--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have noticed that when people tell…" description: "\"“I have noticed that when people tell their own stories, often it has less to do with wanting to communicate an idea to another than with clarifying an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/lydia-minatoya-63899_reading_i-have-noticed-that-when-people-tell-the_417862.jpg" --- # I have noticed that when people tell their own stories… ![“I have noticed that when people tell their own stories, often it has less to do with wanting to communicate an idea to another than with clarifying an emotion to themselves. Or when the subject of the story is beloved and missing, as a way to make them here and alive.” quote by Lydia Minatoya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/lydia-minatoya-63899_reading_i-have-noticed-that-when-people-tell-the_417862.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/lydia-minatoya-63899_reading_i-have-noticed-that-when-people-tell-the_417862.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8c/lydia-minatoya-63899_reading_i-have-noticed-that-when-people-tell-the_417862.jpg) > ““I have noticed that when people tell their own stories, often it has less to do with wanting to communicate an idea to another than with clarifying an emotion to themselves. Or when the subject of the story is beloved and missing, as a way to make them here and alive.”” [Lydia Minatoya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-minatoya/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Sharing stories often serves to clarify the teller’s own emotions rather than to convey ideas to others. **In simple terms:** Storytelling helps us understand our feelings. Key Takeaway Use storytelling to explore personal emotions. Themes psychology communication self‑awareness Mood introspective empathetic Type therapeutic literary When to use this quote - therapy sessions - journaling - creative writing - group workshops Key Concepts Narrative therapy emotional processing identity formation Questions to Reflect On - What emotions do you discover when you recount a personal memory? - How can you balance self‑clarification with audience understanding? A Different Perspective Stories may also unintentionally mislead listeners about the teller’s true feelings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clarifying Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarifying-emotion-3711028/) [People Tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-tell/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Stories Wanting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories-wanting-3711029/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Tell Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell-stories/) [Wanting Communicate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanting-communicate-2854695/) ## Related quotes > [“We spend so much time wanting to communicate with others we forget to communicate with ourselves and focusing on making our life the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-mehl/we-spend-so-much-time-wanting-to-communicate-with-others-we-forget-to/) [Joe Mehl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-mehl/) > [Rather than doing the kind of fact-checking that normally goes with a story, you ran with certain stories for not wanting to get beat.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rahm-emanuel/rather-than-doing-the-kind-of-fact-checking-that-normally-goes-with-a/) [Rahm Emanuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rahm-emanuel/) > [Some people tell stories and some people tell the truth!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-williams/some-people-tell-stories-and-some-people-tell-the-truth/) [Amber Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-williams/) > [People will always tell stories. The publishing industry might vanish, but not stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/people-will-always-tell-stories-the-publishing-industry-might-vanish/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [We as Black people have to tell our own stories. We have to document our history. When we allow someone else to document our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erykah-badu/we-as-black-people-have-to-tell-our-own-stories-we-have-to-document/) [Erykah Badu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erykah-badu/) > [I love watching people tell stories, because it's very vulnerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-lapkus/i-love-watching-people-tell-stories-because-it-s-very-vulnerable/) [Lauren Lapkus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-lapkus/) > [“People tell stories, and it's up to those who listen whether to believe them or not. It's not the job of the storyteller.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/people-tell-stories-and-it-s-up-to-those-who-listen-whether-to/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [I don't believe in kiss-n-tell stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shatrughan-sinha/i-don-t-believe-in-kiss-n-tell-stories/) [Shatrughan Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shatrughan-sinha/) > [...You believe that the kind of story you want to tell might be best received by the science fiction and fantasy audience. I hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/you-believe-that-the-kind-of-story-you-want-to-tell-might-be-best/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“so we had to tell our stories and they were stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/so-we-had-to-tell-our-stories-and-they-were-stories/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I guess I'm just inspired to tell stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-ocean/i-guess-i-m-just-inspired-to-tell-stories/) [Frank Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-ocean/) > [“Each of us, along with our ancestors, inhabits the same cosmos. When we tell stories, we enter the stream of human consciousness; we take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/each-of-us-along-with-our-ancestors-inhabits-the-same-cosmos-when-we/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [I have a desire to tell stories. And I'm never quite satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/i-have-a-desire-to-tell-stories-and-i-m-never-quite-satisfied/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [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/) > [Don't let other people tell you who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-sawyer/don-t-let-other-people-tell-you-who-you-are/) [Diane Sawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-sawyer/) ## More by Lydia Minatoya > [“Perhaps for many Japanese, autobiographical fiction writing is life. We are a people expected to complement, to harmonize, to anticipate one another's needs. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-minatoya/perhaps-for-many-japanese-autobiographical-fiction-writing-is-life-we/) [Lydia Minatoya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-minatoya/) > [ “This was my ambition: to become a good wife and mother. Plus one improbable extra: \[...\] to find, deep inside, my own wiser self,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-minatoya/this-was-my-ambition-to-become-a-good-wife-and-mother-plus-one/) [Lydia Minatoya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-minatoya/) > [“There's a reason why I tell this story. To me these Sunday painters represent myo—the strangeness of beauty—an idea that transcendence can be found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-minatoya/there-s-a-reason-why-i-tell-this-story-to-me-these-sunday-painters/) [Lydia Minatoya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-minatoya/) > [“Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying motherhood lacks meaning. There's great dignity in the smallness of motherhood; we're essential in our contingency. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-minatoya/please-don-t-misunderstand-me-i-m-not-saying-motherhood-lacks-meaning/) [Lydia Minatoya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-minatoya/) [Explore all 5 Lydia Minatoya quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-minatoya/) ## More Reading quotes > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-rahman/) > [I'm am an expert at reading lips especially when it's not moving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/i-m-am-an-expert-at-reading-lips-especially-when-it-s-not-moving/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“What you’re holding in your hands is a BookShots Flames story. It’s part of a revolution in reading. Hand-picked by James Patterson, BookShots Flames…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ciotta/what-you-re-holding-in-your-hands-is-a-bookshots-flames-story-it-s/) [Beth Ciotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ciotta/) > [“The characteristics of this kind of reading are perhaps summed up in the word “orthodox,” which is almost always applicable. The word comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-j-adler/the-characteristics-of-this-kind-of-reading-are-perhaps-summed-up-in/) [Mortimer J. Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-j-adler/) > [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [Reading counts as partying, even if you're not enjoying it! Even if someone's forcing you to read, you can find a way to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-w-k/reading-counts-as-partying-even-if-you-re-not-enjoying-it-even-if/) [Andrew W.K](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-w-k/) > [There's a richness that reading gives you, an opportunity to probe more than any other medium I know of. Reading is about not being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryanne-wolf/there-s-a-richness-that-reading-gives-you-an-opportunity-to-probe/) [Maryanne Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryanne-wolf/) > [I always loved as a kid reading 'Spider-Man,' and the 'Fantastic Four' would show up... it was all about that larger universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peyton-reed/i-always-loved-as-a-kid-reading-spider-man-and-the-fantastic-four/) [Peyton Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peyton-reed/) > [ The young man \[Turgot\] destined for an ecclesiastical career was placed within walls carefully designed to keep out all currents of new thought; his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-dickson-white/the-young-man-turgot-destined-for-an-ecclesiastical-career-was-placed/) [Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-dickson-white/) [Browse all 12,088 Reading quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I have noticed that when people tell their own stories, often it has less to do with wanting to communicate an idea to another than with clarifying an emotion to themselves. 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