Obviously the facts are never just coming at you but are incorporated by an imagination that is formed by your previous experience. Memories of the past are not memories of facts but memories of your imaginings of the facts.

Philip Roth (1933-2008) American novelist and short-story writer

The Facts: A Novelist’s Autobiography, Introductory Letter to Nathan Zuckerman (1988)
    (Source)

Zuckerman was Roth's literary alter ego, and narrator of several of Roth's books.