...like stern but helpful librarians in a well-stocked library.

      The stories in books hate the stories contained in newspapers, David’s mother
would say. Newspaper stories were like newly caught fish, worthy of attention
only for as long as they remained fresh, which was not very long at all. They
were like the street urchins hawking the evening editions, all shouty and
insistent, while stories—real stories, proper made-up stories—were like stern but
helpful librarians in a well-stocked library. Newspaper stories were as
insubstantial as smoke, as long-lived as mayflies. They did not take root but
were instead like weeds that crawled along the ground, stealing the sunlight from
more deserving tales.

                                                 The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly


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