There was an amusing aphorism about truth and fiction in the new movie The International (with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts.) I may not have the exact wording, but it is roughly:

The difference between truth and fiction is that fiction has to make sense.

(Or maybe it was "There is a difference between truth and fiction -- fiction has to make sense.")

That sounded like it was probably a noteworthy quote from somebody, so I did a Google search. Mark Twain's name popped up a few times with various wordings. I did another search using his name and found these two quotes on BrainyQuote.com, so they are probably the definitive quotes:

It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense. Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.

A similar quote is attributed to Rosten, Leo:

Truth is stranger than fiction; fiction has to make sense.

And a similar quote is attributed to Tom Clancy:

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.

My suspicion is that the film used Clancy's version. If I ever meet Clancy, I'll ask if he "borrowed" from Twain's adage.

Finally, Alex Lane asserts that Twain's adage is "roundly refuted" by the popularity of The X-Files.

So, can we use the fact that a proposition "makes sense" as a criteria for judging truth or lie, fact or fiction? If not, what good is it for us to obsess over whether anything "makes sense"?

-- Jack Krupansky