--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The telling of stories, like singing and…" description: "\"The telling of stories, like singing and praying, would seem to be an almost ceremonial act, an ancient and necessary mode of speech that tends the ear..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f0/david-abram-15943_abram_the-telling-of-stories-like-singing-and_540397.png" --- # The telling of stories, like singing and praying, would… ![“The telling of stories, like singing and praying, would seem to be an almost ceremonial act, an ancient and necessary mode of speech that tends the earthly rootedness of human language. For narrated events always happen somewhere. And for an oral culture, that location is never merely incidental…” quote by David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f0/david-abram-15943_abram_the-telling-of-stories-like-singing-and_540397.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f0/david-abram-15943_abram_the-telling-of-stories-like-singing-and_540397.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f0/david-abram-15943_abram_the-telling-of-stories-like-singing-and_540397.png) > “The telling of stories, like singing and praying, would seem to be an almost ceremonial act, an ancient and necessary mode of speech that tends the earthly rootedness of human language. For narrated events always happen somewhere. And for an oral culture, that location is never merely incidental to those occurrences. The events belong, as it were, to the place, and to tell the story of those events is to let the place itself speak through the telling.” [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes storytelling as a ritual that connects language to place, emphasizing that oral narratives root themselves in the physical environment. **In simple terms:** Stories tie language to the land. Key Takeaway Recognize place in narratives. Themes culture language place Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - anthropology classes - storytelling workshops - environmental education Key Concepts ritual oral tradition spatial meaning Questions to Reflect On - How does setting shape a story? - What is lost when place is ignored? A Different Perspective May idealize oral cultures over written ones. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abram/) [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Human language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-language/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Praying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praying/) [Rootedness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rootedness/) [Singing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singing/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Telling stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-stories/) ## Related quotes > [I'm not ashamed to speak about anything. And what I'm telling you is real; it's from the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pepa/i-m-not-ashamed-to-speak-about-anything-and-what-i-m-telling-you-is/) [Pepa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pepa/) > [Perfection belongs to narrated events, not to those we live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/primo-levi/perfection-belongs-to-narrated-events-not-to-those-we-live/) [Primo Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/primo-levi/) > [We sleep, allowing gravity to hold us, allowing Earth - our larger body - to recalibrate our neurons, composting the keen encounters of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/we-sleep-allowing-gravity-to-hold-us-allowing-earth-our-larger-body-2/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [Only as the written text began to speak would the voices of the forest, and of the river, begin to fade. And only then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/only-as-the-written-text-began-to-speak-would-the-voices-of-the/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [For the Amahuaca, the Koyukon, the Apache, and the diverse Aboriginal peoples of Australia - as for numerous other indigenous peoples - the coherence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/for-the-amahuaca-the-koyukon-the-apache-and-the-diverse-aboriginal/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [“Human language, for us moderns, has swung in on itself, turning its back on the beings around us. Language is a human property, suitable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/human-language-for-us-moderns-has-swung-in-on-itself-turning-its-back/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [The birds and I share a natural history. It is a matter of rootedness, of living inside a place for so long that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/the-birds-and-i-share-a-natural-history-it-is-a-matter-of-rootedness/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“Everyone should feel comfortable they are going to remain in their homes until their dying days. We should never be uneasy or unsure of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tit-elingtin/everyone-should-feel-comfortable-they-are-going-to-remain-in-their/) Tit Elingtin > [That experience of losing home, longing for home, that yearning for meaning and rootedness and identity in a floating world, it's what often makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lam/that-experience-of-losing-home-longing-for-home-that-yearning-for/) [Andrew Lam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lam/) > [Fathers have a special excitement about them that babies find intriguing. At this time in his life an infant counts on his motherfor rootedness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-j-kaplan/fathers-have-a-special-excitement-about-them-that-babies-find/) [Louise J. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-j-kaplan/) > [Philly is a state of mind I’m always in. The city is truly a character in its own right, and it’s served me well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-k-asante-2/philly-is-a-state-of-mind-i-m-always-in-the-city-is-truly-a-character/) [M. K. Asante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-k-asante-2/) > [“Isabel had always enjoyed a house full of people. 'Feed your friends, and their mouths will be too full to gossip,' Bubbie used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-wiggs/isabel-had-always-enjoyed-a-house-full-of-people-feed-your-friends/) [Susan Wiggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-wiggs/) > [Our present stress on growth and productivity is, I believe, intimately related to the decline in rootedness. Faced with loneliness and vulnerability that come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-l-wachtel/our-present-stress-on-growth-and-productivity-is-i-believe-intimately/) Paul L Wachtel > [We are faced with having to learn again about interdependency and the need for rootedness after several centuries of having systematically-and proudly-dismantled our roots,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-l-wachtel/we-are-faced-with-having-to-learn-again-about-interdependency-and-the/) Paul L Wachtel > [Thought subsides when you pet your dog or you have a purring cat on your chest. Even just watching an animal can take you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thought-subsides-when-you-pet-your-dog-or-you-have-a-purring-cat-on/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More by David Abram > [Does the human intellect, or "reason," really spring us free from our inherence in the depths of this wild proliferation of forms? Or on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/does-the-human-intellect-or-reason-really-spring-us-free-from-our/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [“Human language, for us moderns, has swung in on itself, turning its back on the beings around us. Language is a human property, suitable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/human-language-for-us-moderns-has-swung-in-on-itself-turning-its-back/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [Only as the written text began to speak would the voices of the forest, and of the river, begin to fade. And only then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/only-as-the-written-text-began-to-speak-would-the-voices-of-the/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [Each place its own mind, its own psyche! Oak, Madrone, Douglas fir, red-tailed hawk, serpentine in the sandstone, a certain scale to the topography,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/each-place-its-own-mind-its-own-psyche-oak-madrone-douglas-fir-red/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [What is magic? In the deepest sense, magic is an experience. It's the experience of finding oneself alive within a world that is itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/what-is-magic-in-the-deepest-sense-magic-is-an-experience-it-s-the/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [Other animals, in a constant and mostly unmediated relation with their sensory surroundings, think with the whole of their bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/other-animals-in-a-constant-and-mostly-unmediated-relation-with-their/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [Such reciprocity is the very structure of perception. We experience the sensuous world only by rendering ourselves vulnerable to that world. Sensory perception is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/such-reciprocity-is-the-very-structure-of-perception-we-experience/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [“Ecologically considered, it is not primarily our verbal statements that are "true" or "false," but rather the kind of relations that we sustain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/ecologically-considered-it-is-not-primarily-our-verbal-statements/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [A particular place in the land is never, for an oral culture, just a passive or inert setting for the human events that occur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/a-particular-place-in-the-land-is-never-for-an-oral-culture-just-a/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [If, on the other hand, we wish to describe a particular phenomenon without repressing our direct experience, then we cannot avoid speaking of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/if-on-the-other-hand-we-wish-to-describe-a-particular-phenomenon/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [We are human only in contact, and conviviality, with what is not human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/we-are-human-only-in-contact-and-conviviality-with-what-is-not-human/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [The animate earth - this moody terrain that we experience differently in anger and in joy, in grief and in love - is both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/the-animate-earth-this-moody-terrain-that-we-experience-differently/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [To describe the animate life of particular things is simply the most precise and parsimonious way to articulate the things as we spontaneously experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/to-describe-the-animate-life-of-particular-things-is-simply-the-most/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [Sensory perception is the silken web that binds our separate nervous systems into the encompassing ecosystem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/sensory-perception-is-the-silken-web-that-binds-our-separate-nervous/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [Entranced by the denotative power of words to define, to order, to represent the things around us, weve overlooked the songful dimension of language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/entranced-by-the-denotative-power-of-words-to-define-to-order-to/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) [Explore all 41 David Abram quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) ## More Abram quotes > [JJ Abrams is definitely a guy that when he calls, you want to answer. He's incredibly focused. When he was shooting the pilot on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-garcia/jj-abrams-is-definitely-a-guy-that-when-he-calls-you-want-to-answer/) [Jorge Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-garcia/) > [Because of 'Lost,' particularly, J.J. Abrams's fans are all over his stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-eldard/because-of-lost-particularly-j-j-abrams-s-fans-are-all-over-his-stuff/) [Ron Eldard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-eldard/) > [I work with people like Spielberg and Abrams all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-basso/i-work-with-people-like-spielberg-and-abrams-all-the-time/) [Gabriel Basso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-basso/) > [Only as the written text began to speak would the voices of the forest, and of the river, begin to fade. And only then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-abram/only-as-the-written-text-began-to-speak-would-the-voices-of-the/) [David Abram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-abram/) > [O father Abram, what these Christians are, Whose own hard dealing teaches them suspect The thoughts of others!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-father-abram-what-these-christians-are-whose-own-hard-dealing/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I was, throughout school, in the theater program. Through elementary school, junior high, high school, and then J.J. Abrams, my closest friend in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-grunberg/i-was-throughout-school-in-the-theater-program-through-elementary/) [Greg Grunberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-grunberg/) > [ J.J. Abrams and Jonah Nolan and Lisa Joy, who are brilliant people, so I knew it \[Westworld\] was going to be amazing. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-rachel-wood/j-j-abrams-and-jonah-nolan-and-lisa-joy-who-are-brilliant-people-so-i/) [Evan Rachel Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-rachel-wood/) > [I would love to work with Guillermo del Toro and J.J. Abrams. I think they are creative geniuses that are constantly producing great work,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-gubelmann/i-would-love-to-work-with-guillermo-del-toro-and-j-j-abrams-i-think/) [Fiona Gubelmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-gubelmann/) > [I'm afraid the workings of J.J. Abrams' mind falls outside the predictive capacity of any coherent theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-garrett-lisi/i-m-afraid-the-workings-of-j-j-abrams-mind-falls-outside-the/) [Antony Garrett Lisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-garrett-lisi/) > [When I first learned about Abrams and saw the types of books they were making, I knew I wanted my books to be published…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-kinney/when-i-first-learned-about-abrams-and-saw-the-types-of-books-they/) [Jeff Kinney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-kinney/) > [Abrams's Advice: When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-dickson/abrams-s-advice-when-eating-an-elephant-take-one-bite-at-a-time/) [Paul Dickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-dickson/) > [“If you find that you're going through hell, keep moving. You will get to the end eventually.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-brouillette/if-you-find-that-you-re-going-through-hell-keep-moving-you-will-get/) Kimberly Brouillette > [Abram, having failed in Genesis 13, comes through with flying colors in this battle of faith because he aligns himself with God, and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ligon-duncan/abram-having-failed-in-genesis-13-comes-through-with-flying-colors-in/) [Ligon Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ligon-duncan/) > [Quality. That's the first word, the one word that comes to mind when I think of the books published by Abrams. In a world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stan-lee/quality-that-s-the-first-word-the-one-word-that-comes-to-mind-when-i/) [Stan Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stan-lee/) > [“So the man told you the truth, and now you’re surprised to discover he didn’t lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-reid/so-the-man-told-you-the-truth-and-now-you-re-surprised-to-discover-he/) [Penny Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-reid/) [Browse all 26 Abram quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abram/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The telling of stories, like singing and praying, would seem to be an almost ceremonial act, an ancient and necessary mode of speech that tends the earthly rootedness of human language. For narrated events always happen somewhere. And for an oral culture, that location is never merely incidental to those occurrences. 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