--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the characterization of actions allegedly…" description: "\"“the characterization of actions allegedly prior to any narrative form being imposed upon them will always turn out to be the presentation of what are ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc6/alasdair-macintyre-14695_characterization_the-characterization-of-actions-allegedl_509306.jpg" --- # the characterization of actions allegedly prior to any… ![“the characterization of actions allegedly prior to any narrative form being imposed upon them will always turn out to be the presentation of what are plainly the disjointed parts of some possible narrative.” quote by Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc6/alasdair-macintyre-14695_characterization_the-characterization-of-actions-allegedl_509306.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc6/alasdair-macintyre-14695_characterization_the-characterization-of-actions-allegedl_509306.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc6/alasdair-macintyre-14695_characterization_the-characterization-of-actions-allegedl_509306.jpg) > ““the characterization of actions allegedly prior to any narrative form being imposed upon them will always turn out to be the presentation of what are plainly the disjointed parts of some possible narrative.”” [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. It suggests that attempting to describe actions without any narrative framework inevitably reveals them as fragmented pieces of a possible story. **In simple terms:** Describing actions without story shows them as disjoint parts. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden narratives in actions. Themes philosophy metanarrative interpretation Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - literary analysis - historical research - personal reflection Key Concepts Narrative theory fragmentation ontology Questions to Reflect On - How do we impose narratives on events? - Can we ever truly see actions without a story? A Different Perspective Narratives may still dominate perception despite attempts to avoid them. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Characterization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characterization/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Narrative Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative-form-1636465/) [Plainly Disjointed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plainly-disjointed-4320083/) [Possible Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possible-narrative-4320082/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) ## Related quotes > [We learn that our lives find narrative form neither in the tired, familiar slogans of our captains nor in the symmetries of ideological camps,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amitava-kumar/we-learn-that-our-lives-find-narrative-form-neither-in-the-tired/) [Amitava Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amitava-kumar/) > [It's probably why I'm a short story writer. I tend to remember things in the past in narrative form, in story form, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/it-s-probably-why-i-m-a-short-story-writer-i-tend-to-remember-things/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [What I've experienced, I'm trying to put in a narrative form, I suppose, to say that it does make sense in this way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/what-i-ve-experienced-i-m-trying-to-put-in-a-narrative-form-i-suppose/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [I'm handed a bunch of existing data. My job is to put that in the best narrative form. That is a puzzle I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-liftin/i-m-handed-a-bunch-of-existing-data-my-job-is-to-put-that-in-the-best/) [Hilary Liftin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-liftin/) > [I like the idea of building this wandering, epic narrative in a form that people don't expect epic narratives to appear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucas-neff/i-like-the-idea-of-building-this-wandering-epic-narrative-in-a-form/) [Lucas Neff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucas-neff/) > [I love the freedom that the narrative form provides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-sheldon/i-love-the-freedom-that-the-narrative-form-provides/) [Sidney Sheldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-sheldon/) > [The problem with a lot of narrative films is that they're not real enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-neville/the-problem-with-a-lot-of-narrative-films-is-that-they-re-not-real/) [Morgan Neville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-neville/) > [“When she smiles, the lines in her face become epic narratives that trace the stories of generations that no book can replace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-tyrone-jones/when-she-smiles-the-lines-in-her-face-become-epic-narratives-that/) [Curtis Tyrone Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-tyrone-jones/) > [I've had frustrated storytelling juices that have been lying dormant for a long time, and I guess the documentary was a way of me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bana/i-ve-had-frustrated-storytelling-juices-that-have-been-lying-dormant/) [Eric Bana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bana/) > [I think any new technology that helps connect and create social cohesion is great. But at the end of the day, you and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-guber/i-think-any-new-technology-that-helps-connect-and-create-social/) [Peter Guber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-guber/) > [A digital director shouldn't be out front, but a campaign manager's job is to set a narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-parscale/a-digital-director-shouldn-t-be-out-front-but-a-campaign-manager-s/) [Brad Parscale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-parscale/) > [My writing has always been what you call 'narrative fiction' in the sense that it's got very strong plots and twists at the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-horowitz/my-writing-has-always-been-what-you-call-narrative-fiction-in-the/) [Anthony Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-horowitz/) > [I've always been interested in medicine and was pleased when my brother became a doctor. But after thinking seriously about that field, I realized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-medicine-and-was-pleased-when-my/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [Your job as a writer is to find storylines, narrative structures, and characters to show the things that you believe rather than saying them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/your-job-as-a-writer-is-to-find-storylines-narrative-structures-and/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [If you do weave one-liners into a story, you have to have an overall story as well, otherwise it doesn't really count as narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/if-you-do-weave-one-liners-into-a-story-you-have-to-have-an-overall/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) ## 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/) > [“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/) > [I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/i-can-only-answer-the-question-what-am-i-to-do-if-i-can-answer-the/) [Alasdair MacIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) [Explore all 45 Alasdair MacIntyre quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-macintyre/) ## More Characterization quotes > [ Steve \[King\] has been incredibly supportive. He's also really good about getting back to me when I have questions about plot or characterization. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-furth/steve-king-has-been-incredibly-supportive-he-s-also-really-good-about/) [Robin Furth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-furth/) > [Sometimes after a compliment about my characterization skills, I'm asked if I model my characters on real people. Emphatically, no. And sort of, yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-weeks/sometimes-after-a-compliment-about-my-characterization-skills-i-m/) [Brent Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-weeks/) > [You can use the fun of the genre, but I also really wanted to come at it from the point of view of some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-hodges/you-can-use-the-fun-of-the-genre-but-i-also-really-wanted-to-come-at/) [Adrian Hodges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-hodges/) > [Characterization is not divorced from plot, not a coat of paint you slap on after the structure of events is already built. Rather characterization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-kress/characterization-is-not-divorced-from-plot-not-a-coat-of-paint-you/) [Nancy Kress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-kress/) > [“I do not know the man I should avoid So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much, He is a great observer, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-do-not-know-the-man-i-should-avoid-so-soon-as-that-spare-cassius-he/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Characterization requires self-knowledge, insight into human nature . . . it is more than impersonation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-surmelian/characterization-requires-self-knowledge-insight-into-human-nature-it/) [Leon Surmelian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-surmelian/) > [I think with any characterization there's a point where you empathize, no matter how much of a deviance his or her actions may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-cumberbatch/i-think-with-any-characterization-there-s-a-point-where-you-empathize/) [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedict-cumberbatch/) > [Now, learning how to make a movie is something you can figure out in about an afternoon. The physics of it, the marks, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/now-learning-how-to-make-a-movie-is-something-you-can-figure-out-in/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [Characterization requires a constant back-and-forth between the exterior events of the story and the inner life of the character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-corbett/characterization-requires-a-constant-back-and-forth-between-the/) [David Corbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-corbett/) > [There are technical tricks that may help you create more effective characters. My approach to characterization is not at all technical. I can't really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliet-marillier/there-are-technical-tricks-that-may-help-you-create-more-effective/) [Juliet Marillier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliet-marillier/) > [I think my wife would take objection to any characterization of me as perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-blair-henry/i-think-my-wife-would-take-objection-to-any-characterization-of-me-as/) [Peter Blair Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-blair-henry/) > [Because the world of this film begins and ends in the imagination of Tim Burton, you're not seeing a movie that's been shot on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/because-the-world-of-this-film-begins-and-ends-in-the-imagination-of/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [He defined me first, as parents do. Those early characterizations can become the shimmering self-image we embrace or the limited, stifling perception we rail…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-corrigan/he-defined-me-first-as-parents-do-those-early-characterizations-can/) [Kelly Corrigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-corrigan/) > [I get letters from adults saying that they love the books because they are more in-depth with characterization than the comics. The luxury of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-yee/i-get-letters-from-adults-saying-that-they-love-the-books-because/) [Lisa Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-yee/) > [“She wore a black pantsuit with a white silk shirt that had an almost metallic sheen to it. He wondered whom she had already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-rice/she-wore-a-black-pantsuit-with-a-white-silk-shirt-that-had-an-almost/) [Christopher Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-rice/) [Browse all 117 Characterization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characterization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“the characterization of actions allegedly prior to any narrative form being imposed upon them will always turn out to be the presentation of what are plainly the disjointed parts of some possible narrative.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alasdair MacIntyre" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-characterization-of-actions-allegedly-prior-to-any-narrative-form/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Characterization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-characterization-of-actions-allegedly-prior-to-any-narrative-form/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc6/alasdair-macintyre-14695_characterization_the-characterization-of-actions-allegedl_509306.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc6/alasdair-macintyre-14695_characterization_the-characterization-of-actions-allegedl_509306.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc6/alasdair-macintyre-14695_characterization_the-characterization-of-actions-allegedl_509306.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the characterization of actions allegedly prior to any narrative form being imposed upon them will always…” — 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": "“the characterization of actions allegedly prior...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-characterization-of-actions-allegedly-prior-to-any-narrative-form/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-macintyre/the-characterization-of-actions-allegedly-prior-to-any-narrative-form/#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 } } ] } ```