--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And it was always the stories that needed…" description: "\"And it was always the stories that needed the telling that gave us the rope we could cross any river with. They balanced us high above any crevasse. Th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cad/ali-smith-1801_balanced_and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-neede_454139.jpg" --- # And it was always the stories that needed the telling that… ![“And it was always the stories that needed the telling that gave us the rope we could cross any river with. They balanced us high above any crevasse. They made us be natural acrobats. They made us brave. They met us well. They changed us. It was in their nature to.” quote by Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cad/ali-smith-1801_balanced_and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-neede_454139.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cad/ali-smith-1801_balanced_and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-neede_454139.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cad/ali-smith-1801_balanced_and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-neede_454139.jpg) > “And it was always the stories that needed the telling that gave us the rope we could cross any river with. They balanced us high above any crevasse. They made us be natural acrobats. They made us brave. They met us well. They changed us. It was in their nature to.” [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories give us the courage and tools to navigate challenges, acting as bridges over obstacles. **In simple terms:** Stories empower us to face difficulties. Key Takeaway Use storytelling to inspire resilience. Themes courage storytelling resilience Mood hopeful reflective Type inspirational literary When to use this quote - overcoming grief - team building - personal growth Key Concepts narrative therapy psychological scaffolding heroic archetype Questions to Reflect On - What story has helped you cross a personal obstacle? - How can you craft narratives that support others? A Different Perspective Stories may oversimplify complex problems if taken literally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brave/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) ## Related quotes > [Ani told them all...telling more than needed telling, the stories clarifying and unifying themselves in her mind as she let them spill out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-hale/ani-told-them-all-telling-more-than-needed-telling-the-stories/) [Shannon Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-hale/) > [It's quite ironic I suppose, it's that thing about being in a group when you all start out as friends and then invariably end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hook/it-s-quite-ironic-i-suppose-it-s-that-thing-about-being-in-a-group/) [Peter Hook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hook/) > [“Gulls, aeroplaning above the chimney pots, were calling that he must talk to Laura about his plans. He needed no telling, for once in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-sillitoe/gulls-aeroplaning-above-the-chimney-pots-were-calling-that-he-must/) [Alan Sillitoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-sillitoe/) > [Food is no longer sacred to us: in becoming too efficient we've changed its nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-oz/food-is-no-longer-sacred-to-us-in-becoming-too-efficient-we-ve/) [Mehmet Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-oz/) > [Television has changed. The very nature of it is not even television anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-roth/television-has-changed-the-very-nature-of-it-is-not-even-television/) [Tim Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-roth/) > [The whole cable-TV original programming just changed the nature of television.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anson-mount/the-whole-cable-tv-original-programming-just-changed-the-nature-of/) [Anson Mount](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anson-mount/) > [Nothing has changed the nature of man so much as the loss of silence,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-picard/nothing-has-changed-the-nature-of-man-so-much-as-the-loss-of-silence/) [Max Picard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-picard/) > [There are moments when a rope's end, a pole, the branch of the tree, is life itself, and it is a frightful thing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-are-moments-when-a-rope-s-end-a-pole-the-branch-of-the-tree-is/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [A bird on a tether, no matter how long the rope, can always be pulled back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/a-bird-on-a-tether-no-matter-how-long-the-rope-can-always-be-pulled/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Once we are bound together to our brothers by a common good that is outside us, then we can breathe. Experience teaches us that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/once-we-are-bound-together-to-our-brothers-by-a-common-good-that-is/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Climbing has worked for me in a number of ways on Capitol Hill. I'm much more inclined to look at what people do, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-udall/climbing-has-worked-for-me-in-a-number-of-ways-on-capitol-hill-i-m/) [Mark Udall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-udall/) > [My familiarity with the successful use of very long steel ropes for mining purposes naturally suggested their adaptation to the new purpose of deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-agassiz/my-familiarity-with-the-successful-use-of-very-long-steel-ropes-for/) Alexander Agassiz > [The past is an anchor with suffering written on the rope. I don't live there now. I am cutting myself free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-millar/the-past-is-an-anchor-with-suffering-written-on-the-rope-i-don-t-live/) [Mark Millar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-millar/) > [I've been working with a holistic specialist, trying to bring my body into balance, and part of making that happen is putting my mom's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corbin-bernsen/i-ve-been-working-with-a-holistic-specialist-trying-to-bring-my-body/) [Corbin Bernsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corbin-bernsen/) > [Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-blunders-are-often-made-like-large-ropes-of-a-multitude-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More by Ali Smith > [As for Aliki - if you were to stand in the middle of Rome and say the name Sophia Loren, or Paris and say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/as-for-aliki-if-you-were-to-stand-in-the-middle-of-rome-and-say-the/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“Elisabeth had been listening to the programme in the bath. She'd switched the radio off after it and wondered if she'd be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/elisabeth-had-been-listening-to-the-programme-in-the-bath-she-d/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [There is a kind of poetry, bad and good, in evrything, everywhere we look.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/there-is-a-kind-of-poetry-bad-and-good-in-evrything-everywhere-we-look/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“human beings can’t be legends, being mortal,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/human-beings-can-t-be-legends-being-mortal/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“I could lick it off with my tongue, if I had a tongue again, if my tongue was wet, and I could taste it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/i-could-lick-it-off-with-my-tongue-if-i-had-a-tongue-again-if-my/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“How very disappointing truth is sometimes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/how-very-disappointing-truth-is-sometimes/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“...he had simply typed the words something beautiful into the Google images box. Up came a picture of some leaves against the sun. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/he-had-simply-typed-the-words-something-beautiful-into-the-google/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“Is there any escaping the junkshop of the self?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/is-there-any-escaping-the-junkshop-of-the-self/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [What shop did this book come from? she asked. Her father was looking worried at the cooker. He always got rice wrong. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/what-shop-did-this-book-come-from-she-asked-her-father-was-looking/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [What's the point of art, of any art, if it doesn't let us see with a little bit of objectivity where we are?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/what-s-the-point-of-art-of-any-art-if-it-doesn-t-let-us-see-with-a/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [If you can read the world as a construct, you can ask questions of the construct, and you can suggest ways to change the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/if-you-can-read-the-world-as-a-construct-you-can-ask-questions-of-the/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“I’m tired of the news. I’m tired of the way it makes things spectacular that aren’t, and deals so simplistically with what’s truly appalling.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/i-m-tired-of-the-news-i-m-tired-of-the-way-it-makes-things/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“(this is before we're living together, before we do the most faithful act of all, mix our separate books into one library)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/this-is-before-we-re-living-together-before-we-do-the-most-faithful/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [“Believe me. Everything is meant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/believe-me-everything-is-meant/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) > [ \[Property\] is a brilliant, chillingly revelatory piece of fiction, a work of craft, economy and such good merciless observation-one of those rare, crucial novels… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/property-is-a-brilliant-chillingly-revelatory-piece-of-fiction-a-work/) [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) [Explore all 199 Ali Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) ## More Balanced quotes > [There were moments, of course. Those small spaces in time, too soon gone, when everything seems to stand still, and existence is balanced on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/there-were-moments-of-course-those-small-spaces-in-time-too-soon-gone/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [If our homes should provide anything, they should provide a sense of who we are and how we got here, a sense of connection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-conran/if-our-homes-should-provide-anything-they-should-provide-a-sense-of/) [Terence Conran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-conran/) > [But change must always be balanced with some degree of consistency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-d-burton/but-change-must-always-be-balanced-with-some-degree-of-consistency/) [Ron D. Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-d-burton/) > [I want my whole life to be a great work of art, not just my art. And that means paying attention to my entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jewel/i-want-my-whole-life-to-be-a-great-work-of-art-not-just-my-art-and/) [Jewel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jewel/) > [The cultural integration of psychedelics won't happen overnight, and the question of young people is perhaps the most difficult involved. The first step is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-doblin/the-cultural-integration-of-psychedelics-won-t-happen-overnight-and/) [Rick Doblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-doblin/) > [While opponents label (Howard) Dean a throwback liberal, The New York Times recently noted that as governor, Dean cut income taxes, reformed welfare and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/while-opponents-label-howard-dean-a-throwback-liberal-the-new-york/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [Defense spending as a share of the economy dropped significantly during the early 1990s, and that was one of the things, along with other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-orszag/defense-spending-as-a-share-of-the-economy-dropped-significantly/) Peter Orszag > [All fits of pleasure are balanced by an equal degree of pain or languor; it is like spending this year part of the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/all-fits-of-pleasure-are-balanced-by-an-equal-degree-of-pain-or/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [The most significant halachic authority of the last 100 years, whose positions helped fashion a balanced and moderate Judaism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovadia-yosef/the-most-significant-halachic-authority-of-the-last-100-years-whose/) [Ovadia Yosef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovadia-yosef/) > [Youth is seen as everything. You don't know anything when you're young. It's great being older, just having a more balanced perspective. I wake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-kilmer/youth-is-seen-as-everything-you-don-t-know-anything-when-you-re-young/) [Val Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-kilmer/) > [Like, if you look at Heidi Montag, who got 10 surgeries she didn't need, I think that's unfortunate. I've always been voluptuous with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-madison/like-if-you-look-at-heidi-montag-who-got-10-surgeries-she-didn-t-need/) [Holly Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-madison/) > [For the first time in longer than I can remember, I feel peaceful. Not happy. Not sad. Not anxious. Not horny. Just all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/for-the-first-time-in-longer-than-i-can-remember-i-feel-peaceful-not/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Jane' is really about finding that thing in your life to keep you balanced and free from stress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/skip-marley/jane-is-really-about-finding-that-thing-in-your-life-to-keep-you/) [Skip Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/skip-marley/) > [I was the chairman of the House Budget Committee and one of the chief architects the last time we balanced a budget, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kasich/i-was-the-chairman-of-the-house-budget-committee-and-one-of-the-chief/) [John Kasich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kasich/) > [I do try to watch it. I'm not saying you have to put yourself on a diet, because I hate the word "diet." But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-sims/i-do-try-to-watch-it-i-m-not-saying-you-have-to-put-yourself-on-a/) [Molly Sims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-sims/) Browse all 909 Balanced quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "And it was always the stories that needed the telling that gave us the rope we could cross any river with. They balanced us high above any crevasse. They made us be natural acrobats. They made us brave. They met us well. They changed us. It was in their nature to.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ali Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-needed-the-telling-that-gave-us/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Balanced" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-needed-the-telling-that-gave-us/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cad/ali-smith-1801_balanced_and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-neede_454139.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cad/ali-smith-1801_balanced_and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-neede_454139.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cad/ali-smith-1801_balanced_and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-neede_454139.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And it was always the stories that needed the telling that gave us the rope we could cross any river with…” — Ali Smith", "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": "Ali Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "And it was always the stories...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-needed-the-telling-that-gave-us/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-smith/and-it-was-always-the-stories-that-needed-the-telling-that-gave-us/#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 } } ] } ```