--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This earth that we live on is full of…" description: "\"This earth that we live on is full of stories in the same way that, for a fish, the ocean is full of ocean. Some people say when we are born we're born..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/834/ben-okri-3640_books_this-earth-that-we-live-on-is-full-of-st_860478.jpg" --- # This earth that we live on is full of stories in the same… ![“This earth that we live on is full of stories in the same way that, for a fish, the ocean is full of ocean. Some people say when we are born we're born into stories. I say we're also born from stories.” quote by Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/834/ben-okri-3640_books_this-earth-that-we-live-on-is-full-of-st_860478.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/834/ben-okri-3640_books_this-earth-that-we-live-on-is-full-of-st_860478.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/834/ben-okri-3640_books_this-earth-that-we-live-on-is-full-of-st_860478.jpg) > “This earth that we live on is full of stories in the same way that, for a fish, the ocean is full of ocean. Some people say when we are born we're born into stories. I say we're also born from stories.” [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. Life is saturated with stories, just as a fish perceives the ocean as full of water; we are both shaped by and shape stories. **In simple terms:** Life is full of stories, shaping us. Key Takeaway Recognize and craft the stories that define you. Themes storytelling identity culture Mood inspirational contemplative Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - education - media - personal development Key Concepts mythology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What stories define your perception? - How can you rewrite limiting narratives? A Different Perspective Stories can be limiting if they become rigid narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Her legend, which would sprout a thousand hallucinations, had been born in our midst – born of stories and rumours which, in time, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/her-legend-which-would-sprout-a-thousand-hallucinations-had-been-born/) [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/) > [The more life stories you have together, the more you have to say on stage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-tedeschi/the-more-life-stories-you-have-together-the-more-you-have-to-say-on/) [Susan Tedeschi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-tedeschi/) > [“One thing I’ve learned is that people are more receptive to opening up if you just give them time to work through whatever's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-hendricks/one-thing-i-ve-learned-is-that-people-are-more-receptive-to-opening/) Alison Hendricks > [People in life take on certain stories and say, 'I'm going to be defined by this story and I'm going to live up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stana-katic/people-in-life-take-on-certain-stories-and-say-i-m-going-to-be/) [Stana Katic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stana-katic/) > [“You believe in a book that has talking animals, wizards, witches, demons, sticks turning into snakes, food falling from the sky, people walking on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-barker/you-believe-in-a-book-that-has-talking-animals-wizards-witches-demons/) [Dan Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-barker/) > [“She shrugged. “I don’t know. The stories all say bad things happen to people who tamper with dark forces. But I can’t help thinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-william-brown/she-shrugged-i-don-t-know-the-stories-all-say-bad-things-happen-to/) [E. William Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-william-brown/) > [Short stories do not say this happened and this happened and this happened. They are a microcosm and a magnification rather than a linear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isobelle-carmody/short-stories-do-not-say-this-happened-and-this-happened-and-this/) [Isobelle Carmody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isobelle-carmody/) > [Sometimes fairy stories may say best what's to be said.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/sometimes-fairy-stories-may-say-best-what-s-to-be-said/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Predominantly I've worked with Blumhouse, and they've been really great to me. We are extremely grateful for employment. 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Those kind, the drama burns off, and every version,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/some-stories-she-d-say-the-more-you-tell-them-the-faster-you-use-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“The comfortable way to deal with these stories is to say they are about them The way to understand these stories is to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bowden/the-comfortable-way-to-deal-with-these-stories-is-to-say-they-are/) [Charles Bowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bowden/) > [I was born with this love for music, and I say 'born with' because I don't really remember a day waking up and deciding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-hayes/i-was-born-with-this-love-for-music-and-i-say-born-with-because-i-don/) [Hunter Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-hayes/) > [I think the best thing to say is that I was born to fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mirko-cro-cop/i-think-the-best-thing-to-say-is-that-i-was-born-to-fight/) [Mirko Cro Cop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mirko-cro-cop/) ## 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. 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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 Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. 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