--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With a tale, forsooth, he cometh unto…" description: "\"With a tale, forsooth, he cometh unto you; with a tale which holdeth children from play, and old men from the chimney corner.\" — Philip Sidney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cc/philip-sidney-2095_children_with-a-tale-forsooth-he-cometh-unto-you_2478002.png" --- # With a tale, forsooth, he cometh unto you; with a tale… ![“With a tale, forsooth, he cometh unto you; with a tale which holdeth children from play, and old men from the chimney corner.” quote by Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cc/philip-sidney-2095_children_with-a-tale-forsooth-he-cometh-unto-you_2478002.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cc/philip-sidney-2095_children_with-a-tale-forsooth-he-cometh-unto-you_2478002.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cc/philip-sidney-2095_children_with-a-tale-forsooth-he-cometh-unto-you_2478002.png) > “With a tale, forsooth, he cometh unto you; with a tale which holdeth children from play, and old men from the chimney corner.” [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories can distract people from work and play, pulling them into endless narratives. **In simple terms:** Stories can keep people from productive tasks. Key Takeaway Beware of time‑wasting narratives. Themes literature distraction time management Mood reflective critical Type literary cautionary When to use this quote - Reading for leisure - media consumption - educational storytelling Key Concepts Narrative allure social conditioning Questions to Reflect On - What narratives do you let dominate your day? - How can stories be used productively? A Different Perspective Stories also inspire imagination and learning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Chimney Corner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chimney-corner-832101/) [Chimneys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chimneys/) [Corners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corners/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Old man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) [Old men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-men/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Tale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tale/) [Tale Forsooth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tale-forsooth-832099/) [Tale Holdeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tale-holdeth-832102/) [Tales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tales/) [Unto Tale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unto-tale-832100/) ## Related quotes > [If a man will kick a fact out of the window, when he comes back he finds it again in the chimney corner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-a-man-will-kick-a-fact-out-of-the-window-when-he-comes-back-he/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“I am not I; pity the tale of me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/i-am-not-i-pity-the-tale-of-me/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Christmas Pie Lo! now is come our joyfull'st feast! 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I know its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-fluke/p-s-if-it-s-not-a-secret-will-you-tell-me-how-you-got-my-dollhouse/) [Joanne Fluke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-fluke/) > [By the year 1670, wooden chimneys and log houses of the Plymouth and Bay colonies were replaced by more sightly houses of two stories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-morse-earle/by-the-year-1670-wooden-chimneys-and-log-houses-of-the-plymouth-and/) [Alice Morse Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-morse-earle/) > [Been having a fight with your blankets, Septimus?" A familiar voice echoed down the chimney. "Looks like you lost," the voice continued with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-sage/been-having-a-fight-with-your-blankets-septimus-a-familiar-voice/) [Angie Sage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-sage/) > [Walking the streets on winter nights kept him warm, despite the cold nocturnal passions of uprising winds. 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The first one is on the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/i-d-like-to-start-with-the-chimney-jokes-i-ve-got-a-stack-of-them-the/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) ## More by Philip Sidney > [Laws are not made like lime-twigs or nets, to catch everything that toucheth them; but rather like sea-marks, to guide from shipwreck the ignorant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/laws-are-not-made-like-lime-twigs-or-nets-to-catch-everything-that/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [It is no less vain to wish death than it is cowardly to fear it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/it-is-no-less-vain-to-wish-death-than-it-is-cowardly-to-fear-it/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Whatever comes out of despair cannot bear the title of valor, which should be lifted up to such a height that holding all things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/whatever-comes-out-of-despair-cannot-bear-the-title-of-valor-which/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Sweet speaking oft a currish heart reclaims.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/sweet-speaking-oft-a-currish-heart-reclaims/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [To be ambitious of true honor and of the real glory and perfection of our nature is the very principle and incentive of virtue;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/to-be-ambitious-of-true-honor-and-of-the-real-glory-and-perfection-of/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [He travels safe and not unpleasantly who is guarded by poverty and guided by love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/he-travels-safe-and-not-unpleasantly-who-is-guarded-by-poverty-and/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [There is a certain delicacy which in yielding conquers; and with a pitiful look makes one find cause to crave help one's self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/there-is-a-certain-delicacy-which-in-yielding-conquers-and-with-a/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [The glory and increase of wisdom stands in exercising it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/the-glory-and-increase-of-wisdom-stands-in-exercising-it/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [O sweet woods, the delight of solitariness!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/o-sweet-woods-the-delight-of-solitariness/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [“Stella, the only planet of my light, Light of my life, and life of my desire, Chief good, whereto my hope doth only aspire,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/stella-the-only-planet-of-my-light-light-of-my-life-and-life-of-my/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [All is but lip-wisdom which wants experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/all-is-but-lip-wisdom-which-wants-experience/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Confidence in one's self is the chief nurse of magnanimity, which confidence, notwithstanding, doth not leave the care of necessary furniture for it; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/confidence-in-one-s-self-is-the-chief-nurse-of-magnanimity-which/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Those lovers scorn whom that love doth possess? 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