--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't be satisfied with stories, how…" description: "\"“Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/john-balkh-77257_storytelling_don-t-be-satisfied-with-stories-how-thin_104318.jpg" --- # Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with… ![“Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my friend. When the lips are silent, the heart has a hundred tongues.” quote by John Balkh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/john-balkh-77257_storytelling_don-t-be-satisfied-with-stories-how-thin_104318.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/john-balkh-77257_storytelling_don-t-be-satisfied-with-stories-how-thin_104318.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c66/john-balkh-77257_storytelling_don-t-be-satisfied-with-stories-how-thin_104318.jpg) > ““Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my friend. When the lips are silent, the heart has a hundred tongues.”” [John Balkh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-balkh/) ## 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 urges personal myth‑making over passive consumption of others’ narratives, and suggests silence lets inner truth speak louder than spoken words. **In simple terms:** Create your own story; silence reveals inner voice. Key Takeaway Own your narrative, listen inward. Themes self‑discovery storytelling silence inner voice Mood inspirational mysterious Type motivational poetic When to use this quote - creative writing - therapy sessions - personal branding Key Concepts mythic identity mindful listening Practical Applications - journal daily silently - craft a personal manifesto Questions to Reflect On - What myths are you living for others? - How can silence become a tool for growth? A Different Perspective Silence can also suppress needed communication; balance is essential. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Friend Lips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend-lips-1256124/) [Heart Tongues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-tongues-1256125/) [Lips Silent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lips-silent-431576/) [Mouth Silent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mouth-silent-1256126/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Tongue Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tongue-enemy-1256123/) ## Related quotes > [Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/listen-clam-up-your-mouth-and-be-silent-like-an-oyster-shell-for-that/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [There is no weapon in the end as difficult to overcome as the tongue of an enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-norton/there-is-no-weapon-in-the-end-as-difficult-to-overcome-as-the-tongue/) [Andre Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-norton/) > [I think it better that in times like these a poet's mouth be silent, for in truth we have no gift to set a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-think-it-better-that-in-times-like-these-a-poet-s-mouth-be-silent/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“That time is gone when men of insight went apart With a thousand words in the mouth but their lips silent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hafez-khw-ja-shams-ud-d-n-mu-ammad-fe-e-sh-r-z/that-time-is-gone-when-men-of-insight-went-apart-with-a-thousand/) [Hafez (Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hafez-khw-ja-shams-ud-d-n-mu-ammad-fe-e-sh-r-z/) > [“So it goes as I work my way down the page, and each cluster of marks is a word, and each word is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/so-it-goes-as-i-work-my-way-down-the-page-and-each-cluster-of-marks/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Time and tide waits for none. faster than river as it run, and carries away with it all the fun, the pleasure of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aisha/time-and-tide-waits-for-none-faster-than-river-as-it-run-and-carries/) [Aisha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aisha/) > [Where the lips are silent the heart has a thousand tongues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/where-the-lips-are-silent-the-heart-has-a-thousand-tongues/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“I know, the "I" in me, is silent; You have nothing to say either. Heart is down in the mouth, Lips are closed, Eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asif/i-know-the-i-in-me-is-silent-you-have-nothing-to-say-either-heart-is/) [Asif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asif/) > [“No man can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-rubenfeld/no-man-can-keep-a-secret-if-his-lips-are-silent-he-chatters-with-his/) [Jed Rubenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-rubenfeld/) > [“When bodies talk, a hand brushing across a face declares love the tongue never speaks. When bodies talk, eyes make promises and lips keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-payton/when-bodies-talk-a-hand-brushing-across-a-face-declares-love-the/) [Stella Payton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-payton/) > [When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/when-we-read-a-story-we-inhabit-it-the-covers-of-the-book-are-like-a/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [I have always been fascinated by the supernatural elements in stories, whether fairy tales, myths, film or literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/i-have-always-been-fascinated-by-the-supernatural-elements-in-stories/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [If you do weave one-liners into a story, you have to have an overall story as well, otherwise it doesn't really count as narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/if-you-do-weave-one-liners-into-a-story-you-have-to-have-an-overall/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [“A disproportionate number of stories are love stories – and what is homosexuality but a special narrative of love?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/a-disproportionate-number-of-stories-are-love-stories-and-what-is/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [“Anyway, it's a pretty good story," I said. "You have to admit." "Yeah?" He crumpled up the Kleenex, having dispatched the solitary tear. "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/anyway-it-s-a-pretty-good-story-i-said-you-have-to-admit-yeah-he/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) ## More by John Balkh > [“You sit here for days saying, This is strange business. You’re the strange business. You have the energy of the sun in you, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-balkh/you-sit-here-for-days-saying-this-is-strange-business-you-re-the/) [John Balkh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-balkh/) > [“You left and I cried tears of blood. My sorrow grows. Its not just that You left. But when You left my eyes went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-balkh/you-left-and-i-cried-tears-of-blood-my-sorrow-grows-its-not-just-that-2/) [John Balkh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-balkh/) [Explore all 3 John Balkh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-balkh/) ## More Storytelling quotes > [“Anyway, it's a pretty good story," I said. "You have to admit." "Yeah?" He crumpled up the Kleenex, having dispatched the solitary tear. "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/anyway-it-s-a-pretty-good-story-i-said-you-have-to-admit-yeah-he/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“A disproportionate number of stories are love stories – and what is homosexuality but a special narrative of love?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bram/a-disproportionate-number-of-stories-are-love-stories-and-what-is/) [Christopher Bram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bram/) > [If you do weave one-liners into a story, you have to have an overall story as well, otherwise it doesn't really count as narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/if-you-do-weave-one-liners-into-a-story-you-have-to-have-an-overall/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [I have always been fascinated by the supernatural elements in stories, whether fairy tales, myths, film or literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/i-have-always-been-fascinated-by-the-supernatural-elements-in-stories/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/when-we-read-a-story-we-inhabit-it-the-covers-of-the-book-are-like-a/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We can never tell what is in store for us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/we-can-never-tell-what-is-in-store-for-us/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [Your job as a writer is to find storylines, narrative structures, and characters to show the things that you believe rather than saying them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/your-job-as-a-writer-is-to-find-storylines-narrative-structures-and/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“Societies everywhere have a tendency to construct a genealogically useful past for themselves in which desirable versions of their history are favored and unwanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tudor-parfitt/societies-everywhere-have-a-tendency-to-construct-a-genealogically/) [Tudor Parfitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tudor-parfitt/) > [Some stories, you use up. Others use you up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/some-stories-you-use-up-others-use-you-up/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [I'm not a fan of endless mystery in storytelling - I like to know where the mythology's going; I like to get there in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kripke/i-m-not-a-fan-of-endless-mystery-in-storytelling-i-like-to-know-where/) [Eric Kripke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kripke/) > [“We take creative license with the fictional narratives that become our memories. Anthologized, these are the tales that become the story of your life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-ganek/we-take-creative-license-with-the-fictional-narratives-that-become/) [Danielle Ganek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-ganek/) > [Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/sometimes-i-am-a-collector-of-data-and-only-a-collector-and-am-likely/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [I make no distinction between writing and storytelling; I've always wanted to tell stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-lindelof/i-make-no-distinction-between-writing-and-storytelling-i-ve-always/) [Damon Lindelof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-lindelof/) > [I think that storytelling and creation are very close to what the center of what magic is about. I think not just for me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/i-think-that-storytelling-and-creation-are-very-close-to-what-the/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) [Browse all 5,638 Storytelling quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” Listen! Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my friend. 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