In December, 2014, I am publishing a book on the power of personal storytelling, with a focus on learning from experience. This slide show includes some very insightful quotes about storytelling from a variety of writers, thinkers, philosophers, psychologists, and master story tellers.

1. WISDOM AT WORK
How Personal Storytelling
Sparks Insight,
Breakthrough,
and Lifelong Innovation
A New Book by Mitch Ditkoff
Publication Date: December 10, 2014

2. “The world is not
made of atoms.
The world is made
of stories.”
– Muriel Ruykeser

3. “A story is a way to say
something that can be
said no other way.”
– Flannery O’Connor

4. “A lost coin is
found by means
of a candle;
the deepest truth
is found by the
means of a
simple story.”
- Anthony De Mello

5. “Become aware of
what is in you.
Announce it,
pronounce it,
produce it
and give birth to it.”
- Meister Eckhart

6. “We need to look hard at the stories
we create and wrestle with them.
Retell and retell them,
and work with them like clay.
It is in the retelling and returning
that they give us their wisdom.”
– Marni Gillard

7. “Telling someone about
your experience
breathes new life into it,
moving it out of the
inchoate swirl of
unconsciousness into
reality. It takes on form
and allows us
to examine it
from all angles.”
- Mandy Aftel

8. “A coherent life experience is not simply given. The thing
must be made into a story-like production.” – Steven Krites

9. “Inside of each of us
is a natural born
storyteller just
waiting to be born.”
- Robin Moore

10. “From my perspective as
a depth psychologist, I
see that those who have
a connection to story
are in better shape and
have a better prognosis
than those to whom
story must be
introduced.”
– Joseph Hillman

11. “Although setbacks of all kinds may
discourage us, the grand old process
of storytelling puts us in touch with
strengths we may have forgotten,
with wisdom that has faded
or disappeared, and with hopes
that have fallen into darkness.”
– Nancy Mellon

12. “When one is
a stranger to
oneself, then one
is estranged from
others, too.
If one is out of
TOUCH
with oneself,
then one cannot
touch others.”
– Anne Morrow Lindbergh

13. “The role of the
storyteller is to
awaken the
storyteller
in others.”
– Jack Zipes

14. “In my life, the stories I have
heard from my family, my friends,
my community, and from willing
strangers all over the world have
been the true source
of my education.” – Holly Near

15. “Those who do not have
the power over the story
that dominates their lives,
the power to retell it,
rethink it, deconstruct it,
joke about it, and change it
as times change, truly are
powerless because they
cannot think new
thoughts.”
- Salman Rushdie

16. “Listening is a magnetic and strange thing,
a creative force. The friends who
listen to us are the ones we move toward,
and we want to sit in their radius.
When we are listened to, it creates us,
makes us unfold and expand.”
– Karl Menninger

17. “The most important question to
ask is: What myth am I living?” – Carl Jung

19. “The moment one gives close attention
to anything, even a blade of grass,
it becomes a mysteriously awesome,
indescribably magnificent
world in itself.”
– Henry Miller

20. “Every story
you tell is
your own
story.”
- Joseph Campbell

21. If you would like
to pre-order
WISDOM AT WORK
and/or
be one of my
patrons to help
get the book and
WISDOM CIRCLES
out into the world,
check out my
GoFundMe
campaign.