If you want to destroy something in this life, be it acne, a blemish or the human soul, all you need to do is to surround it with thick walls. It will dry up inside.

Source: "The Politics of Fiction." TEDGlobal 2010. Jul. 2010. Conference Presentation. Additional Information: This quote from writer Elif Shafak means that life cannot exist in isolation; if you separate something, it dies. The quote is from a TED Talk Shafak gave in 2010 about the connective power of storytelling. In this Talk, Shafak says that we all live in some kind of social or cultural circle, but that if we have no connection with the outside world, we run the risk of our imaginations drying up and withering inside of our "cultural cocoons." Fiction, says Shafak, pokes "holes" in these walls, allowing us to glimpse other cultures and experiences that we otherwise would never be exposed to. Watch the full TED Talk here: Elif Shafak - The Politics of Fiction