--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is through hearing stories about…" description: "\"It is through hearing stories about wicked stepmothers, lost children, good but misguided kings, wolves that suckle twin boys, youngest sons who receiv..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/alasdair-macintyre-14695_born_it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wick_3066730.jpg" --- # It is through hearing stories about wicked stepmothers… ![“It is through hearing stories about wicked stepmothers, lost children, good but misguided kings, wolves that suckle twin boys, youngest sons who receive no inheritance but must make their own way in the world, and eldest sons who waste their inheritance on riotous living and go into exile to live…” quote by Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/alasdair-macintyre-14695_born_it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wick_3066730.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/alasdair-macintyre-14695_born_it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wick_3066730.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/alasdair-macintyre-14695_born_it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wick_3066730.jpg) > “It is through hearing stories about wicked stepmothers, lost children, good but misguided kings, wolves that suckle twin boys, youngest sons who receive no inheritance but must make their own way in the world, and eldest sons who waste their inheritance on riotous living and go into exile to live with the swine, that children learn or mislearn both what a child and what a parent is, what the cast of characters may be in the drama into which they have been born and what the ways of the world are.” [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories shape our understanding of roles and moral expectations, influencing how children perceive parents and society. **In simple terms:** Stories teach role models and moral lessons. Key Takeaway Recognize narrative influence on values. Themes education family morality Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - parenting - school curricula - media consumption - cultural storytelling Key Concepts narrative theory socialization ethics Questions to Reflect On - Which stories have shaped your view of authority? - How can alternative narratives broaden understanding? A Different Perspective Stories can reinforce harmful stereotypes if unexamined. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born/) [Boys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boys/) [Casts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/casts/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Drama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drama/) [Eldest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eldest/) [Eldest son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eldest-son/) [Exile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exile/) [Hearing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hearing/) [Hearing Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hearing-stories-680838/) [Inheritance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inheritance/) [Kings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kings/) [Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost/) [Lost child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-child/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Misguided](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misguided/) [Mislearn Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mislearn-child-5169252/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/son/) [Stepmothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stepmothers/) [Stepmothers Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stepmothers-lost-5169253/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Swine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swine/) [Twins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twins/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wicked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wicked/) [Wicked stepmothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wicked-stepmothers-206294/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Youngest son](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/youngest-son/) ## Related quotes > [“It is through hearing about wicked stepmothers, lost children, good but misguided kings… that children learn or mislearn what a child and what a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ward/it-is-through-hearing-about-wicked-stepmothers-lost-children-good-but/) [Michael Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ward/) > [Things we are accustomed to regard as myth or fairy story are very much present in people's lives. Nice people behave like wicked stepmothers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-wynne-jones/things-we-are-accustomed-to-regard-as-myth-or-fairy-story-are-very/) [Diana Wynne Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-wynne-jones/) > [I always found the witches and wicked stepmothers far more interesting than the 'heroines' - at least they actually did something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-pinborough/i-always-found-the-witches-and-wicked-stepmothers-far-more/) [Sarah Pinborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-pinborough/) > [I've always thought it would be fun to update "Hansel and Gretel." I'd have these white parents in the suburbs with an income of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-ve-always-thought-it-would-be-fun-to-update-hansel-and-gretel-i-d/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Life and stories are alike in one way: They are full of hollows. The king and queen have no children: They have a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franny-billingsley/life-and-stories-are-alike-in-one-way-they-are-full-of-hollows-the/) [Franny Billingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franny-billingsley/) > [I thought it was her wicked stepmother who poisoned her...' '...Turned out the wicked stepmother had an alibi.' '...Seems she was off poisoning someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/i-thought-it-was-her-wicked-stepmother-who-poisoned-her-turned-out/) [John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/) > [“It is customary to have vampires in stories nowadays - they are quite the norm, just like wicked stepmothers used to be. Yes, vampires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-de-suza/it-is-customary-to-have-vampires-in-stories-nowadays-they-are-quite/) [Jane De Suza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-de-suza/) > [Jane was my wicked stepmother: she was generous, affectionate and resourceful; she salvaged my schooling and I owe her an unknowable debt for that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/jane-was-my-wicked-stepmother-she-was-generous-affectionate-and/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [I've always been involved with charities and things like that, but when I started communicating with the fans and hearing their stories about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-always-been-involved-with-charities-and-things-like-that-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think if you go back to the '60s and '70s, that music felt newer, you were hearing stories told for the first time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giveon/i-think-if-you-go-back-to-the-60s-and-70s-that-music-felt-newer-you/) [Giveon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giveon/) > [“Stories are important. We need them. It is through telling and hearing stories that we make sense of the world. Like dreams, they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-joyce/stories-are-important-we-need-them-it-is-through-telling-and-hearing/) [Rachel Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-joyce/) > [Over the years I have become convinced that we learn best - and change - from hearing stories that strike a chord within us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-kotter/over-the-years-i-have-become-convinced-that-we-learn-best-and-change-2/) [John P. Kotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-p-kotter/) > [I love hearing stories, telling stories, sharing stories. I've shared 37,000 on the Oprah show! Every day I was like the town crier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/i-love-hearing-stories-telling-stories-sharing-stories-i-ve-shared-37/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) > [Over the years I have become convinced that we learn best - and change - from hearing stories that strike a chord within us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-kotter/over-the-years-i-have-become-convinced-that-we-learn-best-and-change/) [John P. Kotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-p-kotter/) > [I love playing live and meeting a lot of the people and hearing their stories and how the music touches their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-tedeschi/i-love-playing-live-and-meeting-a-lot-of-the-people-and-hearing-their/) [Susan Tedeschi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-tedeschi/) ## More by Alasdair MacIntyre > [The bureaucratic manager, the consuming aesthete, the therapist, the protester and their numerous kindred occupy almost all the available culturally recognizable roles, the notions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-bureaucratic-manager-the-consuming-aesthete-the-therapist-the/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [Modern politics is civil war carried on by other means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/modern-politics-is-civil-war-carried-on-by-other-means/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [“the characterization of actions allegedly prior to any narrative form being imposed upon them will always turn out to be the presentation of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-characterization-of-actions-allegedly-prior-to-any-narrative-form/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [“Indeed, one of the functions of the structures of normality is that by making it unnecessary for almost everybody almost all the time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/indeed-one-of-the-functions-of-the-structures-of-normality-is-that-by/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [Facts, like telescopes and wigs for gentlemen, were a seventeenth century invention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/facts-like-telescopes-and-wigs-for-gentlemen-were-a-seventeenth/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [The good life for man is the life spent in seeking for the good life for man, and the virtues necessary for the seeking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-good-life-for-man-is-the-life-spent-in-seeking-for-the-good-life/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [Those emotive theorists who said that the function of moral utterance was to evince emotion would... have been correct if they had substituted the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/those-emotive-theorists-who-said-that-the-function-of-moral-utterance/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [Charles II once invited the members of the Royal Society to explain to him why a dead fish weighs more than the same fish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/charles-ii-once-invited-the-members-of-the-royal-society-to-explain/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [Morality which is no particular socity's morality is to be found nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/morality-which-is-no-particular-socity-s-morality-is-to-be-found/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [“The true genre of the life is neither hagiography nor saga, but tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-true-genre-of-the-life-is-neither-hagiography-nor-saga-but-tragedy/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [What our laws show is the extent and degree to which conflict has to be suppressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/what-our-laws-show-is-the-extent-and-degree-to-which-conflict-has-to/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [Modern systematic politics, whether liberal, conservative, radical, or socialist, simply has to be rejected from a standpoint that owes genuine allegiance to the tradition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/modern-systematic-politics-whether-liberal-conservative-radical-or/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [“unless there is a telos which transcends the limited goods of practices by constituting the good of a whole human life, the good of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/unless-there-is-a-telos-which-transcends-the-limited-goods-of/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [Traditions, when vital, embody continuities of conflict. Indeed when a tradition becomes Burkean, it is always dying or dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/traditions-when-vital-embody-continuities-of-conflict-indeed-when-a/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) > [The attempted professionalization of serious and systematic thinking has had a disastrous effect upon our culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-attempted-professionalization-of-serious-and-systematic-thinking/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) [Explore all 45 Alasdair MacIntyre quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) ## More Born quotes > [My mother says I didn't open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/my-mother-says-i-didn-t-open-my-eyes-for-eight-days-after-i-was-born/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [The real world out there isn't nearly as nice as some people prefer it to be, so don't swallow everything your high-born teachers tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-world-out-there-isn-t-nearly-as-nice-as-some-people-prefer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I know that in the rap game you've got a lot of people, that come from poverty, was born in poverty and if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-connor/i-know-that-in-the-rap-game-you-ve-got-a-lot-of-people-that-come-from/) [Jon Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-connor/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. 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I have a relative who is also gay. We can't help it if they were born that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-pacquiao/i-m-not-against-gay-people-i-have-a-relative-who-is-also-gay-we-can-t/) [Manny Pacquiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-pacquiao/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. 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I was born after Valentine's Day, so they wanted to change it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-romero/if-you-can-believe-it-hollywood-wanted-to-change-my-birthdate-i-was/) [Cesar Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-romero/) [Browse all 11,606 Born quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is through hearing stories about wicked stepmothers, lost children, good but misguided kings, wolves that suckle twin boys, youngest sons who receive no inheritance but must make their own way in the world, and eldest sons who waste their inheritance on riotous living and go into exile to live with the swine, that children learn or mislearn both what a child and what a parent is, what the cast of characters may be in the drama into which they have been born and what the ways of the world are.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alasdair MacIntyre" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wicked-stepmothers-lost-children/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Born" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wicked-stepmothers-lost-children/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/alasdair-macintyre-14695_born_it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wick_3066730.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/alasdair-macintyre-14695_born_it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wick_3066730.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/alasdair-macintyre-14695_born_it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wick_3066730.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is through hearing stories about wicked stepmothers, lost children, good but misguided kings, wolves that…” — Alasdair MacIntyre", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alasdair MacIntyre", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is through hearing stories about...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wicked-stepmothers-lost-children/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/it-is-through-hearing-stories-about-wicked-stepmothers-lost-children/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```