--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We all belong to an ancient identity…" description: "\"We all belong to an ancient identity. Stories are the rivers that take us there.\" — Frank Delaney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/frank-delaney-13640_ancient_we-all-belong-to-an-ancient-identity-sto_1066177.png" --- # We all belong to an ancient identity. Stories are the… ![“We all belong to an ancient identity. Stories are the rivers that take us there.” quote by Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/frank-delaney-13640_ancient_we-all-belong-to-an-ancient-identity-sto_1066177.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/frank-delaney-13640_ancient_we-all-belong-to-an-ancient-identity-sto_1066177.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/frank-delaney-13640_ancient_we-all-belong-to-an-ancient-identity-sto_1066177.png) > “We all belong to an ancient identity. Stories are the rivers that take us there.” [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identity is shaped by shared narratives that connect us to our past and each other. **In simple terms:** Stories link us to our roots. Key Takeaway Seek and share stories. Themes identity storytelling heritage Mood reflective nostalgic Type cultural historical When to use this quote - family gatherings - educational curricula - community events Key Concepts cultural memory collective identity Questions to Reflect On - How do personal narratives shape your sense of self? - What stories do you inherit? A Different Perspective Stories can oversimplify complex histories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) ## Related quotes > [I heard stories from my mother's mother who was an American Indian. She was spiritual, although she did not go to church, but she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-turner/i-heard-stories-from-my-mother-s-mother-who-was-an-american-indian/) [Tina Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-turner/) > [As artists, we belong to an ancient and holy tribe. We are the carriers of the truth that spirit moves through us all. 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Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Each of us is precious to God because each of us has their name written on the palms of God's hands. And God says…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/each-of-us-is-precious-to-god-because-each-of-us-has-their-name/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [How come I end up where I started How come I end up where I belong... You used to be alright What happened?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-yorke/how-come-i-end-up-where-i-started-how-come-i-end-up-where-i-belong/) [Thom Yorke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-yorke/) ## More by Frank Delaney > [If you ever want to understand multitasking in prose, James Joyce is your man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/if-you-ever-want-to-understand-multitasking-in-prose-james-joyce-is/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [Every pain is a lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/every-pain-is-a-lesson/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [“A gust of wind snatched at her hat. She jumped from the wall and her skirts blew everywhere. I couldn't avoid glimpsing more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/a-gust-of-wind-snatched-at-her-hat-she-jumped-from-the-wall-and-her/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [I believe the world of the spirit is in general greatly neglected and not at all served by the practice of faith as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/i-believe-the-world-of-the-spirit-is-in-general-greatly-neglected-and/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [We Irish prefer embroideries to plain cloth. To us Irish, memory is a canvas--stretched, primed, and ready for painting on. We love the "story"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/we-irish-prefer-embroideries-to-plain-cloth-to-us-irish-memory-is-a/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [“Some people waste their smiles by using them too often. Not Patrick. 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Lose your soul and you'll die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/find-your-soul-and-you-ll-live-lose-your-soul-and-you-ll-die/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [“Any attempt to ease guilt by justification is false. That the crimes of another appease none of one's own offenses. That, if one is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/any-attempt-to-ease-guilt-by-justification-is-false-that-the-crimes/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [“What I told you tonight - it isn't my story alone. It belongs to every Irish person living and dead. And every Irish person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/what-i-told-you-tonight-it-isn-t-my-story-alone-it-belongs-to-every/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [When I come out on the road of a morning, when I have had a night's sleep and perhaps a breakfast, and the sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/when-i-come-out-on-the-road-of-a-morning-when-i-have-had-a-night-s/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [Stick a lighted candle up your backside to give yourself that inner glow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/stick-a-lighted-candle-up-your-backside-to-give-yourself-that-inner/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [“My mother used to say, “Fun is fun till someone loses an eye.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/my-mother-used-to-say-fun-is-fun-till-someone-loses-an-eye/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) > [The human face does not always reflect the beauty that may repose in the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-delaney/the-human-face-does-not-always-reflect-the-beauty-that-may-repose-in/) [Frank Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) [Explore all 49 Frank Delaney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-delaney/) ## 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. 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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": "We all belong to an ancient identity. 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