Alice McDermott Quotes

The human world is made of stories, not people.

To survive, you must tell stories.

People become the stories they hear and the stories they tell.

Stories always seem to get better with age.

Stories are told over time, and so they naturally accrue meanings.

Literature, whether handed down by word or mouth or in print, gives us a second handle on reality.

Humans like stories. Humans need stories. Stories are good. Stories work. Story clarifies and captures the essence of the human spirit. Story, in all its forms—of life, of love, of knowledge—has traced the upward surge of mankind. And story, you mark my words, will be with the last human to draw breath.

Stories only happen to those who are able to tell them.

I'm an old storyteller. I tell the story. It's about the story.

The human world is made of stories, not people. The people the stories use to tell themselves are not to be blamed

That’s how people live, by telling stories. What’s the first thing a kid says when he learns how to talk? “Tell me a story.” That’s how we understand who we are, where we come from. Stories are everything.

Fiction is Truth's elder sister. Obviously. No one in the world knew what truth was till some one had told a story.

I don't really believe in stories, only in the people who tell them.

Storytelling is the important thing.

Humanity's legacy of stories and storytelling is the most precious we have. All wisdom is in our stories and songs. A story is how we construct our experiences. At the very simplest, it can be: 'He/she was born, lived, died.' Probably that is the template of our stories - a beginning, middle, and end. This structure is in our minds.

Humankind has been telling stories forever and will be telling stories forever.

It is an ancient need to be told stories. But the story needs a great storyteller. Thanks for all of it, Jo.

I tell stories. That's what I do. I've always told stories.

Time is what allows stories to spread into people's consciousness.

I think there is a human instinct to tell stories, no matter who you are or where you live.

A good story never dies.

Stories are one of the means by which a culture preserves its identity.

I appreciate hearing different stories. It inspires me.

I think, culturally, stories are important, whether it be cinema, whether it be by word of mouth - which I don't even know if we do anymore, as it all seems to be social media.

It is my belief that we as human beings have a need to tell stories - I think it's evolutionary. So you can think of the short story as a literary form, or you can instead think of stories.