--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I’m going to start by telling you a…" description: "\"“I’m going to start by telling you a story, because anything that was ever worth knowing began with ‘once upon a time.’ ” “As”\" — Sarah Perry" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/sarah-perry-16794_fairy_i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-stor_2776114.jpg" --- # I’m going to start by telling you a story, because… ![“I’m going to start by telling you a story, because anything that was ever worth knowing began with ‘once upon a time.’ ” “As” quote by Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/sarah-perry-16794_fairy_i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-stor_2776114.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/sarah-perry-16794_fairy_i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-stor_2776114.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/sarah-perry-16794_fairy_i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-stor_2776114.jpg) > ““I’m going to start by telling you a story, because anything that was ever worth knowing began with ‘once upon a time.’ ” “As”” [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories begin with “once upon a time,” suggesting that narratives are the gateway to knowledge and meaning. **In simple terms:** Stories start with “once upon a time,” opening doors to knowledge. Key Takeaway Use stories to explore ideas. Themes storytelling knowledge imagination Mood reflective inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - education - creative writing - personal growth Key Concepts literature mythology Questions to Reflect On - What story shaped your worldview? - How can you tell a more nuanced story? A Different Perspective Stories can oversimplify complex truths. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fairy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy/) [Knowing Began](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing-began-3276794/) [Start Telling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/start-telling-304438/) [Story Worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-worth-819982/) [Telling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling/) [Telling Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-story/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [That awkward moment when you start telling a story & realize no one is listening so you slowly fade out & pretend you never said anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-awkward-moment-when-you-start-telling-a-story-realize-no-one-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For me, being in front of a camera is a matter of practicing and refining your art. I think, if you're telling a story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-pino/for-me-being-in-front-of-a-camera-is-a-matter-of-practicing-and/) [Danny Pino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-pino/) > [Eight more days and I can start telling the truth again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dodd/eight-more-days-and-i-can-start-telling-the-truth-again/) [Christopher Dodd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dodd/) > [Stop telling it like it is and start telling it like you WANT it to be!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/stop-telling-it-like-it-is-and-start-telling-it-like-you-want-it-to-be/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [“Stories that do not signal or illustrate a change in wisdom, growth or circumstance do not fulfill the basic requirements of a story worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-parnell/stories-that-do-not-signal-or-illustrate-a-change-in-wisdom-growth-or/) [Rob Parnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-parnell/) > [The most important thing to realise is that everyone is capable of telling a story. It doesn't matter where we were born or how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maeve-binchy/the-most-important-thing-to-realise-is-that-everyone-is-capable-of/) [Maeve Binchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maeve-binchy/) > [Being an actor is an extension of telling a story and I loved story telling as a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-burton/being-an-actor-is-an-extension-of-telling-a-story-and-i-loved-story/) [Amanda Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-burton/) > [I'm telling the story, and if I can't tell the story, I'm not going to sing it. And if I don't agree with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-jones/i-m-telling-the-story-and-if-i-can-t-tell-the-story-i-m-not-going-to/) [Sharon Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-jones/) > [Listening to someone telling a story & thinking: Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, and lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/listening-to-someone-telling-a-story-thinking-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This is what I thought: for the most banal even to become an adventure, you must (and this is enough) begin to recount it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/this-is-what-i-thought-for-the-most-banal-even-to-become-an-adventure/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [I like telling the story in a visual way. I don't like explaining a lot in dialogue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-coppola/i-like-telling-the-story-in-a-visual-way-i-don-t-like-explaining-a/) [Sofia Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-coppola/) > [You're telling the story, creating the sets, doing the lighting, the designing, and establishing the pace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-sienkiewicz/you-re-telling-the-story-creating-the-sets-doing-the-lighting-the/) [Bill Sienkiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-sienkiewicz/) > [Everything, for me, is fueled off telling my story through music, because I have a lot to say, and it's some urgent things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-b/everything-for-me-is-fueled-off-telling-my-story-through-music/) [Lil B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-b/) > [Telling a story of illness, one pulls a thread through a narrow opening flanked on one side by shame and the other by trivia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-griffin/telling-a-story-of-illness-one-pulls-a-thread-through-a-narrow/) [Susan Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-griffin/) > [Story is about pulling the reader in and a plot is a more externalized mechanism of revelation. A plot is more antic, more performative,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-enright/story-is-about-pulling-the-reader-in-and-a-plot-is-a-more/) [Anne Enright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-enright/) ## More by Sarah Perry > [“The point is not what I see, but what I feel; I cannot see the ether, yet I feel it enter and depart, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/the-point-is-not-what-i-see-but-what-i-feel-i-cannot-see-the-ether/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“...But doesn't it take greater strength to walk a mile in pain than seven miles in none? You are a woman, and must begin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/but-doesn-t-it-take-greater-strength-to-walk-a-mile-in-pain-than/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“Sometimes the greed and malice of what he sees appalls him so much he thinks he must’ve misunderstood; he looks again, and it’s worse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/sometimes-the-greed-and-malice-of-what-he-sees-appalls-him-so-much-he/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“If a reasoned creator set the stars in their place then we must be capable of understanding them - we must also be creatures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/if-a-reasoned-creator-set-the-stars-in-their-place-then-we-must-be/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“Time was being served behind the walls of Newgate jail, and wasted by philosophers in cafes on the Strand; it was lost by those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/time-was-being-served-behind-the-walls-of-newgate-jail-and-wasted-by/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“CLEAVE. To cleave to something is to cling to it with all your heart, he said, but to cleave something apart is to break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/cleave-to-cleave-to-something-is-to-cling-to-it-with-all-your-heart/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“But it was impossible to share my feelings of grief with Peggy, because most of the time it was impossible to feel them. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/but-it-was-impossible-to-share-my-feelings-of-grief-with-peggy/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“what use was it to observe the human species and try to understand it? Their rules were fathomless and no more fixed than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/what-use-was-it-to-observe-the-human-species-and-try-to-understand-it/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“She'd never know what to do with children: Francis had wrong-footed her so completely that she'd come to think of them as delightful but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/she-d-never-know-what-to-do-with-children-francis-had-wrong-footed/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“the old stories were right, she thought, and man had been first made from a handful of dust, here was Adam himself: all mud,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/the-old-stories-were-right-she-thought-and-man-had-been-first-made/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“Let me tell you: where the knife failed, you have succeeded. He is shattered - you have turned out all his lights! You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/let-me-tell-you-where-the-knife-failed-you-have-succeeded-he-is/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“It was just the light,’ she said, ‘up to its old tricks. But how was my heart to know?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/it-was-just-the-light-she-said-up-to-its-old-tricks-but-how-was-my/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“I’d no idea you knew England extended past Palmer’s Green: are you lost?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/i-d-no-idea-you-knew-england-extended-past-palmer-s-green-are-you-lost/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“Almost worse than the sorrow of missing her was the fact that Mom's death had revealed everything to be meaningless. So much of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/almost-worse-than-the-sorrow-of-missing-her-was-the-fact-that-mom-s/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) > [“The fear of the crowd then came to Will, with the taste of a copper penny placed on his tongue; and it was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/the-fear-of-the-crowd-then-came-to-will-with-the-taste-of-a-copper/) [Sarah Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) [Explore all 39 Sarah Perry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/) ## More Fairy quotes > [Once upon a time. Ah forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-ah-forget-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I know my hair is out of the '60's, my clothes are '50's and the shoes I wear are from the '40's. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/i-know-my-hair-is-out-of-the-60-s-my-clothes-are-50-s-and-the-shoes-i/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [I have always been fascinated by the supernatural elements in stories, whether fairy tales, myths, film or literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trudi-canavan/i-have-always-been-fascinated-by-the-supernatural-elements-in-stories/) [Trudi Canavan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trudi-canavan/) > [“You can't get mad at a real ending. Some of them are ugly. It's the fake happily ever afters that should piss you off.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/you-can-t-get-mad-at-a-real-ending-some-of-them-are-ugly-it-s-the/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [“ Happily-ever-afters don't come in happily-every-days . They are found at the end of challenges-ever-met, promises-ever-kept, and tears-ever-wept.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/happily-ever-afters-don-t-come-in-happily-every-days-they-are-found/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [A real flame of love is a subtle thing. It burns as a will-o'-the-wisp, dancing onward to fairy lands of delight. It roars as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dreiser/a-real-flame-of-love-is-a-subtle-thing-it-burns-as-a-will-o-the-wisp/) [Theodore Dreiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dreiser/) > [“But even if they could go home it would be difficult for me to tell you what the moral of the story is. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemony-snicket/but-even-if-they-could-go-home-it-would-be-difficult-for-me-to-tell/) [Lemony Snicket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemony-snicket/) > [One of the first houses we lived in was like out of a fairy story. We had a stream that ran through our garden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emilia-clarke/one-of-the-first-houses-we-lived-in-was-like-out-of-a-fairy-story-we/) [Emilia Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emilia-clarke/) > [“If two people see a fairy appear, eat a starfish, and dive into the tile floor without so much as a splash, neither can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaydeon-k-moore/if-two-people-see-a-fairy-appear-eat-a-starfish-and-dive-into-the/) [Kaydeon K. Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaydeon-k-moore/) > [Poems come from ordinary experiences and objects, I think. Out of memory - a dress I lent my daughter on her way back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/poems-come-from-ordinary-experiences-and-objects-i-think-out-of/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [Here is the world of imagination, hopes, and dreams. In this timeless land of enchantment, the age of chivalry, magic and make-believe are reborn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/here-is-the-world-of-imagination-hopes-and-dreams-in-this-timeless/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [In his anti-Darwinian book... (and eponymously named The Neck of the Giraffe ), Francis Hitching tells the story... "The need to survive by reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/in-his-anti-darwinian-book-and-eponymously-named-the-neck-of-the/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Look at Jane Austen. Her characters derive in a reasonably straight line from fairy tales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-davies/look-at-jane-austen-her-characters-derive-in-a-reasonably-straight/) [Andrew Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-davies/) > [Letters crossing in the post, unfamiliar tunes heard three times in one day, the way that blows of fate descend upon the same bowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/letters-crossing-in-the-post-unfamiliar-tunes-heard-three-times-in/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [I grew up watching monster movies and horror movies, which I felt were like fairy tales and I think this always spoke to me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-burton/i-grew-up-watching-monster-movies-and-horror-movies-which-i-felt-were/) [Tim Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-burton/) [Browse all 1,977 Fairy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I’m going to start by telling you a story, because anything that was ever worth knowing began with ‘once upon a time.’ ” “As”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Perry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-story-because-anything-that-was/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fairy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-story-because-anything-that-was/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/sarah-perry-16794_fairy_i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-stor_2776114.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/sarah-perry-16794_fairy_i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-stor_2776114.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/sarah-perry-16794_fairy_i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-stor_2776114.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I’m going to start by telling you a story, because anything that was ever worth knowing began with ‘once…” — Sarah Perry", "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": "Sarah Perry", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-perry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I’m going to start by telling...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-story-because-anything-that-was/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-perry/i-m-going-to-start-by-telling-you-a-story-because-anything-that-was/#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 } } ] } ```