In Fiction
In The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, the second of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, it is revealed that the Galactic President, supposed leader of the Galaxy, is nothing more than a decoy meant to provide an illusion of democracy, while the real power is held by an old man who lives alone on a deserted planet and does not believe anything really exists outside his imagination. He is regarded as the only suitable candidate since he is the only person who completely and honestly doesn't care about having power. His will is executed by mysterious visitors who visit him to ask him questions about how events should play out, and then return to presumably ensure that events transpire as the Old Man orders. It can be assumed that as the Old Man doesn't really believe in anything (or indeed, anyone), he does not sincerely consider the issues which are laid before him and merely answers philosophically, thereby answering the question of why the universe is in the terrible state that it is in.
Read more about this topic: Power Behind The Throne
Famous quotes containing the word fiction:
“Coincidence is a pimp and a cardsharper in ordinary fiction but a marvelous artist in the patterns of facts recollected by a non-ordinary memorist.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“If one doubts whether Grecian valor and patriotism are not a fiction of the poets, he may go to Athens and see still upon the walls of the temple of Minerva the circular marks made by the shields taken from the enemy in the Persian war, which were suspended there. We have not far to seek for living and unquestionable evidence. The very dust takes shape and confirms some story which we had read.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)