--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She entered the story knowing she would…" description: "\"She entered the story knowing she would emerge from it feeling she had been immersed in the lives of others, in plots that stretched back twenty years,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_body_she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would_1269444.png" --- # She entered the story knowing she would emerge from it… ![“She entered the story knowing she would emerge from it feeling she had been immersed in the lives of others, in plots that stretched back twenty years, her body full of sentences and moments, as if awaking from sleep with a heaviness caused by unremembered dreams.” quote by Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_body_she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would_1269444.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_body_she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would_1269444.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_body_she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would_1269444.png) > “She entered the story knowing she would emerge from it feeling she had been immersed in the lives of others, in plots that stretched back twenty years, her body full of sentences and moments, as if awaking from sleep with a heaviness caused by unremembered dreams.” [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Immersion in a story can leave one feeling transformed, as if living others' lives and dreams. **In simple terms:** Stories change us deeply. Key Takeaway Allow narratives to broaden your empathy. Themes fiction empathy identity transformation Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - reading - writing - creative workshops Key Concepts Narrative immersion psychological impact Questions to Reflect On - How does deep reading affect your sense of self? - Can immersion become escapism? A Different Perspective Stories may blur personal boundaries, causing confusion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Emerge Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emerge-feeling-4063123/) [Entered Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entered-story-3655925/) [Feeling Immersed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-immersed-368975/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Heaviness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaviness/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Lives of others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lives-of-others/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Plot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plot/) [Sentences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentences/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Stretched Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stretched-years-4000931/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) [Unremembered Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unremembered-dreams-4063122/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [“She entered the story knowing she would emerge from it feeling she had been immersed in the lives of others,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would-emerge-from-it-feeling-she/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“Let us not subside into a single mandatory way of thinking or feeling, immersed by a spirit of self-gratification. But let’s dig into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/let-us-not-subside-into-a-single-mandatory-way-of-thinking-or-feeling/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [I was born in the summer of 1970, the last of five boys stretched over eight years. My parents were a struggling young couple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-blow/i-was-born-in-the-summer-of-1970-the-last-of-five-boys-stretched-over/) [Charles M. Blow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-blow/) > [Folks think a lifetime is a thing stretched out over years. It ain't. It can happen quick as a match in a dark room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esi-edugyan/folks-think-a-lifetime-is-a-thing-stretched-out-over-years-it-ain-t/) [Esi Edugyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esi-edugyan/) > [Sabrina turned back to the house and saw the horrible truth- a pair of legs was sticking out from beneath it and they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-buckley/sabrina-turned-back-to-the-house-and-saw-the-horrible-truth-a-pair-of/) [Michael Buckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-buckley/) > [I've never had the right words to describe my life, and now that I've entered my story, I need them more than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/i-ve-never-had-the-right-words-to-describe-my-life-and-now-that-i-ve/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [you will I trust find heaviness may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel/you-will-i-trust-find-heaviness-may-endure-for-a-night-but-joy-comes/) [Rachel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel/) > [There's a tremendously satisfying freedom associated with weightlessness. It's challenging in the absence of traction or leverage, and it requires thoughtful readjustment. I found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/there-s-a-tremendously-satisfying-freedom-associated-with/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [Her drama was a drama not of heaviness but of lightness. What fell to her lot was not the burden but the unbearable lightness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/her-drama-was-a-drama-not-of-heaviness-but-of-lightness-what-fell-to/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I remember a new heaviness in my body, but maybe that's the work of time and my looking back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandria-marzano-lesnevich/i-remember-a-new-heaviness-in-my-body-but-maybe-that-s-the-work-of/) [Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandria-marzano-lesnevich/) > [Cinema doesn't connect with the body as artists have in two thousand years of painting, using the nude as the central figure which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/cinema-doesn-t-connect-with-the-body-as-artists-have-in-two-thousand/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [Do you love this world? Do you cherish your humble and silky life? Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath? Do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/do-you-love-this-world-do-you-cherish-your-humble-and-silky-life-do/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Wise is the fool who becomes a master at laughter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-tyrone-jones/wise-is-the-fool-who-becomes-a-master-at-laughter/) [Curtis Tyrone Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-tyrone-jones/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [“Let us not burthen our remembrance with A heaviness that's gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-us-not-burthen-our-remembrance-with-a-heaviness-that-s-gone/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) ## More by Michael Ondaatje > [“In spite of this, our table's status on the Oronsay continued to be minimal, while those at the Captain's Table were constantly toasting to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/in-spite-of-this-our-table-s-status-on-the-oronsay-continued-to-be/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [He will hear the rain before he feels it, a clicking on the dry grass, on the olive leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/he-will-hear-the-rain-before-he-feels-it-a-clicking-on-the-dry-grass/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would lean over and smell the skin at the base of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/whenever-her-father-was-alone-with-a-dog-in-a-house-he-would-lean/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“...those who had risked everything at a riverbend on a left turn and so discovered a fortune.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/those-who-had-risked-everything-at-a-riverbend-on-a-left-turn-and-so/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“All over the world there must be people like us, Anna had said then, wounded in some way by falling in love - seemingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/all-over-the-world-there-must-be-people-like-us-anna-had-said-then/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Her father had taught her about hands. About a dog's paws. Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/her-father-had-taught-her-about-hands-about-a-dog-s-paws-whenever-her/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [What is interesting and important happens mostly in secret, in places where there is no power. Nothing much of lasting value ever happens at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/what-is-interesting-and-important-happens-mostly-in-secret-in-places/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [There's more danger in the violence you don't face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/there-s-more-danger-in-the-violence-you-don-t-face/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [From this point on, she whispered, we will either find or lose our souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/from-this-point-on-she-whispered-we-will-either-find-or-lose-our-souls/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“You know it is the most relaxed thing when you when you sit with a best friend and you know there is nothing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/you-know-it-is-the-most-relaxed-thing-when-you-when-you-sit-with-a/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“There was no control except the " mood of his power... and it is for this reason it is good you never heard him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/there-was-no-control-except-the-mood-of-his-power-and-it-is-for-this/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [You're getting everyone's point of view at the same time, which for me, is the perfect state for a novel: a cubist state, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/you-re-getting-everyone-s-point-of-view-at-the-same-time-which-for-me/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [I see the poem or the novel ending with an open door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/i-see-the-poem-or-the-novel-ending-with-an-open-door/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“The Time Around Scars: A girl whom I've not spoken to or shared coffee with for several years writes of an old scar. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/the-time-around-scars-a-girl-whom-i-ve-not-spoken-to-or-shared-coffee/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [“- Daca ti-as incredinta viata mea, ai scapa-o pe jos. Nu-i asa?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/daca-ti-as-incredinta-viata-mea-ai-scapa-o-pe-jos-nu-i-asa/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) [Explore all 322 Michael Ondaatje quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) ## More Body quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [The very purpose for being in this body, for every one of us, is to live and rejoice in that virgin area, that untouched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/the-very-purpose-for-being-in-this-body-for-every-one-of-us-is-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) [Jennifer Siebel Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-siebel-newsom/) > [Boys and boys' body image and clothes have become just as important an issue for boys as for girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-wiseman/boys-and-boys-body-image-and-clothes-have-become-just-as-important-an/) [Rosalind Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-wiseman/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Racism is a cancer. You cannot ignore it and it'll go away. If you ignore cancer, it simply metastasizes and consumes the whole body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/racism-is-a-cancer-you-cannot-ignore-it-and-it-ll-go-away-if-you/) [Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [I read a couple of books about neuroscience and the relationship between the mind and the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-kinnaman/i-read-a-couple-of-books-about-neuroscience-and-the-relationship/) [Joel Kinnaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-kinnaman/) > [If japa is maintained, no useless talk during work will be possible. The mind will always remain peaceful. Modern day diseases are mostly psychosomatic.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/if-japa-is-maintained-no-useless-talk-during-work-will-be-possible/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [It is the incongruous thing in my entire life, this isolation.. ... My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [My friends, this body - perhaps more than any other gathering in human history - now faces that difficult task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/my-friends-this-body-perhaps-more-than-any-other-gathering-in-human/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) [Browse all 20,814 Body quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "She entered the story knowing she would emerge from it feeling she had been immersed in the lives of others, in plots that stretched back twenty years, her body full of sentences and moments, as if awaking from sleep with a heaviness caused by unremembered dreams.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Ondaatje" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would-emerge-from-it-feeling-she-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Body" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would-emerge-from-it-feeling-she-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_body_she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would_1269444.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_body_she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would_1269444.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23f/michael-ondaatje-940_body_she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would_1269444.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She entered the story knowing she would emerge from it feeling she had been immersed in the lives of others…” — Michael Ondaatje", "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 Ondaatje", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "She entered the story knowing she...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would-emerge-from-it-feeling-she-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/she-entered-the-story-knowing-she-would-emerge-from-it-feeling-she-2/#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 } } ] } ```