--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The telling of stories creates the real…" description: "\"The telling of stories creates the real world.\" — Alberto Manguel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/alberto-manguel-2467_real_the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real_2876165.jpg" --- # The telling of stories creates the real world. ![“The telling of stories creates the real world.” quote by Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/alberto-manguel-2467_real_the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real_2876165.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/alberto-manguel-2467_real_the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real_2876165.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/alberto-manguel-2467_real_the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real_2876165.jpg) > “The telling of stories creates the real world.” [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Narratives shape reality by giving structure to ideas and influencing collective belief. **In simple terms:** Stories create the world we live in. Key Takeaway Use stories to frame goals. Themes storytelling reality creation Mood inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - branding - political speeches - education - personal narratives Key Concepts constructivism mythmaking Questions to Reflect On - What narratives define your life? - How can you rewrite limiting stories? A Different Perspective Stories can also distort truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Real world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-world/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) [Telling stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-stories/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Everyone has their own way of telling stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prosenjit-chatterjee/everyone-has-their-own-way-of-telling-stories/) [Prosenjit Chatterjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prosenjit-chatterjee/) > [I love telling stories. You know why I love it? Because people love listening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-bastianich/i-love-telling-stories-you-know-why-i-love-it-because-people-love/) [Lidia Bastianich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-bastianich/) > [I'm not against people just being funny or telling stories. I don't need to delve into the soft, dark core all the time. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-maron/i-m-not-against-people-just-being-funny-or-telling-stories-i-don-t/) [Marc Maron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-maron/) > [My dad hasn't said much about his college days. Oh, a few times, he might start telling stories. And I've seen some highlight film…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-luck/my-dad-hasn-t-said-much-about-his-college-days-oh-a-few-times-he/) [Andrew Luck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-luck/) > [It's the big question of every TV show, right, where you have these two people who it's clear the world wants to put them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-j-adams/it-s-the-big-question-of-every-tv-show-right-where-you-have-these-two/) [Patrick J. Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-j-adams/) > [I love telling stories, and am almost entirely unable to keep a secret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-macintyre/i-love-telling-stories-and-am-almost-entirely-unable-to-keep-a-secret/) [Ben Macintyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-macintyre/) > [It sounds trite, but I like telling stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-hall/it-sounds-trite-but-i-like-telling-stories/) [Rebecca Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-hall/) > [Writing is solitary. You spend so much time alone and in your own mind, telling stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/writing-is-solitary-you-spend-so-much-time-alone-and-in-your-own-mind/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [Well, acting itself is a form of rebellion, always. Getting up there in front of people, telling stories - you're kind of going against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cusack/well-acting-itself-is-a-form-of-rebellion-always-getting-up-there-in/) [John Cusack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cusack/) > [Playing with different genres and perspectives and ways of telling stories is one of the perks of being a novelist, but at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linn-ullmann/playing-with-different-genres-and-perspectives-and-ways-of-telling/) Linn Ullmann > [When I was 20, I used to go around telling stories, and I knew where I was comfortable - onstage, talking, making 'em laugh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-white/when-i-was-20-i-used-to-go-around-telling-stories-and-i-knew-where-i/) [Ron White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-white/) > [I just I love telling stories and as long as I can make my living doing that in all the different mediums that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-buffalo-mailer/i-just-i-love-telling-stories-and-as-long-as-i-can-make-my-living/) [John Buffalo Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-buffalo-mailer/) > [Manchester Youth theater, then the National Student Theater Company, and later, my degree course, all helped form my love of telling stories and directing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-chadwick/manchester-youth-theater-then-the-national-student-theater-company/) [Justin Chadwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-chadwick/) > [“I am not trying to make a point by telling stories. Chosen examples are never serious evidence for any worthwhile generalization.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-am-not-trying-to-make-a-point-by-telling-stories-chosen-examples/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [I grew up in Sierra Leone, in a small village where as a boy my imagination was sparked by the oral tradition of storytelling.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ishmael-beah/i-grew-up-in-sierra-leone-in-a-small-village-where-as-a-boy-my/) [Ishmael Beah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ishmael-beah/) ## More by Alberto Manguel > [Most readers, then and now, have at some time experienced the humiliation of being told that their occupation is reprehensible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/most-readers-then-and-now-have-at-some-time-experienced-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Libraries, whether my own or shared with a greater reading public, have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/libraries-whether-my-own-or-shared-with-a-greater-reading-public-have/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [At different times and in different places I have come to expect certain books to look a certain way, and, as in all fashions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/at-different-times-and-in-different-places-i-have-come-to-expect/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I have no feelings of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-have-no-feelings-of-guilt-regarding-the-books-i-have-not-read-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Then one day, from the window of a car (the destination of that journey is now forgotten), I saw a billboard by the side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/then-one-day-from-the-window-of-a-car-the-destination-of-that-journey/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The shelves of books we haven't written, like those of books we haven't read, stretches out into the darkness of the universal library's farthest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-shelves-of-books-we-haven-t-written-like-those-of-books-we-haven/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“I have no feeling of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-have-no-feeling-of-guilt-regarding-the-books-i-have-not-read-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Old books that we have known but not possessed cross our path and invite themselves over. New books try to seduce us daily with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/old-books-that-we-have-known-but-not-possessed-cross-our-path-and/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Ordered by subject, by importance, ordered according to whether the book was penned by God or by one of God's creatures, ordered alphabetically or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ordered-by-subject-by-importance-ordered-according-to-whether-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [The starting point is a question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-starting-point-is-a-question/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“Ljubav je imbecilna izvesnost pomoću koje naša fantazija stvara verodostojnu utvaru.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/ljubav-je-imbecilna-izvesnost-pomo-u-koje-na-a-fantazija-stvara/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [I know that something dies when i give up my books, and that my memory keeps going back to them with mournful nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/i-know-that-something-dies-when-i-give-up-my-books-and-that-my-memory/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Something about the possession of a book - an object that can contain infinite fables, words of wisdom, chronicles of times gone by, humorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/something-about-the-possession-of-a-book-an-object-that-can-contain/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/maybe-this-is-why-we-read-and-why-in-moments-of-darkness-we-return-to/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [As centuries of dictators have known, an illiterate crowd is the easiest to rule; since the craft of reading cannot be untaught once it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/as-centuries-of-dictators-have-known-an-illiterate-crowd-is-the/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) [Explore all 159 Alberto Manguel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) ## More Real quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I feel like I definitely have a real sporty style, more so than a lot of people in G.O.O.D. Music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/i-feel-like-i-definitely-have-a-real-sporty-style-more-so-than-a-lot/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [I am very sad that some designers are still using real fur when the fake alternatives are so effective and so easily obtainable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twiggy/i-am-very-sad-that-some-designers-are-still-using-real-fur-when-the/) [Twiggy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twiggy/) > [I just speak the truth. I keep it real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlon-vera/i-just-speak-the-truth-i-keep-it-real/) [Marlon Vera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlon-vera/) > [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/) > [But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-sarabhai/but-we-are-convinced-that-if-we-are-to-play-a-meaningful-role/) [Vikram Sarabhai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-sarabhai/) > [I rap when I'm rich. I rap when I'm broke. I rap when I'm bullshit in the street. I rap about only having one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/killer-mike/i-rap-when-i-m-rich-i-rap-when-i-m-broke-i-rap-when-i-m-bullshit-in/) [Killer Mike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/killer-mike/) > [She smiled, if he could see that, and waited for him to ask the real question. But he was silent. He wanted her to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-shinn/she-smiled-if-he-could-see-that-and-waited-for-him-to-ask-the-real/) [Sharon Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-shinn/) > [Jobs and money are never the primary cause of stress. Thinking, negative thinking causes stress. The real cause of all problems lie in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/jobs-and-money-are-never-the-primary-cause-of-stress-thinking/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [I'm not gonna squeal out that this is my 23rd retirement, my real, real retirement. But you know there comes a time where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-funk/i-m-not-gonna-squeal-out-that-this-is-my-23rd-retirement-my-real-real/) [Terry Funk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-funk/) > [My very first real job in the industry was as a production assistant on a show called 'Infinity Factory' in 1976.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-hammer/my-very-first-real-job-in-the-industry-was-as-a-production-assistant/) [Bonnie Hammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-hammer/) > [My real name's McGill. The Jew thing I just do for the homeboys. 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We need specialists to keep our jets flying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-schroeder/a-draft-doesn-t-produce-the-people-we-need-to-satisfy-our-real/) [Patricia Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-schroeder/) Browse all 32,419 Real quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The telling of stories creates the real world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alberto Manguel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real-world/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Real" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real-world/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/alberto-manguel-2467_real_the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real_2876165.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/alberto-manguel-2467_real_the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real_2876165.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/alberto-manguel-2467_real_the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real_2876165.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The telling of stories creates the real world.” — Alberto Manguel", "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": "Alberto Manguel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The telling of stories creates the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real-world/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/the-telling-of-stories-creates-the-real-world/#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 } } ] } ```