--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the stories we tell ourselves, we tell…" description: "\"“In the stories we tell ourselves, we tell ourselves.”\" — Michael Martone" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/michael-martone-105486_stories_in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell_2415103.jpg" --- # In the stories we tell ourselves, we tell ourselves. ![“In the stories we tell ourselves, we tell ourselves.” quote by Michael Martone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/michael-martone-105486_stories_in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell_2415103.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/michael-martone-105486_stories_in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell_2415103.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/michael-martone-105486_stories_in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell_2415103.jpg) > ““In the stories we tell ourselves, we tell ourselves.”” Michael Martone ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self-referential storytelling reflects how we construct and repeat personal narratives. **In simple terms:** We tell ourselves stories about ourselves. Key Takeaway Examine personal narratives. Themes storytelling self-awareness reflection Mood introspective philosophical Type Stories:1 Story:1 Storytelling:1 Tell:0 Stories Tell:0 Tell Tell:0 When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - personal development Key Concepts psychology literature identity formation Questions to Reflect On - How do your stories shape you? - What narratives need questioning? A Different Perspective Self-reference can become limiting. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) ## Related quotes > [“There are stories to tell that are not songs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michka-assayas/there-are-stories-to-tell-that-are-not-songs/) [Michka Assayas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michka-assayas/) > [I could tell you stories-if only stories could tell what I have in me to tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-hampl/i-could-tell-you-stories-if-only-stories-could-tell-what-i-have-in-me/) [Patricia Hampl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-hampl/) > [Everyone has a story to tell. Some of us tell them so much we get better at it. Eventually we get really good...and published.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-has-a-story-to-tell-some-of-us-tell-them-so-much-we-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everybody's got a different way of telling a story - and has different stories to tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-richards/everybody-s-got-a-different-way-of-telling-a-story-and-has-different/) [Keith Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-richards/) > [This is my life - I want to tell stories. There is something huge inside me that pushes me to tell stories, and tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dario-argento/this-is-my-life-i-want-to-tell-stories-there-is-something-huge-inside/) [Dario Argento](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dario-argento/) > [I'd like to say a few words about one of the most popular concepts in the modern education--show and tell. Show and Tell is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-orben/i-d-like-to-say-a-few-words-about-one-of-the-most-popular-concepts-in/) [Robert Orben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-orben/) > [“Tell me again. Tell me you'll marry me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-banks/tell-me-again-tell-me-you-ll-marry-me/) [Maya Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-banks/) > [To be a person is to have a story to tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/to-be-a-person-is-to-have-a-story-to-tell/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [I decide intuitively what I want to do. When directors like Imtiaz Ali, Ayan Mukerji, Anurag Basu and Anurag Kashyap, who have stories to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranbir-kapoor/i-decide-intuitively-what-i-want-to-do-when-directors-like-imtiaz-ali/) [Ranbir Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranbir-kapoor/) > [“The barbells and dumbbells you hold in your hands and the way you use them have stories to tell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-cecil/the-barbells-and-dumbbells-you-hold-in-your-hands-and-the-way-you-use/) [Craig Cecil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-cecil/) > [If you do weave one-liners into a story, you have to have an overall story as well, otherwise it doesn't really count as narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/if-you-do-weave-one-liners-into-a-story-you-have-to-have-an-overall/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [Some stories, you use up. Others use you up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/some-stories-you-use-up-others-use-you-up/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [My family, they're story tellers. My mom is Irish, and my dad is Italian. In my family, we weren't allowed to watch TV while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/my-family-they-re-story-tellers-my-mom-is-irish-and-my-dad-is-italian/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [everybody has a story to tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-strummer/everybody-has-a-story-to-tell/) [Joe Strummer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-strummer/) > [“I knew books could see people around them, they ground their tiny teeth, tried to rattle like windows, stories to tell.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-aylett/i-knew-books-could-see-people-around-them-they-ground-their-tiny/) [Steve Aylett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-aylett/) ## More by Michael Martone > [“Every word Martone sets down, finally, a choice that limits the universe, their trail across the page a fossil record of some life's life-story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-martone/every-word-martone-sets-down-finally-a-choice-that-limits-the/) Michael Martone Explore all 2 Michael Martone quotes ## 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 > [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": "“In the stories we tell ourselves, we tell ourselves.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Martone" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-martone/in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell-ourselves/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Stories" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-martone/in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell-ourselves/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/michael-martone-105486_stories_in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell_2415103.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/michael-martone-105486_stories_in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell_2415103.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc3/michael-martone-105486_stories_in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell_2415103.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In the stories we tell ourselves, we tell ourselves.” — Michael Martone", "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": "Michael Martone", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-martone/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“In the stories we tell ourselves,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-martone/in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell-ourselves/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-martone/in-the-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell-ourselves/#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 } } ] } ```