--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The world is a story we tell ourselves…" description: "\"The world is a story we tell ourselves about the world.\" — Vikram Chandra" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/vikram-chandra-36517_stories_the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-a_2112192.png" --- # The world is a story we tell ourselves about the world. ![“The world is a story we tell ourselves about the world.” quote by Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/vikram-chandra-36517_stories_the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-a_2112192.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/vikram-chandra-36517_stories_the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-a_2112192.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/vikram-chandra-36517_stories_the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-a_2112192.png) > “The world is a story we tell ourselves about the world.” [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our perceptions shape reality; we construct narratives that give meaning to existence. **In simple terms:** We create stories that define how we see the world. Key Takeaway Question your assumptions and seek diverse viewpoints. Themes perception storytelling reality Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - education - media consumption - conflict resolution Key Concepts constructivism subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - How does your personal narrative influence decisions? - Can you imagine the world without your current story? A Different Perspective Stories can reinforce bias and limit openness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Don't waste your daydreams on your mind. Tell the world a story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuseppe-bianco/don-t-waste-your-daydreams-on-your-mind-tell-the-world-a-story/) [Giuseppe Bianco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuseppe-bianco/) > [everybody has a story to tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-strummer/everybody-has-a-story-to-tell/) [Joe Strummer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-strummer/) > [Everyone has a story to tell. Some of us tell them so much we get better at it. Eventually we get really good...and published.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-has-a-story-to-tell-some-of-us-tell-them-so-much-we-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To be a person is to have a story to tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/to-be-a-person-is-to-have-a-story-to-tell/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [We all have a story to tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/he-is-we/we-all-have-a-story-to-tell/) He Is We > [Find the story, Granny Weatherwax always said. She believed that the world was full of story shapes. If you let them, they controlled you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/find-the-story-granny-weatherwax-always-said-she-believed-that-the/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“There was still something I could do: I could tell the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-h-hardman/there-was-still-something-i-could-do-i-could-tell-the-world/) Leslie H. Hardman > [“Tell the world what you intend to do, but first show it.” This”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/tell-the-world-what-you-intend-to-do-but-first-show-it-this/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [“Behind the story I tell is the one I don't. Behind the story you hear is the one I wish I could make you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/behind-the-story-i-tell-is-the-one-i-don-t-behind-the-story-you-hear/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [The story that you tell yourself is exactly what holds you back from being successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-belfort/the-story-that-you-tell-yourself-is-exactly-what-holds-you-back-from/) [Jordan Belfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-belfort/) > [If you don't have story to tell the public at large - you have to be able to sort of go listen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-ronstadt/if-you-don-t-have-story-to-tell-the-public-at-large-you-have-to-be/) [Linda Ronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-ronstadt/) > [It wasn't until my fifth or sixth book where I realized I'm trying to do the same thing in every story I tell, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-dicamillo/it-wasn-t-until-my-fifth-or-sixth-book-where-i-realized-i-m-trying-to/) [Kate DiCamillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-dicamillo/) > [“I always loved it when I had a story to tell her, because her attention was complete and felt like sunlight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-parker/i-always-loved-it-when-i-had-a-story-to-tell-her-because-her/) [Robert B. Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-parker/) > [Sometimes I wake up and think I wish id never told the world my story but I know good comes from it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demi-lovato/sometimes-i-wake-up-and-think-i-wish-id-never-told-the-world-my-story/) [Demi Lovato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demi-lovato/) > [With live-action I think we'd have lost the universal appeal of the Persepolis story. With live-action, it would have turned into a story of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/with-live-action-i-think-we-d-have-lost-the-universal-appeal-of-the/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) ## More by Vikram Chandra > [And so I began to read,' Sorkar said. 'And at first the complete works were like a jungle, the language was quicksand. Metaphors turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/and-so-i-began-to-read-sorkar-said-and-at-first-the-complete-works/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [“What could my mother be to yours? What kin is my father to yours anyway? And how did you and I meet ever? But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/what-could-my-mother-be-to-yours-what-kin-is-my-father-to-yours/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [“Don’t worry. I won’t forgive you –’ Bashir Ali blanched ‘– because there’s nothing to forgive. We are both trapped, you on that side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/don-t-worry-i-won-t-forgive-you-bashir-ali-blanched-because-there-s/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [“Then what in your opinion is a good story?' 'What it's always been, monkey,' Ganesha said. 'One dhansu conflict. Some chaka-chak song and dance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/then-what-in-your-opinion-is-a-good-story-what-it-s-always-been/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [I was writing fiction steadily, but I found that the stark determinisms of code were a welcome relief from the ambiguities of literary narrative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/i-was-writing-fiction-steadily-but-i-found-that-the-stark/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [I think the first time you have to change code you’ve written previously, to add features or remove a bug, you realize that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/i-think-the-first-time-you-have-to-change-code-you-ve-written/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [“So now that began to develop into a full-fledged shouting match of its own, and all in all it was soon a full-scale old-style…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/so-now-that-began-to-develop-into-a-full-fledged-shouting-match-of/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [“In this city, the rich had some room, and the middle class had less, and the poor had none.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/in-this-city-the-rich-had-some-room-and-the-middle-class-had-less-and/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [When you're a writer, sometimes you have to spend time poking at a part of yourself that normal, sane people leave alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/when-you-re-a-writer-sometimes-you-have-to-spend-time-poking-at-a/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [“if you want to live in the city you have to think ahead three turns, and look behind a lie to see the truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/if-you-want-to-live-in-the-city-you-have-to-think-ahead-three-turns/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [“We may read the same texts, but the dhvani that manifests within you will be unique. Your beauty will be your own. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/we-may-read-the-same-texts-but-the-dhvani-that-manifests-within-you/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) > [Ask him why there are hypocrites in the world.' 'Because it is hard to bear the happiness of others.' 'When are we happy?' 'When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/ask-him-why-there-are-hypocrites-in-the-world-because-it-is-hard-to/) [Vikram Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) [Explore all 13 Vikram Chandra quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/) ## 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 > [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": "The world is a story we tell ourselves about the world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Vikram Chandra" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-about-the-world/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Stories" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-about-the-world/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/vikram-chandra-36517_stories_the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-a_2112192.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/vikram-chandra-36517_stories_the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-a_2112192.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/vikram-chandra-36517_stories_the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-a_2112192.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The world is a story we tell ourselves about the world.” — Vikram Chandra", "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": "Vikram Chandra", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-chandra/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The world is a story we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-about-the-world/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-chandra/the-world-is-a-story-we-tell-ourselves-about-the-world/#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 } } ] } ```