“The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon.” --Brandon Sanderson. Here are 28 Inspirational Storytelling Quotes.
Storytelling Quotes
1. "Storytelling offers the opportunity to talk with your audience, not at them."― Laura Holloway
2. “Things in life have no real beginning, though our stories about them always do.”― Colum McCann
3. “Storytelling wasn't about making things up. It was more like inviting the stories to come through her, let themselves be told.”― Jennifer McMahon
4. “If every event which occurred could be given a name, there would be no need for stories.”― John Berger
5. “I have always held the old-fashioned opinion that the primary object of work of fiction should be to tell a story.” ― Wilkie Collins
6. “This is our story to tell. You’d think for all the reading I do, I would have thought about this before, but I haven’t. I’ve never once thought about the interpretative, the story telling aspect of life, of my life. I always felt like I was in a story, yes, but not like I was the author of it, or like I had any say in its telling whatsoever.” ― Jandy Nelson, author
7. “Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here.”― Sue Monk Kidd
Storytelling Quotes
8. “Narrative imagining — story — is the fundamental instrument of thought. Rational capacities depend upon it. It is our chief means of looking into the future, or predicting, of planning, and of explaining.”―Mark Turner
9. “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.”― Joan Didion
10. “Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form.”– Jean Luc Godard
11. “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
12. “The way we experience story will evolve, but as storytelling animals, we will no more give it up than start walking on all fours.”―Jonathan Gottschall
13. "If you're going to have a story, have a big story, or none at all."―Joseph Campbell
14. “And do you know what is the most-often missing ingredient in a sales message? It’s the sales message that doesn’t tell an interesting story. Storytelling . . . good storytelling . . . is a vital component of a marketing campaign.”―Gary Halbert
Storytelling Quotes
15. “We are all storytellers. We all live in a network of stories. There isn’t a stronger connection between people than storytelling.”―Jimmy Neil Smith
16. “Purposeful storytelling isn’t show business, it’s good business.”–Peter Guber
17. You’re never going to kill storytelling because it’s built into the human plan. We come with it.”–Margaret Atwood
18. “Storytelling is our obligation to the next generation. If all we are doing is marketing, we are doing a disservice, and not only to our profession, but to our children, and their children. Give something of meaning to your audience by inspiring, engaging, and educating them with story. Stop marketing. Start storytelling.”–Laura Holloway
19. “The art of storytelling is reaching its end because the epic slice of truth, wisdom, is dying out.”– Walter Benjamin
20. “Stories are our primary tools of learning and teaching, the repositories of our lore and legends. They bring order into our confusing world. Think about how many times a day you use stories to pass along data, insights, memories or common-sense advice.”– Edward Miller
21. Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world.”– Robert McKee
Storytelling Quotes
22. "Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it."–Hannah Arendt
23. “At its very core, marketing is storytelling. The best advertising campaigns take us on an emotional journey – appealing to our wants, needs and desires – while at the same time telling us about a product or service.”– Melinda Partin
24. “It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”–Patrick Rothfuss
25. “Well, if storytelling is important, then your narrative ability or your ability to put into words or use what someone else has put into words effectively, is important too.”– Howard Gardner
26. “There is no greater power on this earth than story.”― Libba Bray
27. “There’s always room for a story that can transport people to another place.”– J.K. Rowling
28. “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.”– Seth Godin
29. "The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies both to individuals and institutions."–Michael Margolis
30. "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."–Maya Angelou
31. “Stories are memory aids, instruction manuals and moral compasses.”– Aleks Krotoski
32. “Tell the story that's been growing in your heart, the characters you can't keep out of your head, the tale story that speaks to you, that pops into your head during your daily commute, that wakes you up in the morning.”—Jennifer Weiner
33. “Stories create community, enable us to see through the eyes of other people, and open us to the claims of others.”– Peter Forbes
34. “I think the best stories always end up being about the people rather than the event, which is to say character-driven.”― Stephen King