--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Her legend, which would sprout a thousand…" description: "\"“Her legend, which would sprout a thousand hallucinations, had been born in our midst – born of stories and rumours which, in time, would become some o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0d/ben-okri-3640_time_her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand_1950781.jpg" --- # Her legend, which would sprout a thousand hallucinations… ![“Her legend, which would sprout a thousand hallucinations, had been born in our midst – born of stories and rumours which, in time, would become some of the most extravagant realities of our lives.” quote by Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0d/ben-okri-3640_time_her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand_1950781.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0d/ben-okri-3640_time_her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand_1950781.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0d/ben-okri-3640_time_her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand_1950781.jpg) > ““Her legend, which would sprout a thousand hallucinations, had been born in our midst – born of stories and rumours which, in time, would become some of the most extravagant realities of our lives.”” [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories and rumors grow into powerful myths that shape reality for a community. **In simple terms:** Stories become myths that shape lives. Key Takeaway Recognize the power of narrative. Themes myth formation power Mood thoughtful poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - community building - political discourse - media storytelling - cultural preservation Key Concepts narrative construction collective memory social influence Questions to Reflect On - How do you distinguish myth from fact? - What role do rumors play in your life? A Different Perspective Myths can distort truth and manipulate people. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Rumours](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rumours/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [This earth that we live on is full of stories in the same way that, for a fish, the ocean is full of ocean.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/this-earth-that-we-live-on-is-full-of-stories-in-the-same-way-that/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [We are each born into a situation-a particular body (its race, sex, health...), a set of ancestors, a community, a nation-and born into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/we-are-each-born-into-a-situation-a-particular-body-its-race-sex/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [Sometimes I have songs born out of stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bob-thornton/sometimes-i-have-songs-born-out-of-stories/) [Billy Bob Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bob-thornton/) > [I don't think it's my duty to dismiss rumours which other people invent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mats-hummels/i-don-t-think-it-s-my-duty-to-dismiss-rumours-which-other-people/) [Mats Hummels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mats-hummels/) > [People are always going to say stuff about you and there are always going to be crazy rumours out there, but as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-hudgens/people-are-always-going-to-say-stuff-about-you-and-there-are-always/) [Vanessa Hudgens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-hudgens/) > [ Nigeria \[in 1990\] was all rumour, an unbelievable amount of rumour - largely about crime and almost mythical manifestations of evil. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem-koolhaas/nigeria-in-1990-was-all-rumour-an-unbelievable-amount-of-rumour/) [Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem-koolhaas/) > [Rumour is a pipe Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures And of so easy and so plain a stop That the blunt monster with uncounted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/rumour-is-a-pipe-blown-by-surmises-jealousies-conjectures-and-of-so/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Memory itself is an internal rumour; and when to this hearsay within the mind we add the falsified echoes that reach us from others,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/memory-itself-is-an-internal-rumour-and-when-to-this-hearsay-within/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [“How was it possible that the most honourable man she knew should be so overwhelmed by foul and baseless rumours? It made you suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-madox-ford/how-was-it-possible-that-the-most-honourable-man-she-knew-should-be/) [Ford Madox Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-madox-ford/) > [Her father had taught her about hands. About a dog's paws. Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/her-father-had-taught-her-about-hands-about-a-dog-s-paws-whenever-her/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [You look out into the audience and you see so much joy on people's faces. You make eye contact with people who are almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-mcvie/you-look-out-into-the-audience-and-you-see-so-much-joy-on-people-s/) [Christine McVie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-mcvie/) > [The trainee knew he should leave, but he was unable to look away. He'd never seen anything snap out so fast or strike so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/the-trainee-knew-he-should-leave-but-he-was-unable-to-look-away-he-d/) [J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/) > [Some writing courses will advise you to write what you know. I've always thought this is very odd advice ... because it means, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-scott/some-writing-courses-will-advise-you-to-write-what-you-know-i-ve/) [Michael Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-scott/) > [ A mind conscious of right laughs at the falsehoods of rumour. \[Lat., Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/a-mind-conscious-of-right-laughs-at-the-falsehoods-of-rumour-lat/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Twitter is wonderful. You can kill rumours instantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/twitter-is-wonderful-you-can-kill-rumours-instantly/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) ## More by Ben Okri > [We never think that our mothers will die. It was like suddenly an abyss opened at my feet - I was standing on nothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/we-never-think-that-our-mothers-will-die-it-was-like-suddenly-an/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [“In a fractured age, when cynicism is god, here is a possible heresy: we live by stories, we also live in them. One way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/in-a-fractured-age-when-cynicism-is-god-here-is-a-possible-heresy-we/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The best writing is not about the writer, the best writing is absolutely not about the writer, it's about us, it's about the reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-best-writing-is-not-about-the-writer-the-best-writing-is/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Maybe there are only three kinds of stories: those we live, those we tell, and those that help our souls fly upwards to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/maybe-there-are-only-three-kinds-of-stories-those-we-live-those-we/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The earliest storytellers were magi, seers, bards, griots, shamans. They were, it would seem, old as time, and as terrifying to gaze upon as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-earliest-storytellers-were-magi-seers-bards-griots-shamans-they/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [An inner darkness is darker than an outer darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/an-inner-darkness-is-darker-than-an-outer-darkness/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [The strange thing about Africa is how past, present and future come together in a kind of rough jazz, if you like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/the-strange-thing-about-africa-is-how-past-present-and-future-come/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Our time here is magic! It's the only space you have to realize whatever it is that is beautiful, whatever is true, whatever is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/our-time-here-is-magic-it-s-the-only-space-you-have-to-realize/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Fire is one of my temperaments. It is behind all my work... Fire is a chemical presence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/fire-is-one-of-my-temperaments-it-is-behind-all-my-work-fire-is-a/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [I lived rough, by my wits, was homeless, lived on the streets, lived on friends' floors, was happy, was miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/i-lived-rough-by-my-wits-was-homeless-lived-on-the-streets-lived-on/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [If we could be pure dancers in spirit we would never be afraid to love, and we would love with strength and wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/if-we-could-be-pure-dancers-in-spirit-we-would-never-be-afraid-to/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Without stories we would go mad. Life would lose its moorings or lose its orientations. even in silence we are living our stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/without-stories-we-would-go-mad-life-would-lose-its-moorings-or-lose/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Literature doesn't have a country. Shakespeare is an African writer. His Falstaff, for example, is very African in his appetite for life, his largeness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/literature-doesn-t-have-a-country-shakespeare-is-an-african-writer/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [“So long as a canvas is empty its potential is infinite… The empty canvas can become a gateway into the landscape of nightmares or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/so-long-as-a-canvas-is-empty-its-potential-is-infinite-the-empty/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went there because of Dickens and Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/i-went-to-london-because-for-me-it-was-the-home-of-literature-i-went/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) [Explore all 124 Ben Okri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) ## More Heart quotes > [Against his own will, almost, Will felt himself understanding; he would have done anything, he thought, told any lie, taken any risk, to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/against-his-own-will-almost-will-felt-himself-understanding-he-would/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“He held her like a new woman and what she felt felt almost as good as love had, and each of them called it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/he-held-her-like-a-new-woman-and-what-she-felt-felt-almost-as-good-as/) [Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [My heart jumps out of its cage to see what the fuss is about. Damn thing. Always so hopeful, but my voice hides it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-wylie/my-heart-jumps-out-of-its-cage-to-see-what-the-fuss-is-about-damn/) [Sarah Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-wylie/) > [I love because there is not enough room in my heart to hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rena-kornreich-gelissen/i-love-because-there-is-not-enough-room-in-my-heart-to-hate/) Rena Kornreich Gelissen > [“He didn't break my heart. No one can break your heart except you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/he-didn-t-break-my-heart-no-one-can-break-your-heart-except-you/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [The United States cannot and should not discriminate on the basis of religion. The free exercise of religion is at the very heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pence/the-united-states-cannot-and-should-not-discriminate-on-the-basis-of/) [Mike Pence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pence/) > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When we are capable of living in the moment free from the tyranny of "shoulds," free from the nagging sensation that this moment isn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-z-borysenko/when-we-are-capable-of-living-in-the-moment-free-from-the-tyranny-of/) [Joan Z. Borysenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-z-borysenko/) > [My father longed for a better life for us, and when I was nine he got a job as a heart surgeon in Belfast.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-melua/my-father-longed-for-a-better-life-for-us-and-when-i-was-nine-he-got/) [Katie Melua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-melua/) > [O tiger's heart wrapped in a woman's hide!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-tiger-s-heart-wrapped-in-a-woman-s-hide/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Love will fan the flame, and that flame will warm the heart that's waiting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-w-smith/love-will-fan-the-flame-and-that-flame-will-warm-the-heart-that-s/) [Michael W. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-w-smith/) > [Always have the fear of God in your heart, and remember that God is always with you, everywhere, whether you are walking or sitting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennadius-of-constantinople/always-have-the-fear-of-god-in-your-heart-and-remember-that-god-is/) [Gennadius of Constantinople](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennadius-of-constantinople/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“She couldn't break the orbit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-schwab/she-couldn-t-break-the-orbit/) [Victoria Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-schwab/) [Browse all 45,172 Heart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Her legend, which would sprout a thousand hallucinations, had been born in our midst – born of stories and rumours which, in time, would become some of the most extravagant realities of our lives.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ben Okri" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand-hallucinations-had-been-born/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Heart" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand-hallucinations-had-been-born/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0d/ben-okri-3640_time_her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand_1950781.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0d/ben-okri-3640_time_her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand_1950781.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0d/ben-okri-3640_time_her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand_1950781.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Her legend, which would sprout a thousand hallucinations, had been born in our midst – born of stories and…” — Ben Okri", "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": "Ben Okri", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Her legend, which would sprout a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand-hallucinations-had-been-born/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand-hallucinations-had-been-born/#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 } } ] } ```