"Truth is always much stranger than Fiction".

 begin quote from: "Truth is always much stranger than Fiction". 

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The phrase "truth is stranger than fiction" first appeared in its modern form in Lord Byron's 1823 poem Don Juan, Canto XIV, Verse 101: "'Tis strange—but true; for truth is always strange; / Stranger than fiction; if it could be told". While Mark Twain is often associated with the quote, his variation, "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't," was a posthumous commentary on the longer original quote. 

Lord Byron's Don Juan 

• Origin:

  The first recorded use of the phrase in its modern form comes from Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan.
• Context:

  The line appears in Canto XIV, Verse 101, where Byron reflects on the bizarre nature of real events compared to invented ones.

Mark Twain's Variation

• Influence:

  While not the originator of the full phrase, Mark Twain popularized a related idea. 

• 
  

• Why do we say Truth is stranger than fiction?

  

  BookBrowse.com

  
  

Quote:

Twain's famous extension, "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't", explains why truth can seem stranger. 

Publication:

This later observation was recorded in Twain's notebooks and published posthumously in the collection Mark Twain's Notebook (1935). 

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