--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because Dickens and Dostoyevsky and Woody…" description: "\"Because Dickens and Dostoyevsky and Woody Guthrie were telling their stories much better than I ever could, I decided to stick to my own mind.\" — Bob D..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73f/bob-dylan-168_decided_because-dickens-and-dostoyevsky-and-wood_761960.jpg" --- # Because Dickens and Dostoyevsky and Woody Guthrie were… ![“Because Dickens and Dostoyevsky and Woody Guthrie were telling their stories much better than I ever could, I decided to stick to my own mind.” quote by Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73f/bob-dylan-168_decided_because-dickens-and-dostoyevsky-and-wood_761960.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73f/bob-dylan-168_decided_because-dickens-and-dostoyevsky-and-wood_761960.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73f/bob-dylan-168_decided_because-dickens-and-dostoyevsky-and-wood_761960.jpg) > “Because Dickens and Dostoyevsky and Woody Guthrie were telling their stories much better than I ever could, I decided to stick to my own mind.” [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing great storytellers succeed led to focusing on personal mental creativity rather than imitation. **In simple terms:** Great storytellers inspire personal focus. Key Takeaway Cultivate your own voice. Themes creativity individuality inspiration Mood reflective determined Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - writing - music composition - artistic projects Key Concepts authenticity selfexpression Questions to Reflect On - How do you define your unique voice? - What steps nurture originality? A Different Perspective Comparison may cause self‑doubt. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Telling stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-stories/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I think that most creative fiction involves the transformational process, whether it is Dickens or Dostoyevsky and the writer in some sense is expressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-p-young/i-think-that-most-creative-fiction-involves-the-transformational/) [William P. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-p-young/) > [...you could listen to Woody Guthrie songs and actually learn how to live ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-could-listen-to-woody-guthrie-songs-and-actually-learn-how-to-live/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [My best songs were written very quickly. Just about as much time as it takes to write it down is about as long as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/my-best-songs-were-written-very-quickly-just-about-as-much-time-as-it/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [You'll find God in the church of your choice, you'll find Woody Guthrie in the Brooklyn State Hospital.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-ll-find-god-in-the-church-of-your-choice-you-ll-find-woody/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [In writing songs, I've learned as much from Cezanne as I have from Woody Guthrie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/in-writing-songs-i-ve-learned-as-much-from-cezanne-as-i-have-from/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Interviewing politicians and movie stars, you know what you'll get. I like the people-stories better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shepard-smith/interviewing-politicians-and-movie-stars-you-know-what-you-ll-get-i/) [Shepard Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shepard-smith/) > [If you teach kids how to tell stories, they have a better chance at everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/if-you-teach-kids-how-to-tell-stories-they-have-a-better-chance-at/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [With Groo, I try to do one story every book. Sometimes the stories are better if they go a little longer, and I choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-aragones/with-groo-i-try-to-do-one-story-every-book-sometimes-the-stories-are/) [Sergio Aragones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-aragones/) > [People remember stories much better than they remember a straight list of teachings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-borg/people-remember-stories-much-better-than-they-remember-a-straight/) [Marcus Borg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-borg/) > [Writers tell stories better, because they've had more practice, but everyone has a book in them. Yes, that old cliche.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/writers-tell-stories-better-because-they-ve-had-more-practice-but/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [I liked myths. They weren't adult stories and they weren't children's stories. They were better than that. They just were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-liked-myths-they-weren-t-adult-stories-and-they-weren-t-children-s/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Stories always seem to get better with age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-connolly/stories-always-seem-to-get-better-with-age/) [Kevin Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-connolly/) > [“Our favorite stories can be like lovers. Make sense to me, we ask them. Make sense of me. Here, fix these hurting parts. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-febos/our-favorite-stories-can-be-like-lovers-make-sense-to-me-we-ask-them/) [Melissa Febos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-febos/) > [I liked myths. They weren't adult stories and they weren't children stories. They were better than that. They just were. Adult stories never made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-liked-myths-they-weren-t-adult-stories-and-they-weren-t-children/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [What's the fundamental problem that VR solves better than anything? To me it's straightforward. It's story. VR tells stories better than any medium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brianna-wu/what-s-the-fundamental-problem-that-vr-solves-better-than-anything-to/) [Brianna Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brianna-wu/) ## More by Bob Dylan > [The hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-hollow-horn-plays-wasted-words-proves-to-warn-that-he-not-busy/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't forget to support your public library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-forget-to-support-your-public-library/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [You don't count the dead, when god's on your side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-don-t-count-the-dead-when-god-s-on-your-side/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She makes love just like a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-makes-love-just-like-a-woman/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I don't really have a retirement plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-really-have-a-retirement-plan/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Just a reminder, if you tell anyone about what happened with Jonah last night, I'll destroy all of my writing and never play music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/just-a-reminder-if-you-tell-anyone-about-what-happened-with-jonah/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Little red wagon, little red bike, I ain’t no monkey but I know what I like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/little-red-wagon-little-red-bike-i-ain-t-no-monkey-but-i-know-what-i/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Twenty years of schooling and they put you on the day shift - look out out kid, they keep it all hid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/twenty-years-of-schooling-and-they-put-you-on-the-day-shift-look-out/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The drunken politician leaps upon the street where mothers weep, and the saviors who are fast asleep, they wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-drunken-politician-leaps-upon-the-street-where-mothers-weep-and/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/your-eyes-are-like-two-jewels-in-the-sky/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I gotta friend who spends his life, stabbing my picture with a bowie knife. Dreams of strangling me with a scarf, when my name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-gotta-friend-who-spends-his-life-stabbing-my-picture-with-a-bowie/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She speaks with a stutter and she and she walks with a hop. I don't know why I love her, but I just can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-speaks-with-a-stutter-and-she-and-she-walks-with-a-hop-i-don-t/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-put-my-faith-in-nobody-not-even-a-scientist/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) [Explore all 1,018 Bob Dylan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## More Decided quotes > [My first ever job after college was as a flight attendant. 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