--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At heart, of course, a story itself is…" description: "\"At heart, of course, a story itself is consolation's instrument.\" — Richard Ford" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/richard-ford-2097_consolation_at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-con_649730.png" --- # At heart, of course, a story itself is consolation's… ![“At heart, of course, a story itself is consolation's instrument.” quote by Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/richard-ford-2097_consolation_at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-con_649730.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/richard-ford-2097_consolation_at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-con_649730.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/richard-ford-2097_consolation_at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-con_649730.png) > “At heart, of course, a story itself is consolation's instrument.” [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories serve as a means of comfort, helping us cope with life's hardships. **In simple terms:** Stories comfort us. Key Takeaway Seek stories that soothe. Themes comfort storytelling humanity Mood reflective calming Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - grief - loneliness - stress relief Key Concepts psychology empathy Questions to Reflect On - How do you use stories for comfort? - When have stories helped you heal? A Different Perspective Stories may not solve practical problems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation/) [Consolation Instrument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation-instrument-5199050/) [Courses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courses/) [Crafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crafts/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Instrument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instrument/) [Instruments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instruments/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) [Story Consolation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-consolation-5199049/) ## Related quotes > [Money is the kind of instrument which is very speedily produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/money-is-the-kind-of-instrument-which-is-very-speedily-produced/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [The instrument is not the camera but the photographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-arnold/the-instrument-is-not-the-camera-but-the-photographer/) [Eve Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-arnold/) > [Besides, the bass isn't a difficult instrument to play. It's like one step up from the kazoo, isn't it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-mustaine/besides-the-bass-isn-t-a-difficult-instrument-to-play-it-s-like-one/) [Dave Mustaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-mustaine/) > [I don't think that you can write music if you don't know how to play an instrument. You have to know the basics, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alber-elbaz/i-don-t-think-that-you-can-write-music-if-you-don-t-know-how-to-play/) [Alber Elbaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alber-elbaz/) > [So I think that is one of the reasons we can face some regional problems, which are very difficult, very dramatic and is necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksander-kwasniewski/so-i-think-that-is-one-of-the-reasons-we-can-face-some-regional/) [Aleksander Kwasniewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksander-kwasniewski/) > [Sometimes it's a fraught, kind of laden world of performance that I think can be really dubious, but it's also super fun to almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-hecker/sometimes-it-s-a-fraught-kind-of-laden-world-of-performance-that-i/) [Tim Hecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-hecker/) > [Yes, I always say that we're a National League band. What I mean is, if you play an instrument, you have to sing. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmylou-harris/yes-i-always-say-that-we-re-a-national-league-band-what-i-mean-is-if/) [Emmylou Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmylou-harris/) > [Nature is an aeolian harp, a musical instrument whose tones are the re-echo of higher strings within us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/nature-is-an-aeolian-harp-a-musical-instrument-whose-tones-are-the-re/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [We all know that there are many people that can play the instrument perfectly today, up and down with technical perfection, but does the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-finckel/we-all-know-that-there-are-many-people-that-can-play-the-instrument/) [David Finckel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-finckel/) > [The camera is simply not the supple and powerful instrument of description that the pen is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-camera-is-simply-not-the-supple-and-powerful-instrument-of/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) > [A well trained body is a beautiful instrument on which to play the melody of the present moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/a-well-trained-body-is-a-beautiful-instrument-on-which-to-play-the/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) > [It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-the-photographer-not-the-camera-that-is-the-instrument/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We should picture the instrument that carries our mental functioning as resembling a compound microscope or photographic apparatus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/we-should-picture-the-instrument-that-carries-our-mental-functioning/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Kenny G, I have to be grateful to him for proving that the instrument can be played all different kinds of ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-lacy/kenny-g-i-have-to-be-grateful-to-him-for-proving-that-the-instrument/) [Steve Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-lacy/) > [When you play the 12-string guitar, you spend half your life tuning the instrument and the other half playing it out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/when-you-play-the-12-string-guitar-you-spend-half-your-life-tuning/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) ## More by Richard Ford > [Something will be there when the flood recedes. We know that. It will be those people now standing in the water, and on those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/something-will-be-there-when-the-flood-recedes-we-know-that-it-will/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [If you lose all hope, you can always find it again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/if-you-lose-all-hope-you-can-always-find-it-again/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [I started reading literature at 17 or 18, and I felt this extra beat to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/i-started-reading-literature-at-17-or-18-and-i-felt-this-extra-beat/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [I don't hate children. My wife and I just didn't think we would be good parents, and also by the time we got married…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/i-don-t-hate-children-my-wife-and-i-just-didn-t-think-we-would-be/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [Writing never came naturally and I still have to force my hand to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/writing-never-came-naturally-and-i-still-have-to-force-my-hand-to-do/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [“Conversations with adults other than a person's parents had more of an outcome.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/conversations-with-adults-other-than-a-person-s-parents-had-more-of/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [Some people want to be bank presidents. Other people want to rob banks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/some-people-want-to-be-bank-presidents-other-people-want-to-rob-banks/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [In order to write novels for a living - it's not pathological, but I do think and worry and brood and fidget about stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/in-order-to-write-novels-for-a-living-it-s-not-pathological-but-i-do/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [There are more people in America that love guns and want guns for themselves and everyone else than there are not. It is also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/there-are-more-people-in-america-that-love-guns-and-want-guns-for/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [That said, being dyslexic, I wasn't a great reader when I was kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/that-said-being-dyslexic-i-wasn-t-a-great-reader-when-i-was-kid/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [I'm an equal opportunity reader - although I don't much read plays. And since I was raised a Presbyterian, pretty much all pleasures are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/i-m-an-equal-opportunity-reader-although-i-don-t-much-read-plays-and/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [The pace of life feels morally dangerous to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/the-pace-of-life-feels-morally-dangerous-to-me/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [“to sit in the empty stands of a Florida ball park and hear the sounds of glove leather and chatter;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/to-sit-in-the-empty-stands-of-a-florida-ball-park-and-hear-the-sounds/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [“And what there is to learn from almost any human experience is that your own interests usually do not come first where other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/and-what-there-is-to-learn-from-almost-any-human-experience-is-that/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) > [“It was on such a night as this that the unhappy things came about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/it-was-on-such-a-night-as-this-that-the-unhappy-things-came-about/) [Richard Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) [Explore all 184 Richard Ford quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/) ## More Consolation quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I had thought that growing up's consolation was that you could escape from the arbitrariness of things, that somehow one acquired more control. Now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-galloway/i-had-thought-that-growing-up-s-consolation-was-that-you-could-escape/) [Janice Galloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-galloway/) > [It is part of God's plan for us that Christ shall come to us in everyone; it is in their particular role that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caryll-houselander/it-is-part-of-god-s-plan-for-us-that-christ-shall-come-to-us-in/) [Caryll Houselander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caryll-houselander/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The slave and those whose present life is miserable and who can find no consolation in the heavens are assured that at least the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-slave-and-those-whose-present-life-is-miserable-and-who-can-find/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Perhaps the greatest consolation of the oppressed is to consider themselves superior to their tyrants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julien-green/perhaps-the-greatest-consolation-of-the-oppressed-is-to-consider/) [Julien Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julien-green/) > [Books, which we mistake for consolation, only add depth to our sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/books-which-we-mistake-for-consolation-only-add-depth-to-our-sorrow/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [The day has the color and the sound of winter. Thoughts turn to chowder...chowder breathes reassurance. It steams consolation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clementine-paddleford/the-day-has-the-color-and-the-sound-of-winter-thoughts-turn-to/) [Clementine Paddleford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clementine-paddleford/) > [Seek and possess holiness, and consolation will follow, as assuredly as warmth follows the dispensation of the rays of the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-cogswell-upham/seek-and-possess-holiness-and-consolation-will-follow-as-assuredly-as/) [Thomas Cogswell Upham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-cogswell-upham/) > [Solitude was my only consolation - deep, dark, deathlike solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/solitude-was-my-only-consolation-deep-dark-deathlike-solitude/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have the consolation of leaving your kingdom in the highest degree of glory and of reputation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cardinal-richelieu/i-have-the-consolation-of-leaving-your-kingdom-in-the-highest-degree/) [Cardinal Richelieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cardinal-richelieu/) > [All consolation that does not come from God is but desolation; when the soul has learned to receive no comfort but in God only,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/all-consolation-that-does-not-come-from-god-is-but-desolation-when/) [Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-marie-bouvier-de-la-motte-guyon/) > [Let is walk ... joyously, dear souls, among the difficulties of this passing life ... These pains will have an end when our life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-is-walk-joyously-dear-souls-among-the-difficulties-of-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thinking about suicide is a potent consolation: it helps us to get through many a bad night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/thinking-about-suicide-is-a-potent-consolation-it-helps-us-to-get/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Browse all 587 Consolation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consolation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "At heart, of course, a story itself is consolation's instrument.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Richard Ford" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-consolation-s-instrument/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consolation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-consolation-s-instrument/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/richard-ford-2097_consolation_at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-con_649730.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/richard-ford-2097_consolation_at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-con_649730.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/richard-ford-2097_consolation_at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-con_649730.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“At heart, of course, a story itself is consolation's instrument.” — Richard Ford", "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": "Richard Ford", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ford/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "At heart, of course, a story...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-consolation-s-instrument/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ford/at-heart-of-course-a-story-itself-is-consolation-s-instrument/#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 } } ] } ```