Storytelling+Quotes

Child of the pure unclouded brow and dreaming eyes of wonder! Though time be fleet, and I and thou are half a life asunder. They loving smile will surely hail the love-gift of a fairy-tale. // Lewis Carroll // Give tales to all to hold as strength against the days of loneliness and despair. //Augusta Baker// The friend of reason is also the friend of myth. //Plato// The difference between truth and fiction is that fiction must make sense.” // Mark Twain// “The governing of the kingdom of the self is an activity that takes place in the back of the brain while the front is being entertained.”// Gwenyth Gravens// There is a chivalrous lesson of ‘Jack the Giant Killer,’ that giants should be killed because they are gigantic. It is a manly mutiny against pride as such….There is the lesson of ‘Cinderella,’ which is the same as that of the Magnificat—exultavit humiles (he lifted up the humble). There is a great lesson of ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ that a thing must be loved before it is loveable….I am concerned with a certain way of looking at life which was created in me by fairytales.”// G.K. Chesterton// “Deeper meaning resides in the fairytales told to me in my childhood than in the truth that is taught by life.”// Schiller// I want you to learn stories, not as an exercise in fiction, but in order to walk in mercy. Stories will help you find your way. //J.R.R. Tolkien// The story denies universal defeat and so gives us a glimpse of ultimate joy. //J.R.R. Tolkien// To be a good storyteller one must be gloriously alive. It is not possible to kindle fresh fires from burned-out embers. I have noticed that the best of the traditional storytellers whom I have heard have been those who live close to the heart of things--to the earth, the sea, wind and weather. They have been those who know solitude, silence. They have been given unbroken time to feel deeply, to know the power of the spoken word. // Ruth Sawyer // ** Storyteller’s Creed ** I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief And I believe that love is stronger than death. ** Ruth Sawyer on Storytelling ** Why should anything that is worth doing and doing well be made to appear easy when it is not? Why try to fool young people? Why so belittle an art that may prove an asset and a reward unto itself to any teacher and children’s librarian? How much better to set students right as to the nature of storytelling, build up an attitude of integrity and effort toward it. And then say, “Here is something you can learn as you go along. Apply everything that comes your way to a better understanding and use of it. Be your own teacher and your own critic, develop that love and propensity for it that can bring such immeasurable returns. We can give you a starting-point; go on from here with a stout heart.” ** Ten Reasons to tell Stories in the Classroom ** They help us to build loving and open relationships. They teach cultural values through empathy. They teach us to understand and appreciate ourselves. They teach us to appreciate other cultures. They teach us to deal with feelings. They teach us to love words and reading. They teach us to listen and communicate. They teach language development through patterns, sequence, vocabulary, and plot. They enrich and enliven history. They stimulate creativity, critical thinking and problem solving.
 * Favorite Storytelling Quotes **