Quotes About Storytelling From Around the World

"It's very important to instill a [sense of] pride in young people for their indigenous language, their mother tongue, the culture that comes around that language. Every language has got its own way of introducing a story."
- Phyllis Klotz, artistic director of the Sibikwa Community Theatre, South Africa
Once Upon a Time...

"As a boy, I remember setting by the fireplace listening to my grandfather tell tales. The things he instilled in me were priceless. Morals of honesty, fairness, compassion, treating people fairly. Things that really, really matter."
- Jerry Harmon, storyteller, North Carolina
From Appalachia to the Coastside

"Through the generations, our legends and stories could have been buried. It's time to revive them."
- Persis Wong, co-ordinator of Asean Stories Project, Singapore
Long, Long Ago... But Not in Singapore

"Hearing genuine, powerful stories brings racism alive for participants."
- Doug Harris, managing director, The Kaleidoscope Group, Chicago, Illinois
Promoting Diversity Through Storytelling

"A 9-year-old Salvadoran girl explained to us that she chose a plant as her story's main character because her country had been destroyed by war. She told a story about a plant cutting looking for a place to grow. The metaphor of the plant allowed her to express safely, in an indirect way, her feeling of having lost her roots and the uncertainty about her family's future because their refugee claim had been rejected."
- Cecile Rousseau, M.D., Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Creative Expression Workshops for Immigrant and Refugee Children

"Problems are not going to get solved until we sit down with somebody else and really listen to their stories, so we can get to understand each other rather than blowing each other up. The more we put labels on people, the more we’re destined not to know them. When you really know somebody else’s story, you can’t hate them anymore. It’s a wonderful tool for peace."
- Nancy Duncan, storyteller, Omaha, Nebraska
Her Final Story

"We need people to be motivated about coming to work, and storytelling helps us do that. Having a strong team is your competitive advantage. And if we lose that, we lose our business."
- Doug Walker, Chief Executive Officer of WRQ, Seattle, Washington
Moral of Story is that Stories Build Morale

"Almost every other country considers storytelling part of their adult entertainment. Storytelling is the way they perpetuate the culture. We don't have that kind of history of culture in storytelling. Storytelling has sort of been taken over by Disney, and that's why we consider them for children. ... Some of the best stories are adult stories you would never want children to hear."
- Gwen Caldwell, a founding member of the Richardson/Plano Storytelling Guild, Texas
Using Their Words to Paint Pictures

"The purpose is the preservation of the language, the culture and the traditions of our people. Times are changing, and the youth aren't going out to find these stories. A lot of the elders are taking that knowledge to the grave. It's not being passed down because no one is seeking it."
- Whitecalf, owner of Sweet Grass Records/Productions, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, which produced the book Kiskisiwin -- a Cree word meaning "I remember"
Life Stories of Elders Preserve Oral Tradition

"We are an African-American storytelling group, and we tell a lot of stories in the African-American tradition. But the stories are timeless and borderless. They have broad applicability to people of all persuasions."
- Rob "Jack of Joy" Simon, one of the Griots: Keepers of the Stories, Wichita, Kansas
Fables, Myths, History Twirl into Storytelling Art

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