(Man's) history is a tale that is told, and his very…

Man passes away; his name perishes from record and recollection; his history is as a tale that is told, and his very monument becomes…

— Washington Irving

“History isn’t a tale told once, it’s a series of revisions.”

— Victor LaValle

Now will I rehearse before you a very ancient Breton Lay. As the tale was told to me, so, in turn, will I tell…

— Marie de France

“In the end, every man's life is but a tale told to him that's lived it, and to him alone.”

— Tim Willocks

“A folklore study differs from most writing, in that the tale is told in the voice of the individual telling the story, not by…

— Karen Jones Gowen

'Tis an old tale, and often told; But did my fate and wish agree, Ne'er had been read, in story old, Of maiden true…

— Walter Scott

“Nothing ever begins. There is no first moment; no single word or place from which this or any other story springs. The threads can…

— Clive Barker

“For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.”

— King James Bible

...the tale that's told for no other reason but companionship, which is another (and my favorite) definition of literature, the tale that's told for…

— Jack Kerouac

This life, which had been the tomb of his virtue and of his honour, is but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts…

— William Shakespeare

“What a tale he's told, what a bitter bowl of war he's drunk to the dregs.”

— Virgil

Life ... is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

— Anonymous

“If you are tempted to reveal A tale to you someone has told About another, make it pass, Before you speak, three gates of…

— Beth Day

Such is life, my fellow-mummers-just like a poor player that bluffs and feints his hour upon the stage, and then cheapens down to mere…

— Joseph Furphy

“You are the fairy tale told by your ancestors.”

— Toba Beta