--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think the story is the most ancient…" description: "\"I think the story is the most ancient form of human entertainment.\" — David Mitchell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/david-mitchell-264_ancient_i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-fo_2662249.jpg" --- # I think the story is the most ancient form of human… ![“I think the story is the most ancient form of human entertainment.” quote by David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/david-mitchell-264_ancient_i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-fo_2662249.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/david-mitchell-264_ancient_i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-fo_2662249.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/david-mitchell-264_ancient_i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-fo_2662249.jpg) > “I think the story is the most ancient form of human entertainment.” [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories are the oldest form of entertainment, predating all other media and reflecting humanity's innate desire to share narratives. **In simple terms:** Stories are ancient entertainment. Key Takeaway Embrace storytelling as a timeless way to connect. Themes creativity culture communication Mood nostalgic inspired Type cultural educational When to use this quote - teaching - marketing - family gatherings - social media content Key Concepts anthropology media studies psychology Questions to Reflect On - Why are stories compelling across ages? - How can we keep storytelling authentic today? A Different Perspective Modern media can dilute depth of traditional storytelling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Entertainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertainment/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [It seems that the analysis of character is the highest human entertainment. And literature does it, unlike gossip, without mentioning names.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/it-seems-that-the-analysis-of-character-is-the-highest-human/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [The analysis of character is the highest human entertainment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/the-analysis-of-character-is-the-highest-human-entertainment/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [Human entertainment will have moved on to something new. Then the ultimate challenge for us is, can we figure out what that new form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-hastings/human-entertainment-will-have-moved-on-to-something-new-then-the/) [Reed Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-hastings/) > [“Love is the most ancient form of self-destruction,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-edward-lee-miller/love-is-the-most-ancient-form-of-self-destruction/) [Cody Edward Lee Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-edward-lee-miller/) > [Part of what we love about poetry is the fact that it seems ancient, that it has an authority of ancient language and ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-morgan/part-of-what-we-love-about-poetry-is-the-fact-that-it-seems-ancient/) [Robert Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-morgan/) > [What was that technique you were using on those bastards?" "An ancient form called kicking ass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/what-was-that-technique-you-were-using-on-those-bastards-an-ancient/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [I think that painting is a very ancient form of expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-francis/i-think-that-painting-is-a-very-ancient-form-of-expression/) [Black Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-francis/) > [“A child may ask, “What is the world’s story about?” And a grown man or woman may wonder, “What way will the world go?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-child-may-ask-what-is-the-world-s-story-about-and-a-grown-man-or/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Each and every component that makes up your life experience is drawn to you by the powerful Law of Attraction's response to the thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/each-and-every-component-that-makes-up-your-life-experience-is-drawn/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [Personally, I think that the story is all-important; everything else comes later. But if there's any other way to ensure the betterment of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rishi-kapoor/personally-i-think-that-the-story-is-all-important-everything-else/) [Rishi Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rishi-kapoor/) > [“I think about the story of Job I heard in Carol Sharp's Sunday school. How he sort of learned to lean into feeling hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-think-about-the-story-of-job-i-heard-in-carol-sharp-s-sunday-school/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [I think there is something about a story that is enduring. Stories take on a life of their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/i-think-there-is-something-about-a-story-that-is-enduring-stories/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [I think a story is an attention grabber. I think it's a truth conveyor. Those are two great features of a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/i-think-a-story-is-an-attention-grabber-i-think-it-s-a-truth-conveyor/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [I think the story is my form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-epstein/i-think-the-story-is-my-form/) [Joseph Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-epstein/) > [I think if a story has a message it should be incidental and accidental, otherwise it leans too close to indoctrination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-lord/i-think-if-a-story-has-a-message-it-should-be-incidental-and/) [Karen Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-lord/) ## More by David Mitchell > [“In the next room a freckly girl Julia's age sat in a wheelchair. One of her legs wasn't there. She'd probably love to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/in-the-next-room-a-freckly-girl-julia-s-age-sat-in-a-wheelchair-one/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“I envied my uncritical, unthinking sisters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-envied-my-uncritical-unthinking-sisters/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“... Ethical cyberexplorers are responsible, yeah? We are friendly ghosts in the machine, not poltergeists or hooligans. We are a growing breed. Over sixty-five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/ethical-cyberexplorers-are-responsible-yeah-we-are-friendly-ghosts-in/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“I succumbed. Late-fifteenth-century verb, Old French succomber or Latin succumbere, but a basic necessity of the human condition, especially mine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-succumbed-late-fifteenth-century-verb-old-french-succomber-or-latin/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Your environment affects you wherever you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/your-environment-affects-you-wherever-you-are/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“The second tunnel’s a Ministry of Defence tunnel...dug for a nuclear bomb shelter. The entrance is in the garden center at Woolworth’s in Great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/the-second-tunnel-s-a-ministry-of-defence-tunnel-dug-for-a-nuclear/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Loyalty looks simple... but it ain't.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/loyalty-looks-simple-but-it-ain-t/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Only the trombonist played on. That's trombonists for you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/only-the-trombonist-played-on-that-s-trombonists-for-you/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [War's an auction where whoever can pay the most in damage and still be standing wins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/war-s-an-auction-where-whoever-can-pay-the-most-in-damage-and-still/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [The human world is made of stories, not people. The people the stories use to tell themselves are not to be blamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/the-human-world-is-made-of-stories-not-people-the-people-the-stories/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [So little is actually worthy of belief or disbelief. Better to strive to coexist than seek to disapprove . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/so-little-is-actually-worthy-of-belief-or-disbelief-better-to-strive/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [I elbowed my way into the grubby café, bought a pie that tasted of shoe polish and a pot of tea with cork crumbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-elbowed-my-way-into-the-grubby-caf-bought-a-pie-that-tasted-of-shoe/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“A classical LP was playing... ... Jealous and sweet, this music was, sobbing and gorgeous, muddy and crystal. But if the right words existed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/a-classical-lp-was-playing-jealous-and-sweet-this-music-was-sobbing/) [david mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [How lazily "xperts" dismiss what they fail to understand!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/how-lazily-xperts-dismiss-what-they-fail-to-understand/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Writing poetry's,' I looked around the solarium, but Madame Crommelynck's got a tractor beam, 'sort of . . . gay.' '"Gay"? A merry activity?'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/writing-poetry-s-i-looked-around-the-solarium-but-madame-crommelynck/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) [Explore all 748 David Mitchell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) ## More Ancient quotes > [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. Wishing to order well their nations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/in-ancient-times-those-who-wished-to-illuminate-the-world-with-virtue/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [I don't know if I've come of age, but I'm certainly older now. I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/) [Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/) [Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/those-of-us-with-this-ancient-compulsion-to-tell-stories-sometimes/) [Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/) > [All the stories I have told you are finally as useless as all ancient knowledge is to man and to us. Its images and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/all-the-stories-i-have-told-you-are-finally-as-useless-as-all-ancient/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/so-what-if-i-m-ninety-three-so-what-if-i-m-ancient-and-cranky-and-my/) [Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/) > [Science has revealed a universe that is vast, ancient, violent, strange, and beautiful, a universe of almost infinite variety and possibility one in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/science-has-revealed-a-universe-that-is-vast-ancient-violent-strange/) [Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/) [Browse all 2,415 Ancient quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think the story is the most ancient form of human entertainment.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Mitchell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-form-of-human-entertainment/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ancient" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-form-of-human-entertainment/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/david-mitchell-264_ancient_i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-fo_2662249.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/david-mitchell-264_ancient_i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-fo_2662249.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/00a/david-mitchell-264_ancient_i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-fo_2662249.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think the story is the most ancient form of human entertainment.” — David Mitchell", "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": "David Mitchell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think the story is the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-form-of-human-entertainment/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-think-the-story-is-the-most-ancient-form-of-human-entertainment/#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 } } ] } ```