance, inherited and learned. A CEO is all theater, aped and perfected in private, then trotted out publicly to varying degrees of success. There are some excellent fakers out there.”
― Dina Nayeri, Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn't Enough

“The fossilized lie is public memory.”
― Dina Nayeri, Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn't Enough

“Just as grief performance is shaped by culture, so is all storytelling.”
― Dina Nayeri, Who Gets Believed?: When the Truth Isn't Enough