--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't let your stories define you. Define…" description: "\"“Don't let your stories define you. Define your own stories.”\" — Kitty Downer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b00/kitty-downer-22082_stories_don-t-let-your-stories-define-you-define_2638466.jpg" --- # Don't let your stories define you. Define your own stories. ![“Don't let your stories define you. Define your own stories.” quote by Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b00/kitty-downer-22082_stories_don-t-let-your-stories-define-you-define_2638466.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b00/kitty-downer-22082_stories_don-t-let-your-stories-define-you-define_2638466.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b00/kitty-downer-22082_stories_don-t-let-your-stories-define-you-define_2638466.jpg) > ““Don't let your stories define you. Define your own stories.”” [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Do not let external narratives define you; create your own story. **In simple terms:** Define yourself, not others. Key Takeaway Take charge of your personal narrative. Themes self‑definition agency storytelling Mood empowering determined Type motivational psychological When to use this quote - career changes - personal branding - therapy - social media Key Concepts identity empowerment creativity Questions to Reflect On - What story do you want to tell? - How can you resist limiting narratives? A Different Perspective Societal pressure can be strong. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Define Define](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/define-define-590634/) [Define Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/define-stories-2248798/) [Let Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-stories-2248799/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Stories Define](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories-define-2248797/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) ## Related quotes > [When we deny our stories, They define us. When we own our stories, we get to write the ending.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/when-we-deny-our-stories-they-define-us-when-we-own-our-stories-we/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [We create stories to define our existence. If we do not create the stories, we probably go mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shekhar-kapur/we-create-stories-to-define-our-existence-if-we-do-not-create-the/) [Shekhar Kapur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shekhar-kapur/) > [I hope you will go out and let stories happen to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/i-hope-you-will-go-out-and-let-stories-happen-to-you/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [“I think we live our lives in other people's hearts and minds. Alone by ourselves we're not very much good at all. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-mabeuse/i-think-we-live-our-lives-in-other-people-s-hearts-and-minds-alone-by/) [Elliot Mabeuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-mabeuse/) > [I hope you will go out and let stories happen to you, and that you will work them, water them with your blood and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/i-hope-you-will-go-out-and-let-stories-happen-to-you-and-that-you/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [“Let the stories of life be inexplicable Let the world interpret them Let's see who deciphers Let's see who sheds light on your part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jannat-amjad/let-the-stories-of-life-be-inexplicable-let-the-world-interpret-them/) [Jannat Amjad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jannat-amjad/) > [“Stories always started this way, suddenly, and set within a strange world. Patience is required, to let the stories unroll. This is how people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-behrens/stories-always-started-this-way-suddenly-and-set-within-a-strange/) [Peter Behrens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-behrens/) > [“I hope you will go out and let stories, that is life, happen to you, and that you will work with these stories... water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/i-hope-you-will-go-out-and-let-stories-that-is-life-happen-to-you-and-2/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estés](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [“I hope you will go out and let stories, that is life, happen to you,and that you will work with these stories from your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/i-hope-you-will-go-out-and-let-stories-that-is-life-happen-to-you-and/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estés](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [“Let my stories do what stories always do. Let them keep you from your darker dreams & from your darker journey. Let them keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/let-my-stories-do-what-stories-always-do-let-them-keep-you-from-your/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [“Then I let the stories live inside my head, again and again until the real world fades back into cricket lullabies and my own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/then-i-let-the-stories-live-inside-my-head-again-and-again-until-the/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [Dont let others define you as who you are, you define yourself instead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/dont-let-others-define-you-as-who-you-are-you-define-yourself-instead/) [Unkown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unkown/) > [Life is how we make it and is how we want it, life itself cant define it, its us who define it as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennilyn-pecasis/life-is-how-we-make-it-and-is-how-we-want-it-life-itself-cant-define/) [Jennilyn Pecasis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennilyn-pecasis/) > [Others do not define you - you define yourself through your words and actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-handel/others-do-not-define-you-you-define-yourself-through-your-words-and/) [Karen Handel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-handel/) > [“you were whole before him, you are still whole without him, do not define yourself by him, define yourself by yourself”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adeline-whitmore/you-were-whole-before-him-you-are-still-whole-without-him-do-not/) [Adeline Whitmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adeline-whitmore/) ## More by Kitty Downer > [“RIGHT Do you do what feels right or what is seen right?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/right-do-you-do-what-feels-right-or-what-is-seen-right/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“REMEMBER Do you live your life according to how you want to remember it or how you will be remembered?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/remember-do-you-live-your-life-according-to-how-you-want-to-remember/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“Uncertainty is a certainty in life. Unknown is well-known in life. Uncertainty and unknown gives space for the impossible to become possible. Real change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/uncertainty-is-a-certainty-in-life-unknown-is-well-known-in-life/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“To fulfil oneself is to listen and honour yourself in every sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/to-fulfil-oneself-is-to-listen-and-honour-yourself-in-every-sense/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“SENSE Do you make decisions based on what makes sense in your mind or what you sense in your heart?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/sense-do-you-make-decisions-based-on-what-makes-sense-in-your-mind-or/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“When we believe in ourselves, we can then empower ourselves. When we empower ourselves, we can then empower those around us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/when-we-believe-in-ourselves-we-can-then-empower-ourselves-when-we/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“PEACE Do you feel an underlying sense of peace even when you face a mountain of unknowns?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/peace-do-you-feel-an-underlying-sense-of-peace-even-when-you-face-a/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“FEAR Only when we embrace it can we destroy it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/fear-only-when-we-embrace-it-can-we-destroy-it/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“Embrace emptiness in life when you genuinely want to make a transformation. Only when you have space can you allow new and bigger things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/embrace-emptiness-in-life-when-you-genuinely-want-to-make-a/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“How you are defined does not confine who you can be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/how-you-are-defined-does-not-confine-who-you-can-be/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“True power doesn't come from knowing. True power comes from discovering. Self-discovery and reflection not only give you the answers you look for but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/true-power-doesn-t-come-from-knowing-true-power-comes-from/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“Don't be the norm. Don't be the crowd. Be your own norm and create your own crowd even when you are the only one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/don-t-be-the-norm-don-t-be-the-crowd-be-your-own-norm-and-create-your/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“A thought is nothing but a thought. Only action can bring a thought into reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/a-thought-is-nothing-but-a-thought-only-action-can-bring-a-thought/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“You never know your limits and abilities until you get pushed. And your abilities and limits expand each time you are tested. The more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/you-never-know-your-limits-and-abilities-until-you-get-pushed-and/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) > [“By taking a risk you evolve and transform.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kitty-downer/by-taking-a-risk-you-evolve-and-transform/) [Kitty Downer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) [Explore all 28 Kitty Downer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kitty-downer/) ## More Stories quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [When you listen to someone improvise, the notes that are played are only half the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-laws/when-you-listen-to-someone-improvise-the-notes-that-are-played-are/) [Hubert Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-laws/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [She smiled, if he could see that, and waited for him to ask the real question. But he was silent. He wanted her to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-shinn/she-smiled-if-he-could-see-that-and-waited-for-him-to-ask-the-real/) [Sharon Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-shinn/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [Having small children and being an investigative reporter would seem like a difficult mix, but it worked well for me. I was often working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-abramson/having-small-children-and-being-an-investigative-reporter-would-seem/) [Jill Abramson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-abramson/) > [In the current climate, things that are true, brave human stories become political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/in-the-current-climate-things-that-are-true-brave-human-stories/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I think it's actually kind of sweet how there is a reciprocal effect that our stories can have on each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-manning/i-think-it-s-actually-kind-of-sweet-how-there-is-a-reciprocal-effect/) [Chelsea Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-manning/) > [I had sort of had a 21st birthday when I was 17, 18 years old living in Japan. I had all of that stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-wright/i-had-sort-of-had-a-21st-birthday-when-i-was-17-18-years-old-living/) [Sarah Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-wright/) > [Story is about pulling the reader in and a plot is a more externalized mechanism of revelation. A plot is more antic, more performative,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/story-is-about-pulling-the-reader-in-and-a-plot-is-a-more/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) > [Women know things that men will never know. We keep the best secrets. We tell the best stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/women-know-things-that-men-will-never-know-we-keep-the-best-secrets/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) [Browse all 19,094 Stories quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Don't let your stories define you. 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