--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No story comes from nowhere; new stories…" description: "\"No story comes from nowhere; new stories are born from old.\" — Salman Rushdie" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/salman-rushdie-153_born_no-story-comes-from-nowhere-new-stories_2828485.jpg" --- # No story comes from nowhere; new stories are born from old. ![“No story comes from nowhere; new stories are born from old.” quote by Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/salman-rushdie-153_born_no-story-comes-from-nowhere-new-stories_2828485.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/salman-rushdie-153_born_no-story-comes-from-nowhere-new-stories_2828485.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/salman-rushdie-153_born_no-story-comes-from-nowhere-new-stories_2828485.jpg) > “No story comes from nowhere; new stories are born from old.” [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. New narratives arise by reworking existing ideas and traditions. **In simple terms:** Stories build on earlier ones. Key Takeaway Explore past influences to create fresh tales. Themes creativity history storytelling Mood reflective inspired Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - film adaptations - teaching literature Key Concepts intertextuality cultural memory Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance homage and innovation? - What old story inspires your work? A Different Perspective May limit originality if over‑reliance on past works. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing comes from nothing, Thieflet; no story comes from nowhere; new stories are born from old--it is the new combinations that make them new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/nothing-comes-from-nothing-thieflet-no-story-comes-from-nowhere-new/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“All stories are born out of illusion, but that doesn't mean they're not worth telling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-micha-el-leventhal/all-stories-are-born-out-of-illusion-but-that-doesn-t-mean-they-re/) [Eric Micha'el Leventhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-micha-el-leventhal/) > [I love telling stories, and I'm a born storyteller. That's what I do, and that's what I want to continue to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brynn-cartelli/i-love-telling-stories-and-i-m-a-born-storyteller-that-s-what-i-do/) [Brynn Cartelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brynn-cartelli/) > [“My job takes up many daylight hours, it wakes me in the still of night and fills my head with ghosts and monsters but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-scott/my-job-takes-up-many-daylight-hours-it-wakes-me-in-the-still-of-night/) [Ken Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-scott/) > [Being an adult comes with a whole new set of issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-de-la-cruz/being-an-adult-comes-with-a-whole-new-set-of-issues/) [Melissa de la Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-de-la-cruz/) > [“we all just learn to love, though it comes with something new to us”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-mwewa/we-all-just-learn-to-love-though-it-comes-with-something-new-to-us/) Isaac Mwewa > [From every ending comes a new beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lurlene-mcdaniel/from-every-ending-comes-a-new-beginning/) [Lurlene McDaniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lurlene-mcdaniel/) > [I'm cynical when it comes to New York.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-payton/i-m-cynical-when-it-comes-to-new-york/) [Sean Payton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-payton/) > [“With the new day comes new strength.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/with-the-new-day-comes-new-strength/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [There are so many projects that you go into hoping the story works, and here comes a new third act and that kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-daniels/there-are-so-many-projects-that-you-go-into-hoping-the-story-works/) [Jeff Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-daniels/) > [Here comes the new boss Same as the old boss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-townshend/here-comes-the-new-boss-same-as-the-old-boss/) [Pete Townshend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-townshend/) > [Take each day as it comes. New day, new start, start fresh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/take-each-day-as-it-comes-new-day-new-start-start-fresh/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I write the story as it comes to me - YA is my natural voice, not a conscious choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/i-write-the-story-as-it-comes-to-me-ya-is-my-natural-voice-not-a/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) > [You have to be dynamic. You have to be able to change. So a lot of times we'll go to a country or go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-smith/you-have-to-be-dynamic-you-have-to-be-able-to-change-so-a-lot-of/) [Shane Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-smith/) > [I believe every person has a story that comes out from the way they talk, their opinion, their mindset and their body language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diljit-dosanjh/i-believe-every-person-has-a-story-that-comes-out-from-the-way-they/) [Diljit Dosanjh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diljit-dosanjh/) ## More by Salman Rushdie > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [It's a terrible thing that your life turns into a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/it-s-a-terrible-thing-that-your-life-turns-into-a-good-story/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I want to write novels. I want to write stories. I want to do the stuff that I became a writer to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-want-to-write-novels-i-want-to-write-stories-i-want-to-do-the-stuff/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If you want to be a serious writer, then you have to write what there is to write about. If you're going to pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-you-want-to-be-a-serious-writer-then-you-have-to-write-what-there/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Después de exigir mi marcha, ya no posees jurisdicción en lo concerniente a mi salud.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/despu-s-de-exigir-mi-marcha-ya-no-posees-jurisdicci-n-en-lo/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [If there is a choice between absolute safety and freedom, then freedom must always prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-there-is-a-choice-between-absolute-safety-and-freedom-then-freedom/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'd wanted to create a storm so that I could become more famous and richer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-d-wanted-to-create-a-storm-so-that-i-could-become-more-famous-and/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/who-what-am-i-my-answer-i-am-the-sum-total-of-everything-that-went/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“...proving once again that there was no escape from recurrence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/proving-once-again-that-there-was-no-escape-from-recurrence/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“information, in a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy that revealed the extent to which he had internalised the adversarial fragmentation of American culture and made it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/information-in-a-stream-of-consciousness-soliloquy-that-revealed-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-little-bit-of-one-story-joins-onto-an-idea-from-another-and-hey/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm a novelist. Fortunately I don't have to rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-a-novelist-fortunately-i-don-t-have-to-rule-the-world/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The First Amendment defends all forms of speech including hate speech, which is why groups like Ku Klux Klan are allowed to utter their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-first-amendment-defends-all-forms-of-speech-including-hate-speech/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) [Explore all 1,087 Salman Rushdie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More Born quotes > [My mother says I didn't open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/my-mother-says-i-didn-t-open-my-eyes-for-eight-days-after-i-was-born/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [The real world out there isn't nearly as nice as some people prefer it to be, so don't swallow everything your high-born teachers tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-world-out-there-isn-t-nearly-as-nice-as-some-people-prefer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I know that in the rap game you've got a lot of people, that come from poverty, was born in poverty and if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-connor/i-know-that-in-the-rap-game-you-ve-got-a-lot-of-people-that-come-from/) [Jon Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-connor/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/nothing-old-is-ever-reborn-but-neither-does-it-totally-disappear-and/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Must I go bound while you go free Must I love a manwho doesn't love me Must I be born with so little art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/must-i-go-bound-while-you-go-free-must-i-love-a-manwho-doesn-t-love/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I'm not against gay people. I have a relative who is also gay. We can't help it if they were born that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-pacquiao/i-m-not-against-gay-people-i-have-a-relative-who-is-also-gay-we-can-t/) [Manny Pacquiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-pacquiao/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. 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