---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All stories are about wolves. All worth…"
description: "\"All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel.\" — Margaret Atwood"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/margaret-atwood-40_drivel_all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-r_698192.jpg"
---

#  All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that…

![“All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel.” quote by Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/margaret-atwood-40_drivel_all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-r_698192.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/margaret-atwood-40_drivel_all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-r_698192.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/margaret-atwood-40_drivel_all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-r_698192.jpg)

> “All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel.”

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Stories that focus on wolves are timeless; sentimental tales lack depth.

**In simple terms:** Wolves symbolize enduring narratives; sentiment is shallow.

Key Takeaway

Seek stories with lasting impact.

Themes

literature myth timelessness

Mood

reflective critical

Type

literary analytical

When to use this quote

- reading classics
- story analysis
- creative writing

Key Concepts

symbolism narrative depth

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes a story timeless?
- How do you differentiate depth from sentiment?

A Different Perspective

Sentimental stories can still hold value for some.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Drivel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drivel/) [Repeating Sentimental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repeating-sentimental-5533594/) [Sentimental](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentimental/) [Sentimental Drivel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentimental-drivel-5533593/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Stories Wolves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories-wolves-3218339/) [Wolves Worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wolves-worth-5533595/)

## Related quotes

> [All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel. All of them? Sure, he says. Think about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-repeating-that-is-anything-3/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel. ...Think about it. There's escaping from the wolves, fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-repeating-that-is-anything-2/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [There is perhaps no field aspiring to be scientific where flagrant personal bias, logic martyred in the cause of supporting a prejudice, unfounded assertions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-thompson-woolley/there-is-perhaps-no-field-aspiring-to-be-scientific-where-flagrant/)

[Helen Thompson Woolley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-thompson-woolley/)

> [“Dreams are like the old stories where wolves are seekers always running, and women carry fire in their bare hands and light the dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamara-rendell/dreams-are-like-the-old-stories-where-wolves-are-seekers-always/)

[Tamara Rendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamara-rendell/)

> [The neutrality and clarity of an engineering drawing is a better model for teaching about art than all the uncontrollable drivel about the cabbala…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/the-neutrality-and-clarity-of-an-engineering-drawing-is-a-better/)

[George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/)

> [When I first got back from the war, I said, 'I'm gonna write the Great American Novel about the Vietnam War.' So I sat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marlantes/when-i-first-got-back-from-the-war-i-said-i-m-gonna-write-the-great/)

[Karl Marlantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marlantes/)

> [“A feller that chatters all the time is bound to talk a certain amount of drivel”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/si-sylvanne/a-feller-that-chatters-all-the-time-is-bound-to-talk-a-certain-amount/)

[Si Sylvanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/si-sylvanne/)

> [So-called 'sustainable development'... is meaningless drivel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lovelock/so-called-sustainable-development-is-meaningless-drivel/)

[James Lovelock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lovelock/)

> [“This is incoherent drivel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-is-incoherent-drivel/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The result is a twitching convulsion of vicious drivel passing itself off as a movie, which can be best appreciated by the kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-reed/the-result-is-a-twitching-convulsion-of-vicious-drivel-passing-itself/)

[Rex Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-reed/)

> [I wrote a piece for the school literary magazine that now makes me think: 'My God in Heaven, this is just the worst drivel.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-wrote-a-piece-for-the-school-literary-magazine-that-now-makes-me/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [While you're being creative, nothing is wrong. There's no such thing as a mistake, and any drivel may lead to the breakthrough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleese/while-you-re-being-creative-nothing-is-wrong-there-s-no-such-thing-as/)

[John Cleese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleese/)

> [But we love the Old Travelers. We love to hear them prate and drivel and lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/but-we-love-the-old-travelers-we-love-to-hear-them-prate-and-drivel/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [The biggest journalistic game-changer of our time has been the rise of social media and the overgrowth of faux news sources - league- and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lipsyte/the-biggest-journalistic-game-changer-of-our-time-has-been-the-rise/)

[Robert Lipsyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lipsyte/)

## More by Margaret Atwood

> [“I'm fine," said Pilar, "for the moment. And the moment is the only time we can be fine in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-m-fine-said-pilar-for-the-moment-and-the-moment-is-the-only-time-we/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [And yet it disturbs me to learn I have hurt someone unintentionally. I want all my hurts to be intentional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-yet-it-disturbs-me-to-learn-i-have-hurt-someone-unintentionally-i/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Mary: Some call this "Eve's curse," but I think that is stupid because the real curse of Eve was having to put up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/mary-some-call-this-eve-s-curse-but-i-think-that-is-stupid-because/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“The birds were singing around me, but I reflected that the very birds were strangers to me, for I did not even know their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-birds-were-singing-around-me-but-i-reflected-that-the-very-birds/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Strange how we decorate pain. These ribbons, for instance, and the small hard teardrops of blood. Who are they for? Do we think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/strange-how-we-decorate-pain-these-ribbons-for-instance-and-the-small/)

[margaret atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [I wanted to forget the past, but it refused to forget me; it waited for sleep, then cornered me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-wanted-to-forget-the-past-but-it-refused-to-forget-me-it-waited-for/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Back at home they drew the curtains and read, with disapproval, with relish, with avidity and glee - even the ones who'd never thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/back-at-home-they-drew-the-curtains-and-read-with-disapproval-with/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-fiction-is-about-people-unless-it-s-about-rabbits-pretending-to/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Simon walks back to the house alone. The night is clear and warm, with a moon, almost full, enclosed in a nimbus of mist;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/simon-walks-back-to-the-house-alone-the-night-is-clear-and-warm-with/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“There is indeed something delightful about being able to combine obedience and disobedience in the same act.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-is-indeed-something-delightful-about-being-able-to-combine/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Every time the women appear, Snowman is astonished all over again. They're every known colour from the deepest black to whitest white, they're various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/every-time-the-women-appear-snowman-is-astonished-all-over-again-they/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/once-you-publish-a-book-it-is-out-of-your-control-you-cannot-dictate/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“The more difficult it was to love the particular man beside us, the more we believed in Love, abstract and total. We were waiting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-more-difficult-it-was-to-love-the-particular-man-beside-us-the/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“She knows she's deceiving herself about that, but she prefers to deceive herself. She desperately needs to believe such pure joy is still possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/she-knows-she-s-deceiving-herself-about-that-but-she-prefers-to/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

[Explore all 2,072 Margaret Atwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

## More Drivel quotes

> [The biggest journalistic game-changer of our time has been the rise of social media and the overgrowth of faux news sources - league- and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lipsyte/the-biggest-journalistic-game-changer-of-our-time-has-been-the-rise/)

[Robert Lipsyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lipsyte/)

> [The greatest danger to Christianity is, I contend, not heresies, not heterodoxies, not atheists, not profane secularism - no, but the kind of orthodoxy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/the-greatest-danger-to-christianity-is-i-contend-not-heresies-not/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [But we love the Old Travelers. We love to hear them prate and drivel and lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/but-we-love-the-old-travelers-we-love-to-hear-them-prate-and-drivel/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [While you're being creative, nothing is wrong. There's no such thing as a mistake, and any drivel may lead to the breakthrough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleese/while-you-re-being-creative-nothing-is-wrong-there-s-no-such-thing-as/)

[John Cleese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleese/)

> [I wrote a piece for the school literary magazine that now makes me think: 'My God in Heaven, this is just the worst drivel.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/i-wrote-a-piece-for-the-school-literary-magazine-that-now-makes-me/)

[Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/)

> [The result is a twitching convulsion of vicious drivel passing itself off as a movie, which can be best appreciated by the kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-reed/the-result-is-a-twitching-convulsion-of-vicious-drivel-passing-itself/)

[Rex Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-reed/)

> [“This is incoherent drivel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-is-incoherent-drivel/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [So-called 'sustainable development'... is meaningless drivel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lovelock/so-called-sustainable-development-is-meaningless-drivel/)

[James Lovelock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lovelock/)

> [“A feller that chatters all the time is bound to talk a certain amount of drivel”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/si-sylvanne/a-feller-that-chatters-all-the-time-is-bound-to-talk-a-certain-amount/)

[Si Sylvanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/si-sylvanne/)

> [When I first got back from the war, I said, 'I'm gonna write the Great American Novel about the Vietnam War.' So I sat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marlantes/when-i-first-got-back-from-the-war-i-said-i-m-gonna-write-the-great/)

[Karl Marlantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marlantes/)

> [The neutrality and clarity of an engineering drawing is a better model for teaching about art than all the uncontrollable drivel about the cabbala…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-grosz/the-neutrality-and-clarity-of-an-engineering-drawing-is-a-better/)

[George Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-grosz/)

> [“How is it then that your theologians drivel like people in their second childhood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/how-is-it-then-that-your-theologians-drivel-like-people-in-their/)

[Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/)

> [What drivel it all is!... A string of words called religion. Another string of words called philosophy. Half a dozen other stringscalled political ideals.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-drivel-it-all-is-a-string-of-words-called-religion-another/)

[Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/)

> [The Reverend Douglas Wilson may not be a professional historian, as his detractors say, but he has a strong grasp of the essentials of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-genovese/the-reverend-douglas-wilson-may-not-be-a-professional-historian-as/)

[Eugene Genovese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-genovese/)

> [A lot of what journalists write is drivel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-allen/a-lot-of-what-journalists-write-is-drivel/)

[Keith Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-allen/)

[Browse all 43 Drivel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drivel/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Margaret Atwood"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-repeating-that-is-anything/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Drivel"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-repeating-that-is-anything/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/margaret-atwood-40_drivel_all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-r_698192.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/margaret-atwood-40_drivel_all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-r_698192.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/margaret-atwood-40_drivel_all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-r_698192.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel.” — Margaret Atwood",
                "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": "Margaret Atwood",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "All stories are about wolves. All...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-repeating-that-is-anything/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-stories-are-about-wolves-all-worth-repeating-that-is-anything/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
