--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I once fell 20 feet from a tree, was…" description: "\"I once fell 20 feet from a tree, was knocked unconscious, and when I picked myself up and straggled home, my parents thought I was making it up. Howeve..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a40/sharon-creech-8614_bears_i-once-fell-20-feet-from-a-tree-was-knoc_208578.jpg" --- # I once fell 20 feet from a tree, was knocked unconscious… ![“I once fell 20 feet from a tree, was knocked unconscious, and when I picked myself up and straggled home, my parents thought I was making it up. However, when my brother and I fabricated a story about an encounter with a bear, they believed that! So maybe I learned very early on that fiction was…” quote by Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a40/sharon-creech-8614_bears_i-once-fell-20-feet-from-a-tree-was-knoc_208578.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a40/sharon-creech-8614_bears_i-once-fell-20-feet-from-a-tree-was-knoc_208578.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a40/sharon-creech-8614_bears_i-once-fell-20-feet-from-a-tree-was-knoc_208578.jpg) > “I once fell 20 feet from a tree, was knocked unconscious, and when I picked myself up and straggled home, my parents thought I was making it up. However, when my brother and I fabricated a story about an encounter with a bear, they believed that! So maybe I learned very early on that fiction was more interesting to listeners!” [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator discovers that imaginative stories capture attention more than factual accounts, highlighting a preference for compelling narratives over truth. **In simple terms:** Stories win over facts. Key Takeaway Use storytelling to engage listeners. Themes creativity attention storytelling Mood playful reflective Type anecdotal motivational When to use this quote - Family anecdotes - school presentations - marketing pitches Key Concepts Narrative appeal psychology of belief Questions to Reflect On - How can truth be made as engaging as fiction? - When is embellishment acceptable? A Different Perspective Reliance on fiction can blur truth and trust. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Brother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brother/) [Encounters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encounters/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) ## Related quotes > [“You believed me. Or maybe you didn’t, but you accepted me. And that had never happened to me before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-scott/you-believed-me-or-maybe-you-didn-t-but-you-accepted-me-and-that-had/) [Emma Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-scott/) > [If you had a fabricated story coming out every two weeks or every month, it would affect you. 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My parents thought was a perfectly normal thing to do even though God knows I got blown a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-waters/i-hitchhiked-at-high-school-my-parents-thought-was-a-perfectly-normal/) [John Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-waters/) > [I was writing full time after quitting a job as a high school English teacher, and I hadn't been able to sell anything, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-quick/i-was-writing-full-time-after-quitting-a-job-as-a-high-school-english/) [Matthew Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-quick/) > [The parents thought I was nuts, but the kids loved the craziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soupy-sales/the-parents-thought-i-was-nuts-but-the-kids-loved-the-craziness/) [Soupy Sales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soupy-sales/) > [When I first told people I was writing a book, some would say that was interesting, but others thought it was some holiday project…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-adornetto/when-i-first-told-people-i-was-writing-a-book-some-would-say-that-was/) [Alexandra Adornetto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-adornetto/) > [I was embarrassed by my parents. 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Do you see a silent movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/something-i-am-wondering-if-you-cannot-hear-do-you-have-no-sounds-in/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [“But I thought about all the things that had to have spun into place in order for us to be alive and for us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/but-i-thought-about-all-the-things-that-had-to-have-spun-into-place/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [And what did I think when I was small and why did I forget? And what else will I forget when I grow older?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/and-what-did-i-think-when-i-was-small-and-why-did-i-forget-and-what/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [I wondered about Mrs. Winterbottom and what she meant about living a tiny life. If she didn't like all that baking and cleaning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/i-wondered-about-mrs-winterbottom-and-what-she-meant-about-living-a/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [Sometimes when you are trying not to think about something it keeps popping back in your head you can't help it you think about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/sometimes-when-you-are-trying-not-to-think-about-something-it-keeps/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [“What's important is the ambition that results from our weakness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/what-s-important-is-the-ambition-that-results-from-our-weakness/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [I started thinking about life insurance and how nice it would be if you could get insurance that your life would be happy, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/i-started-thinking-about-life-insurance-and-how-nice-it-would-be-if/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [“I could tell you an extensively strange story, I warned. Oh, good! Gram said. Delicious!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/i-could-tell-you-an-extensively-strange-story-i-warned-oh-good-gram/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [I wish that every baby everywhere could land in a family that wanted that baby as much as we want ours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/i-wish-that-every-baby-everywhere-could-land-in-a-family-that-wanted/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [A person isn't a bird. You can't cage a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/a-person-isn-t-a-bird-you-can-t-cage-a-person/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [What I have since realized is that if people expect you to be brave, sometimes you pretend that you are, even when you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/what-i-have-since-realized-is-that-if-people-expect-you-to-be-brave/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [I am drawn to the ways in which we are shaped by people and by place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/i-am-drawn-to-the-ways-in-which-we-are-shaped-by-people-and-by-place/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) > [As readers can probably tell from my books, I love the outdoors. I love to hike, kayak, and swim. I also love to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-creech/as-readers-can-probably-tell-from-my-books-i-love-the-outdoors-i-love/) [Sharon Creech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) [Explore all 79 Sharon Creech quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-creech/) ## More Bears quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. 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Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/) [F. 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