--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If every event which occurred could be…" description: "\"If every event which occurred could be given a name, there would be no need for stories.\" — John Berger" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-berger-1590_events_if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-g_2283345.png" --- # If every event which occurred could be given a name, there… ![“If every event which occurred could be given a name, there would be no need for stories.” quote by John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-berger-1590_events_if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-g_2283345.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-berger-1590_events_if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-g_2283345.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-berger-1590_events_if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-g_2283345.png) > “If every event which occurred could be given a name, there would be no need for stories.” [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Naming events reduces the need for narrative, but stories give meaning **In simple terms:** Stories give meaning beyond labels Key Takeaway Use stories to make sense of life Themes storytelling meaning language Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - education - marketing - therapy Key Concepts semiotics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do stories shape your reality? - When do you prefer facts over narrative? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on labels can limit nuance ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Event Occurred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/event-occurred-5337034/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Need Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-stories-549391/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Occurred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occurred/) [Occurred Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occurred-given-5337033/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [To connect to people at the deepest level, you need stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mckee/to-connect-to-people-at-the-deepest-level-you-need-stories/) [Robert McKee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mckee/) > [People take what they need from the stories they hear. The tale is often wiser than the teller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-fletcher/people-take-what-they-need-from-the-stories-they-hear-the-tale-is/) [Susan Fletcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-fletcher/) > [It sounds corny, but I think people need stories to process the world. That's our business. That's the job we're in. We tell stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-spotnitz/it-sounds-corny-but-i-think-people-need-stories-to-process-the-world/) [Frank Spotnitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-spotnitz/) > [I think we need stories, and we need to tell the stories over and over and over not only to remind us, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-think-we-need-stories-and-we-need-to-tell-the-stories-over-and-over/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I hate the way market forces try to separate us out in to the appropriate demographic - basically in order to sell us things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-thompson/i-hate-the-way-market-forces-try-to-separate-us-out-in-to-the/) [Emma Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-thompson/) > [I don't need any more stories. I have enough stories. I need a life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bullock/i-don-t-need-any-more-stories-i-have-enough-stories-i-need-a-life/) [Sandra Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bullock/) > [I asked my mum, who's a very clever psychotherapist, and she says that kids love stories about death; they need it, they need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/i-asked-my-mum-who-s-a-very-clever-psychotherapist-and-she-says-that/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [“Thou shalt not might' reach the head but it takes 'Once upon a time' to reach the heart. Also: We need stories so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/thou-shalt-not-might-reach-the-head-but-it-takes-once-upon-a-time-to/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [People need stories...we use stories to teach, to learn, to make sense of the world around us. As long as we need stories, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-chiaverini/people-need-stories-we-use-stories-to-teach-to-learn-to-make-sense-of/) [Jennifer Chiaverini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-chiaverini/) > [People love stories. They need stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-leavitt/people-love-stories-they-need-stories/) [Caroline Leavitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-leavitt/) > [Films and television and even comic books are churning out vast quantities of fictional narratives, and the public continues to swallow them up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/films-and-television-and-even-comic-books-are-churning-out-vast/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Sex is important to guys. We need stories to tell our friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ferrara/sex-is-important-to-guys-we-need-stories-to-tell-our-friends/) [Adam Ferrara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ferrara/) > [Human beings need stories, and we're looking for them in all kinds of places; whether it's television, whether it's comic books or movies, radio…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/human-beings-need-stories-and-we-re-looking-for-them-in-all-kinds-of/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I think we need to have stories about women that don't necessarily fit the trope of the classic woman, because they do exist. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristela-alonzo/i-think-we-need-to-have-stories-about-women-that-don-t-necessarily/) [Cristela Alonzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristela-alonzo/) > [“We all need stories, don’t we?’ He’d looked up at Ranaulf. ‘For our hearts, I think.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-cadwallader/we-all-need-stories-don-t-we-he-d-looked-up-at-ranaulf-for-our-hearts/) [Robyn Cadwallader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn-cadwallader/) ## More by John Berger > [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/) > [The impulse to paint comes neither from observation nor from the soul (which is probably blind) but from an encounter: the encounter between painter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/the-impulse-to-paint-comes-neither-from-observation-nor-from-the-soul/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Oil painting did to appearances what capital did to social relations. It reduced everything to the equality of objects. Everything became exchangeable because everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/oil-painting-did-to-appearances-what-capital-did-to-social-relations/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Landscapes can be deceptive. Sometimes a landscape seems to be less a setting for the life of its inhabitants than a curtain behind which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/landscapes-can-be-deceptive-sometimes-a-landscape-seems-to-be-less-a/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We live in a dominant culture of ceaseless Departure and Progress that has so far lasted two or three centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-live-in-a-dominant-culture-of-ceaseless-departure-and-progress/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [My heart born naked was swaddled in lullabies. Later alone it wore poems for clothes. Like a shirt I carried on my back the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/my-heart-born-naked-was-swaddled-in-lullabies-later-alone-it-wore/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [ There's the artist's intimacy and truthfulness to himself, but an equal intimacy to the Other \[the one drawn\]. Picasso drawings are like that... the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/there-s-the-artist-s-intimacy-and-truthfulness-to-himself-but-an/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Traditional Chinese art looked at the Earth from a Confucian mountain top; Japanese art looked closely around screens; Italian Renaissance art surveyed conquered nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/traditional-chinese-art-looked-at-the-earth-from-a-confucian-mountain/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/never-again-shall-a-single-story-be-told-as-though-it-were-the-only/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [In drawing after drawing, pastel after pastel, painting after painting, the contours of Degas's dancing figures become, at a certain point, darkly insistent, tangled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/in-drawing-after-drawing-pastel-after-pastel-painting-after-painting/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-never-look-at-just-one-thing-we-are-always-looking-at-the-relation/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We can become anything. That is why injustice is impossible here. There may be the accident of birth, there is no accident of death.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-can-become-anything-that-is-why-injustice-is-impossible-here-there/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Capitalism survives by forcing the majority, whom it exploits, to define their own interests as narrowly as possible. This was once achieved by extensive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/capitalism-survives-by-forcing-the-majority-whom-it-exploits-to/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [The camera relieves us of the burden of memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/the-camera-relieves-us-of-the-burden-of-memory/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [“Today we see the art of the past as nobody saw it before. We actually perceive it in a different way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/today-we-see-the-art-of-the-past-as-nobody-saw-it-before-we-actually/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) [Explore all 214 John Berger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) ## More Events quotes > [History is, in its essentials, the science of change. It knows and it teaches that it is impossible to find two events that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-bloch/history-is-in-its-essentials-the-science-of-change-it-knows-and-it/) [Marc Bloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-bloch/) > [My political views have never made me insensitive to the pain and suffering caused to the innocent victims of events such as the Warrington…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-fox/my-political-views-have-never-made-me-insensitive-to-the-pain-and/) [Claire Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-fox/) > [Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/teaching-children-about-the-natural-world-should-be-seen-as-one-of/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [In any event, it is one thing to assert, then or now, that the Iraq war was ill-advised. It is quite another to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-silberman/in-any-event-it-is-one-thing-to-assert-then-or-now-that-the-iraq-war/) [Laurence Silberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-silberman/) > [I wasn’t like, boo hoo, Bin Laden’s dead, but I wasn’t jumping. America’s a very nationalistic country, and in episodes like that of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-scahill/i-wasn-t-like-boo-hoo-bin-laden-s-dead-but-i-wasn-t-jumping-america-s/) [Jeremy Scahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-scahill/) > [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/) > [Things happen too quickly, crisis follows crisis, the soil of our minds is perpetually disturbed. Each of us, to relieve his feelings, broadcasts his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-struther/things-happen-too-quickly-crisis-follows-crisis-the-soil-of-our-minds/) [Jan Struther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-struther/) > [Do we make ourselves into what we become or is it built into our genes, into the fate spun for us by whatever shapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-bruchac/do-we-make-ourselves-into-what-we-become-or-is-it-built-into-our/) [Joseph Bruchac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-bruchac/) > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The future and the past are equally meaningless because they are nebulous entities, times that do not exist, containing events which have no echo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lebbon/the-future-and-the-past-are-equally-meaningless-because-they-are/) [Tim Lebbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lebbon/) > [History employs evolution to structure biological events in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/history-employs-evolution-to-structure-biological-events-in-time/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Sporting events like the Olympics have developed and maintained a clear message of promoting gender equality as an essential criterion in the success of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-attias/sporting-events-like-the-olympics-have-developed-and-maintained-a/) [Richard Attias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-attias/) > [There remains an experience of incomparable value . . . to see the great events of world history from below; from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/there-remains-an-experience-of-incomparable-value-to-see-the-great/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [It's really a pity that there are observers who view political events like comic strips. There has to be a Zorro, there has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sankara/it-s-really-a-pity-that-there-are-observers-who-view-political-events/) [Thomas Sankara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sankara/) > [Everything is not black-and-white . I'm really interested in the gray area - not justifying it, not glorifying it, not condoning it, but at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaiah-washington/everything-is-not-black-and-white-i-m-really-interested-in-the-gray/) [Isaiah Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaiah-washington/) [Browse all 5,384 Events quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If every event which occurred could be given a name, there would be no need for stories.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Berger" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-given-a-name-there-would-be-no/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Events" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-given-a-name-there-would-be-no/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-berger-1590_events_if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-g_2283345.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-berger-1590_events_if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-g_2283345.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f4/john-berger-1590_events_if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-g_2283345.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If every event which occurred could be given a name, there would be no need for stories.” — John Berger", "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": "John Berger", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If every event which occurred could...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-given-a-name-there-would-be-no/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/if-every-event-which-occurred-could-be-given-a-name-there-would-be-no/#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 } } ] } ```