#storytelling

Every morning brings us news of the globe, and yet we are poor in noteworthy stories. This is because no event comes to us without being already shot through with explanation. In other words, by now almost nothing that happens benefits storytelling; almost everything benefits information. Actually, it is half the art of storytelling to keep a story free from explanation as one reproduces it. . . . The most extraordinary things, marvelous things, are related with the greatest accuracy, but the psychological connection of the event is not forced on the reader. It is left up to him to interpret things the way he understands them, and thus the narrative achieves an amplitude that information lacks. ↗

— Walter Benjamin

#art

The boy thought, How powerful a story is, and how by a kind of magic it compels the imagination; there was nothing in the world, it seemed to him, so mysteriously strong; and he began to wonder if he would ever have anything as beautiful to tell. ↗

— Glenway Wescott

#beauty

That is the power of a good story. It can encourage you, it can make you laugh, it can bring you joy. It will make you think, it will tap innto your hidden emotions, and it can make you cry. The power of a story can also bring about healing, give you peace, and change your life!" (p.15) ↗

— Jeff Dixon

#power-of-words #storytelling #change

I tell the story to you now, but in each telling the story itself changes a little, changes direction, and that in turn changes you and me. So be very careful not only in how you repeat it but in how you remember it, goslings. More often than you realize it, the world is shaped by two things -- stories told and the memories they leave behind. ↗

— Vera Nazarian

#evolution #fiction #future #influence #literature

The enormity of problems like hunger and social injustice can certainly motivate us to act. We can be convinced logically of the need for intervention and change. But it is the story of one individual that ultimately makes the difference—by offering living proof. ↗

— John Capecci and Timothy Cage

#activism-inspiration #advocacy #personal-story #story #storytelling

Each of us has been designed for one of two immortal functions, as either a storyteller or as a cross-legged listener to tales of wonder, love, and daring. When we cease to tell or listen, then we no longer exist as a people. ↗

— Bryce Courtenay

#listening #storytelling #design

A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. ↗

— Graham Greene

#beginning #creative-process #end #storytelling #writing

I wanted to rock back and forth between myth and distant futures, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It felt a bit like prophecy and a bit like storytelling. ↗

— George Murray

#between #bit #distant #felt #forth

There's no harmony in most people in a way, and I'm attracted to it, and I think it makes for good storytelling. ↗

— Greg Kinnear

#good #harmony #i #i think #makes

My humor tends to be a little more edgy than is appropriate for 'Twilight,' although I got some in there. That was fun! There's just a tonal difference. For me, storytelling is storytelling. But, I do like writing for grown ups. ↗

— Melissa Rosenberg

#appropriate #difference #edgy #fun #got