Comma splice?

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*scatters nuts for sharp-eyed critters*

I used this line in my last story: This was true wisdom, this above all should be saved.

I understand about linking independent clauses with a semi or em dash. But the repetition makes me want to put a comma in there, and I can't articulate why.

Is there a real reason for a comma in this sentence, or is it some weird, fuzzy idea I've picked up?

Either way, I'd like to be able to articulate what is correct and why. :)

Thanks so much in advance.

two sentences
 

skyhawk0

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Glad you went ahead with it.

Those people telling you it was wrong are wrong themselves.

The comma splice or fault is a common literary device. Many people have no sense of the difference between literary and academic writing, so try to apply the more formal rules of the latter to fiction. Poetics figure in to literary writing and the context matters.
 
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