--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every story would be another story, and…" description: "\"Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if it took up its characters and plot and happened somewhere else ... Fiction depends for its li..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/eudora-welty-1564_character_every-story-would-be-another-story-and-u_504605.png" --- # Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if… ![“Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if it took up its characters and plot and happened somewhere else ... Fiction depends for its life on place. Place is the crossroads of circumstance, the proving ground of, What happened? Who's here? Who's coming?...” quote by Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/eudora-welty-1564_character_every-story-would-be-another-story-and-u_504605.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/eudora-welty-1564_character_every-story-would-be-another-story-and-u_504605.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/eudora-welty-1564_character_every-story-would-be-another-story-and-u_504605.png) > “Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if it took up its characters and plot and happened somewhere else ... Fiction depends for its life on place. Place is the crossroads of circumstance, the proving ground of, What happened? Who's here? Who's coming?...” [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The essence of a story depends on its setting; changing location alters characters and plot, making the narrative unrecognizable. **In simple terms:** Story's identity tied to its place. Key Takeaway Preserve setting to keep story's soul. Themes setting identity fiction place context Mood reflective analytical Type literary theoretical When to use this quote - writing workshop - novel planning - film adaptation Key Concepts environment character development plot structure Questions to Reflect On - What role does place play in your favorite story? - Can a story survive a setting shift? A Different Perspective Changing setting can fundamentally change meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Circumstance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circumstance/) [Circumstances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circumstances/) [Crafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crafts/) [Crossroads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crossroads/) [Depends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depends/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fiction Depends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction-depends-4289492/) [Happened](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happened/) [Happened Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happened-fiction-4289493/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Plot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plot/) [Prove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prove/) [Somewhere else](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/somewhere-else/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story Unrecognizable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-unrecognizable-4289494/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [I do a great deal of research. I don’t want anyone to say, ‘That could not have happened.’ It may be fiction, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacquelyn-mitchard/i-do-a-great-deal-of-research-i-don-t-want-anyone-to-say-that-could/) [Jacquelyn Mitchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacquelyn-mitchard/) > [In journalism I can only tell what happened. In fiction, I can show it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-frum/in-journalism-i-can-only-tell-what-happened-in-fiction-i-can-show-it/) [David Frum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-frum/) > [Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning point--a great crossroads in our life. From that point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/not-often-but-every-once-in-a-while-god-brings-us-to-a-major-turning/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [I've been really fortunate that I've been at a lot of critical crossroads in my musical journey. When I look back, there are some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robbie-robertson/i-ve-been-really-fortunate-that-i-ve-been-at-a-lot-of-critical/) [Robbie Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robbie-robertson/) > [“Goodness was daily choice, endless possibility, a decision at every crossroads.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-f-whitten/goodness-was-daily-choice-endless-possibility-a-decision-at-every/) [Hannah F. Whitten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-f-whitten/) > [I just get focused on whatever is in front of me. When I was filming Crossroads, it had all my focus. Now I'm all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taryn-manning/i-just-get-focused-on-whatever-is-in-front-of-me-when-i-was-filming/) [Taryn Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taryn-manning/) > [Being sixty-five ... became a crossroads. We said, we have nothing to lose, so we can raise hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-kuhn/being-sixty-five-became-a-crossroads-we-said-we-have-nothing-to-lose/) [Maggie Kuhn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-kuhn/) > [Sometimes a man and a woman reach a crossroads and linger there, reluctant to take either way, knowing the wrong choice will mean the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/sometimes-a-man-and-a-woman-reach-a-crossroads-and-linger-there/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Like the line of love, I thought. Once crossed you can't go back. Like the line between past and future. Or maybe really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-berlin-belmondo-style/like-the-line-of-love-i-thought-once-crossed-you-can-t-go-back-like/) [Adam Berlin Belmondo Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-berlin-belmondo-style/) > [“I envy the trees that grow at crossroads. They are never forced to decide which way to go...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margarita-engle/i-envy-the-trees-that-grow-at-crossroads-they-are-never-forced-to/) [Margarita Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margarita-engle/) > [“What was it Danilov told me before I left? Something about how one day I would stand at a crossroads where I could choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-fogtdal/what-was-it-danilov-told-me-before-i-left-something-about-how-one-day/) [Peter H. Fogtdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-fogtdal/) > [Here we are at the crossroads once again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/here-we-are-at-the-crossroads-once-again/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“From this point forward, you don’t even know how to quit in life.” ~ Aaron Lauritsen, ‘100 Days Drive”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-lauritsen/from-this-point-forward-you-don-t-even-know-how-to-quit-in-life-aaron/) [Aaron Lauritsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-lauritsen/) > [At each point in our lives, we are at a crossroads. We are the fruit of our past and we are the architects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthieu-ricard/at-each-point-in-our-lives-we-are-at-a-crossroads-we-are-the-fruit-of/) [Matthieu Ricard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthieu-ricard/) > [I stood at a crossroads and fate came to meet me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-greene/i-stood-at-a-crossroads-and-fate-came-to-meet-me/) [Liz Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-greene/) ## More by Eudora Welty > [“She (my mother) could still recite them (the poems) in full when she was lying helpless and nearly blind, in her bed, an old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-could-still-recite-them-the-poems-in-full-when-she-was/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose it’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/long-before-i-wrote-stories-i-listened-for-stories-listening-for-them/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [Once you're into a story everything seems to apply-what you overhear on a city bus is exactly what your character would say on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/once-you-re-into-a-story-everything-seems-to-apply-what-you-overhear/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Two by two, I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/two-by-two-i-read-library-books-as-fast-as-i-could-go-rushing-them/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“When somebody, no matter who, gives everything, it makes people feel ashamed for him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-somebody-no-matter-who-gives-everything-it-makes-people-feel/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Daydreaming had started me on the way; but story writing, once I was truly in its grip, took me and shook me awake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/daydreaming-had-started-me-on-the-way-but-story-writing-once-i-was/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“All children in those small-town, unhurried days had a vast inner life going on in the movies. Children were allowed to go without chaperone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/all-children-in-those-small-town-unhurried-days-had-a-vast-inner-life/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“At the sting in her eyes, she remembered for him that there must be no tears in his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/at-the-sting-in-her-eyes-she-remembered-for-him-that-there-must-be-no/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“We do need to bring to our writing, over and over again, all the abundance we possess. To be able, to be ready, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/we-do-need-to-bring-to-our-writing-over-and-over-again-all-the/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“Could she ever be, would she be, where she was going?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/could-she-ever-be-would-she-be-where-she-was-going/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“When one of us (children) caught measles or whooping cough and we were isolated in bad upstairs, we wrote notes to each other perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/when-one-of-us-children-caught-measles-or-whooping-cough-and-we-were/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“She (my mother) stood always prepared in herself to challenge the world in our place. She did indeed tend to make the world look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/she-my-mother-stood-always-prepared-in-herself-to-challenge-the-world/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“For there is hate as well as love, she supposed, in the coming together and continuing of our lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/for-there-is-hate-as-well-as-love-she-supposed-in-the-coming-together/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [“In children's art class we sat in a ring of kindergarten chairs and drew three daffodils that had just been picked out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/in-children-s-art-class-we-sat-in-a-ring-of-kindergarten-chairs-and/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) > [People are mostly layers of violence and tenderness wrapped like bulbs, and it is difficult to say what makes them onions or hyacinths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/people-are-mostly-layers-of-violence-and-tenderness-wrapped-like/) [Eudora Welty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) [Explore all 227 Eudora Welty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [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'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [Courage: the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/courage-the-most-important-of-all-the-virtues-because-without-courage/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I'm a character actor - always have been, always will be - and historically, character actors don't come into their own until later in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-potts/i-m-a-character-actor-always-have-been-always-will-be-and/) [Annie Potts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-potts/) [Browse all 32,707 Character quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if it took up its characters and plot and happened somewhere else ... Fiction depends for its life on place. Place is the crossroads of circumstance, the proving ground of, What happened? Who's here? Who's coming?...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eudora Welty" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/every-story-would-be-another-story-and-unrecognizable-if-it-took-up/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Character" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/every-story-would-be-another-story-and-unrecognizable-if-it-took-up/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/eudora-welty-1564_character_every-story-would-be-another-story-and-u_504605.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/eudora-welty-1564_character_every-story-would-be-another-story-and-u_504605.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf9/eudora-welty-1564_character_every-story-would-be-another-story-and-u_504605.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if it took up its characters and plot and happened…” — Eudora Welty", "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": "Eudora Welty", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eudora-welty/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Every story would be another story,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/every-story-would-be-another-story-and-unrecognizable-if-it-took-up/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eudora-welty/every-story-would-be-another-story-and-unrecognizable-if-it-took-up/#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 } } ] } ```