--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's the shape of the stories that…" description: "\"“It's the shape of the stories that matters, the way belief forms around it. The story has real weight', He pointed at himself. 'Patupaiarehe look like..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/karen-healey-58080_beauty_it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matte_2133172.jpg" --- # It's the shape of the stories that matters, the way belief… ![“It's the shape of the stories that matters, the way belief forms around it. The story has real weight', He pointed at himself. 'Patupaiarehe look like monsters in some stories, but they're beautiful in a lot. I guess people believed more in the beautiful version. And the ideal of beauty changes…” quote by Karen Healey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/karen-healey-58080_beauty_it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matte_2133172.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/karen-healey-58080_beauty_it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matte_2133172.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/karen-healey-58080_beauty_it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matte_2133172.jpg) > ““It's the shape of the stories that matters, the way belief forms around it. The story has real weight', He pointed at himself. 'Patupaiarehe look like monsters in some stories, but they're beautiful in a lot. I guess people believed more in the beautiful version. And the ideal of beauty changes. If I'd been born two hundred years ago, I bet I wouldn't look like this. The stories shaped me. They shape everyone, inside and out, but me more than most, because I'm magic.”” [Karen Healey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-healey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories shape perception and identity; the form of a narrative influences belief and self‑image. **In simple terms:** Stories affect how we see ourselves and others. Key Takeaway Recognize the power of narrative on self‑concept. Themes identity belief storytelling beauty change Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - media analysis - cultural education - self‑reflection Key Concepts narrative influence self‑formation cultural myth Questions to Reflect On - How do the stories you tell yourself shape your actions? - What narratives could you rewrite for empowerment? A Different Perspective Stories can also reinforce stereotypes and limit alternative perspectives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Faerie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faerie/) [Faery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faery/) [Fairy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) [Maori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/maori/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) ## Related quotes > [“People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it’s the other way around. Stories exist independently of their players. If you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/people-think-that-stories-are-shaped-by-people-in-fact-it-s-the-other/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/people-think-that-stories-are-shaped-by-people-in-fact-it-s-the-other-2/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“It matters what matters we use to think other matters with; it matters what stories we tell to tell other stories with; it matters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/it-matters-what-matters-we-use-to-think-other-matters-with-it-matters/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [I've always believed that a beautiful shoe is useless unless it feels as wonderful as it looks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-weitzman/i-ve-always-believed-that-a-beautiful-shoe-is-useless-unless-it-feels/) Stuart Weitzman > [It always amazed me that people believed I was this beautiful object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-rossellini/it-always-amazed-me-that-people-believed-i-was-this-beautiful-object/) [Isabella Rossellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-rossellini/) > [for once, you believed in yourself. you believed you were beautiful and so did the rest of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/for-once-you-believed-in-yourself-you-believed-you-were-beautiful-and/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [“Most of us have only one story to tell. I don’t mean that only one thing happens to us in our lives: there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/most-of-us-have-only-one-story-to-tell-i-don-t-mean-that-only-one/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Maybe, in the end it's the voice that tells the stories more than the stories themselves that matters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/maybe-in-the-end-it-s-the-voice-that-tells-the-stories-more-than-the/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [We read to find out what the world is like, to experience lots of lives, not just the one we live. If it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramona-koval/we-read-to-find-out-what-the-world-is-like-to-experience-lots-of/) [Ramona Koval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramona-koval/) > [There are people. There are stories. The people think they shape the stories, but the reverse if often closer to the truth. Stories shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/there-are-people-there-are-stories-the-people-think-they-shape-the/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [The power that comes from knowing the facts of history is dwarfed by the power that comes from being able to shape the stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-leonard/the-power-that-comes-from-knowing-the-facts-of-history-is-dwarfed-by/) [Annie Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-leonard/) > [If we take seriously the idea that the stories we want to hear shape the stories we can (and want to, and are allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/if-we-take-seriously-the-idea-that-the-stories-we-want-to-hear-shape/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Help shape the stories that people are telling about you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hsieh/help-shape-the-stories-that-people-are-telling-about-you/) [Tony Hsieh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hsieh/) > [I have found that the person with a sense of story built in from childhood is in better shape than one who has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/i-have-found-that-the-person-with-a-sense-of-story-built-in-from/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Pretty much all my mother's side is Kiwi, and we have a strong Maori heritage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whittaker/pretty-much-all-my-mother-s-side-is-kiwi-and-we-have-a-strong-maori/) [Robert Whittaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whittaker/) ## More by Karen Healey > [“No matter how much money he'd been offered or how many glittering stars had requested duets, he hadn't sung for them. But he'd sung…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-healey/no-matter-how-much-money-he-d-been-offered-or-how-many-glittering/) [Karen Healey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-healey/) > [“There wasn't any food or heat, but we had light, and places to sit, and a complete lack of frightening murderers, and that turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-healey/there-wasn-t-any-food-or-heat-but-we-had-light-and-places-to-sit-and/) [Karen Healey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-healey/) > [“Translation can never do more than the approximate,so we shall, at least, be gloriously inaccurate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-healey/translation-can-never-do-more-than-the-approximate-so-we-shall-at/) [Karen Healey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-healey/) > [“You knew what I was," he said, taking his hair back from his face, eyes wild with the will to make me believe. "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-healey/you-knew-what-i-was-he-said-taking-his-hair-back-from-his-face-eyes/) [Karen Healey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-healey/) > [“Stories change us; they change the world. People are stories of themselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-healey/stories-change-us-they-change-the-world-people-are-stories-of/) [Karen Healey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-healey/) [Explore all 6 Karen Healey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-healey/) ## More Beauty quotes > [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [“We've all met people who are beautiful on the outside, however, when they open their mouths to speak, they have nothing of substance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-ve-all-met-people-who-are-beautiful-on-the-outside-however-when/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/) [Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/) Tumblr > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [“What about you? What do you do?” I needed to ask questions, draw him out. I needed to find out all the information I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-avery-ellison/what-about-you-what-do-you-do-i-needed-to-ask-questions-draw-him-out/) [Kate Avery Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-avery-ellison/) [Browse all 24,662 Beauty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's the shape of the stories that matters, the way belief forms around it. The story has real weight', He pointed at himself. 'Patupaiarehe look like monsters in some stories, but they're beautiful in a lot. I guess people believed more in the beautiful version. And the ideal of beauty changes. If I'd been born two hundred years ago, I bet I wouldn't look like this. The stories shaped me. They shape everyone, inside and out, but me more than most, because I'm magic.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karen Healey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-healey/it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matters-the-way-belief-forms/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beauty" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-healey/it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matters-the-way-belief-forms/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/karen-healey-58080_beauty_it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matte_2133172.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/karen-healey-58080_beauty_it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matte_2133172.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/karen-healey-58080_beauty_it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matte_2133172.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's the shape of the stories that matters, the way belief forms around it. The story has real weight', He…” — Karen Healey", "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": "Karen Healey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-healey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It's the shape of the stories...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-healey/it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matters-the-way-belief-forms/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-healey/it-s-the-shape-of-the-stories-that-matters-the-way-belief-forms/#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 } } ] } ```