--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If something wants to be a story, it will…" description: "\"If something wants to be a story, it will be.\" — Scarlett Thomas" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/scarlett-thomas-8232_stories_if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will_1554951.png" --- # If something wants to be a story, it will be. ![“If something wants to be a story, it will be.” quote by Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/scarlett-thomas-8232_stories_if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will_1554951.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/scarlett-thomas-8232_stories_if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will_1554951.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/scarlett-thomas-8232_stories_if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will_1554951.png) > “If something wants to be a story, it will be.” [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stories emerge when something desires to be told; the narrative will manifest if there is a will to share it. **In simple terms:** If something wants to be a story, it will happen. Key Takeaway Encourage storytelling and listening. Themes creativity storytelling willpower expression Mood inspired curious Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - family histories - brand building - marketing campaigns Key Concepts narrative\_theory intentionality psychology\_of\_story Questions to Reflect On - What story are you waiting to tell? - How does desire shape narrative? A Different Perspective Stories need an audience to live. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wants/) [Wants Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wants-story-293303/) ## Related quotes > [He wants to put his story next to hers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/he-wants-to-put-his-story-next-to-hers/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“He wants to put his story next to hers...'We got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kinda tomorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/he-wants-to-put-his-story-next-to-hers-we-got-more-yesterday-than/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [I'm an audience member first. My inspiration is still based on hunger. Often, when people try to tell me "nobody wants that story; I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-mahoney/i-m-an-audience-member-first-my-inspiration-is-still-based-on-hunger/) [Victoria Mahoney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-mahoney/) > [There are two sides to me. One is the writer. That's a savage person who looks at everything as a story and, you know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/there-are-two-sides-to-me-one-is-the-writer-that-s-a-savage-person/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Mundus vult decipi: the world wants to be deceived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-buber/mundus-vult-decipi-the-world-wants-to-be-deceived/) [Martin Buber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-buber/) > [Whoever wants to understand much must play much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gottfried-benn/whoever-wants-to-understand-much-must-play-much/) [Gottfried Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gottfried-benn/) > [I don't mind people want to think Muhammad is the greatest fighter around. Everybody wants to make him great because of his mouth, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-frazier/i-don-t-mind-people-want-to-think-muhammad-is-the-greatest-fighter/) [Joe Frazier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-frazier/) > [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/) [Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/) > [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/) > [I listen to my body, I give it things it wants and I eliminate things it doesn't want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/britt-ekland/i-listen-to-my-body-i-give-it-things-it-wants-and-i-eliminate-things/) [Britt Ekland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/britt-ekland/) > [I didn't want to do 'Fashion Police' because I thought, 'This is stupid, this is beneath me, who wants to talk about fashion?' It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-didn-t-want-to-do-fashion-police-because-i-thought-this-is-stupid/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [Who wants a stylus. You have to get em and put em away, and you lose em. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/who-wants-a-stylus-you-have-to-get-em-and-put-em-away-and-you-lose-em/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [If you do weave one-liners into a story, you have to have an overall story as well, otherwise it doesn't really count as narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/if-you-do-weave-one-liners-into-a-story-you-have-to-have-an-overall/) [Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/) > [If you look back at my story, it doesn’t matter where you look, but God’s fingerprints are all over the place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-lin/if-you-look-back-at-my-story-it-doesn-t-matter-where-you-look-but-god/) [Jeremy Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-lin/) > [I had sort of had a 21st birthday when I was 17, 18 years old living in Japan. I had all of that stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-wright/i-had-sort-of-had-a-21st-birthday-when-i-was-17-18-years-old-living/) [Sarah Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-wright/) ## More by Scarlett Thomas > [“Someone who has the delusion Glass, is made of, does not literally believe herself to be made of glass but rather feels fragile and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/someone-who-has-the-delusion-glass-is-made-of-does-not-literally/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [“Child, all books are magic. Just think,' he said, 'about what books make people do. People go to war on the basis of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/child-all-books-are-magic-just-think-he-said-about-what-books-make/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [Living for ever would be like marrying yourself, with no possibility of a divorce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/living-for-ever-would-be-like-marrying-yourself-with-no-possibility/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [But I quite like the way you can talk about science without necessarily using mathematics, but using metaphors instead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/but-i-quite-like-the-way-you-can-talk-about-science-without/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [“My mind now has a celebration party and a funeral going on in the same room.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/my-mind-now-has-a-celebration-party-and-a-funeral-going-on-in-the/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [You can't do science in a novel, but you can do philosophy. Or, if you're really lucky, you can manage to pose a question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/you-can-t-do-science-in-a-novel-but-you-can-do-philosophy-or-if-you/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [“Even if you did drop into someone's consciousness, you'd have all their memories and desires and hang-ups right there in front of you. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/even-if-you-did-drop-into-someone-s-consciousness-you-d-have-all/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [I erased the thought from my mind, but I couldn't undo the fact that I'd had the thought in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/i-erased-the-thought-from-my-mind-but-i-couldn-t-undo-the-fact-that-i/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [“They really do have nothing in common on paper, these people and him. But yet there are so many common reference points; even some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/they-really-do-have-nothing-in-common-on-paper-these-people-and-him/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [“Aquinas wondered what would happen if God wanted to achieve universal resurrection. In other words, bringing everybody who had ever lived back to life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/aquinas-wondered-what-would-happen-if-god-wanted-to-achieve-universal/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [“There's something romantic about it, of course, in the way only other people's lives can be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/there-s-something-romantic-about-it-of-course-in-the-way-only-other/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [Routine kills creative thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/routine-kills-creative-thought/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [You tell them what a happy ending consists of, which is always individual success. You tell them that nothing irrational exists in this world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/you-tell-them-what-a-happy-ending-consists-of-which-is-always/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [I hate stereotypes and I hate cliche.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/i-hate-stereotypes-and-i-hate-cliche/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) > [“Not all events are stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/not-all-events-are-stories/) [Scarlett Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) [Explore all 81 Scarlett Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/) ## More Stories quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [When you listen to someone improvise, the notes that are played are only half the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-laws/when-you-listen-to-someone-improvise-the-notes-that-are-played-are/) [Hubert Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-laws/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [She smiled, if he could see that, and waited for him to ask the real question. But he was silent. He wanted her to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-shinn/she-smiled-if-he-could-see-that-and-waited-for-him-to-ask-the-real/) [Sharon Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-shinn/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [It took me 20 years to buy an electric typewriter, because I was afraid it would be too sensitive. I like to bang the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmore-leonard/it-took-me-20-years-to-buy-an-electric-typewriter-because-i-was/) [Elmore Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmore-leonard/) > [Having small children and being an investigative reporter would seem like a difficult mix, but it worked well for me. I was often working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-abramson/having-small-children-and-being-an-investigative-reporter-would-seem/) [Jill Abramson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-abramson/) > [In the current climate, things that are true, brave human stories become political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/in-the-current-climate-things-that-are-true-brave-human-stories/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I think it's actually kind of sweet how there is a reciprocal effect that our stories can have on each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-manning/i-think-it-s-actually-kind-of-sweet-how-there-is-a-reciprocal-effect/) [Chelsea Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-manning/) > [I had sort of had a 21st birthday when I was 17, 18 years old living in Japan. I had all of that stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-wright/i-had-sort-of-had-a-21st-birthday-when-i-was-17-18-years-old-living/) [Sarah Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-wright/) > [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/) > [Women know things that men will never know. We keep the best secrets. We tell the best stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/women-know-things-that-men-will-never-know-we-keep-the-best-secrets/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) [Browse all 19,094 Stories quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If something wants to be a story, it will be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Scarlett Thomas" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Stories" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/scarlett-thomas-8232_stories_if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will_1554951.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/scarlett-thomas-8232_stories_if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will_1554951.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/scarlett-thomas-8232_stories_if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will_1554951.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If something wants to be a story, it will be.” — Scarlett Thomas", "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": "Scarlett Thomas", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scarlett-thomas/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If something wants to be a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scarlett-thomas/if-something-wants-to-be-a-story-it-will-be/#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 } } ] } ```