--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You don’t choose a story, it chooses you." description: "\"You don’t choose a story, it chooses you.\" — Robert Penn Warren" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/robert-penn-warren-2118_funny_you-don-t-choose-a-story-it-chooses-you_1081214.jpg" --- # You don’t choose a story, it chooses you. ![“You don’t choose a story, it chooses you.” quote by Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/robert-penn-warren-2118_funny_you-don-t-choose-a-story-it-chooses-you_1081214.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/robert-penn-warren-2118_funny_you-don-t-choose-a-story-it-chooses-you_1081214.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01d/robert-penn-warren-2118_funny_you-don-t-choose-a-story-it-chooses-you_1081214.jpg) > “You don’t choose a story, it chooses you.” [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. States that stories select their storytellers, implying destiny in narrative creation. **In simple terms:** Stories find their tellers. Key Takeaway Listen for the story that calls you. Themes destiny creativity storytelling identity Mood reflective inspirational thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - creative retreats - personal journaling - media productions - educational curricula Key Concepts narrative fate authorial voice literary destiny Questions to Reflect On - Do we choose stories or are chosen? - How does this influence creative freedom? A Different Perspective May downplay agency in choosing stories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choose/) [Choose Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choose-story-912151/) [Don Choose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-choose/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) [Story Chooses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-chooses-912150/) ## Related quotes > [Authors do not choose a story to write, the story chooses us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-denney/authors-do-not-choose-a-story-to-write-the-story-chooses-us/) [Richard Denney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-denney/) > [“I realised that when someone plays hard to get, they are making themselves into a character in a story, and they choose the story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/i-realised-that-when-someone-plays-hard-to-get-they-are-making/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [I choose this story above all others because it's a story I'm struggling to end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/i-choose-this-story-above-all-others-because-it-s-a-story-i-m/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [There is a myth that writers get to choose their stories. You don't get to choose your story any more than you get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-fuller/there-is-a-myth-that-writers-get-to-choose-their-stories-you-don-t/) [Alexandra Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-fuller/) > [“In this Choose Your Own Story book, you make the decisions, and you get to go to Wendigo’s Academy for young witches and wizards.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aidan-orion/in-this-choose-your-own-story-book-you-make-the-decisions-and-you-get/) [Aidan Orion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aidan-orion/) > [“Life is a story. It’s full of chapters. And the beauty of life is that not only do you get to choose how you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hart/life-is-a-story-it-s-full-of-chapters-and-the-beauty-of-life-is-that/) [Kevin Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hart/) > [“This story is always yours for the telling. This has always been yours. You can expand to fill it all or take up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-leblanc/this-story-is-always-yours-for-the-telling-this-has-always-been-yours/) [Jeanette LeBlanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-leblanc/) > [If I could have anything I wanted, I would choose story without end, and it seems I have lots of company in that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-barrows/if-i-could-have-anything-i-wanted-i-would-choose-story-without-end/) [Annie Barrows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-barrows/) > [“You can not go back. That's why it's hard to choose. You have to make the right choice. 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You don't choose it so much as get chosen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/becoming-a-writer-is-not-a-career-decision-like-becoming-a-doctor-or/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [You don't choose who you love...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-montag/you-don-t-choose-who-you-love/) [Heidi Montag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-montag/) > [“You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you do have some say in who hurts you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/you-don-t-get-to-choose-if-you-get-hurt-in-this-world-old-man-but-you/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ## More by Robert Penn Warren > [If you are an idealist, it does not matter what you do or what goes on around you because it isn't real anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/if-you-are-an-idealist-it-does-not-matter-what-you-do-or-what-goes-on/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [“The child comes home and the parent puts the hooks in him. 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That's why I can see what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/no-the-boss-corrected-i-m-not-a-lawyer-i-know-some-law-but-i-m-not-a/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [ \[A\]nd soon now we shall go out of the house and go into the convulsion of the world, out of history into history and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/a-nd-soon-now-we-shall-go-out-of-the-house-and-go-into-the-convulsion/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [“Those were the ones which would turn loose their grip on the branch before long-- not in any breeze, the fibers would just relax,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/those-were-the-ones-which-would-turn-loose-their-grip-on-the-branch/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [“Sometimes sleep gets to be a serious and complete thing. 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This, he thought, was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/he-thought-of-night-coming-on-he-thought-of-the-loneliness-of-tonight/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [I reckon I am a smart aleck, but it is just a way to pass the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/i-reckon-i-am-a-smart-aleck-but-it-is-just-a-way-to-pass-the-time/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [The poem is not a thing we see; it is, rather, a light by which we may see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/the-poem-is-not-a-thing-we-see-it-is-rather-a-light-by-which-we-may/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [The asking and the answering which history provides may help us to understand, even to frame, the logic of experience to which we shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/the-asking-and-the-answering-which-history-provides-may-help-us-to/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [Process as process is neither morally good nor morally bad. We may judge results but not process. The morally bad agent may perform the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/process-as-process-is-neither-morally-good-nor-morally-bad-we-may/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [The end of man is knowledge, but there is one thing he can't know. He can't know whether knowledge will save him or kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/the-end-of-man-is-knowledge-but-there-is-one-thing-he-can-t-know-he/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) > [For the truth is a terrible thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/for-the-truth-is-a-terrible-thing/) [Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) [Explore all 184 Robert Penn Warren quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/) ## More Choose quotes > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) [Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [If somebody asks me to choose a biopic, it would be Narain Karthikeyan because I love racing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naga-chaitanya/if-somebody-asks-me-to-choose-a-biopic-it-would-be-narain-karthikeyan/) [Naga Chaitanya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naga-chaitanya/) > [“Either you soften your ego, or the world will do it for you. Choose!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-mccoy/either-you-soften-your-ego-or-the-world-will-do-it-for-you-choose/) [Bert McCoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-mccoy/) > [I'm aware of who I am and I'm comfortable with who I choose to date.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shibani-dandekar/i-m-aware-of-who-i-am-and-i-m-comfortable-with-who-i-choose-to-date/) [Shibani Dandekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shibani-dandekar/) > [No actor wants to choose - they just want all of the options available to them all the time; we tend to be pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-jacobs/no-actor-wants-to-choose-they-just-want-all-of-the-options-available/) [Gillian Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-jacobs/) > [If you choose to work at a larger company over a smaller company, you are more likely to be higher paid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-sweet/if-you-choose-to-work-at-a-larger-company-over-a-smaller-company-you/) [Julie Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-sweet/) > [You can't choose what stays and what stays away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-welch/you-can-t-choose-what-stays-and-what-stays-away/) [Florence Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-welch/) > [It's only a thought and a thought can be changed. Choose good ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/it-s-only-a-thought-and-a-thought-can-be-changed-choose-good-ones/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime...so you gotta choose who is good for you! Be wise, be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-come-into-your-life-for-a-reason-a-season-or-a-lifetime-so-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm not opposed - we manufacture a lot of socks in North Carolina - I just choose not to wear them. It's a Southern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-burr/i-m-not-opposed-we-manufacture-a-lot-of-socks-in-north-carolina-i/) [Richard Burr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-burr/) > [Having too many options is bad. I want one person, just one. 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