Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story.
-Jon Barth
I know that … the charm of fables awakens the mind; that the memorable deeds recounted in histories uplifted, and, if read with discretion, aid informing one's judgment; that the reading of all good books is like a conversation with the most honorable people of past ages, who were their authors, indeed, even like a set conversation in which they reveal to us only the best of their thoughts. -Renee Descartes
“There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.” -The Bard
The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant.