“You don't have anything
if you don't have the stories.”
Source: Ceremony
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Leslie Marmon Silko6
American writer 1948Related quotes
“When you don't have a hammer, you don't want anything to look like a nail.”
Robert Kagan book Of Paradise and Power
Alternate version: If you don't have a hammer, you don't want anything to look like a nail.
Of Paradise and Power, p. 26
According to Kagan, this is a variation of the proverb "When you have a hammer, all problems start to look like nails." (p. 25 of the same book)
“If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.”
Mark Twain book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Notebook entry, January or February 1894, Mark Twain's Notebook, ed. Albert Bigelow Paine (1935), p. 240 http://books.google.com/books?id=DjBVlb7cBSIC&pg=PA240 <br class="br">Variant: If you tell the truth you do not need a good memory! <br class="br">Source: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
“Tell the truth. That way you don't have to remember a story.”
John Wooden (1910–2010) American basketball coach
Source: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court
“I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.”
Elvis Presley (1935–1977) American singer and actor
“I don't believe in anything you have to believe in.”
Fran Lebowitz (1950) author and public speaker from the United States
Reported by Steve Pinker, " I am Steve Pinker, a cognitive psychologist at Harvard. Ask me anything. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1a67x4/i_am_steve_pinker_a_cognitive_psychologist_at/c8uiccn", Reddit.com (March 12, 2013). <br class="br">Other
Michelle Obama (1964) lawyer, writer, wife of Barack Obama and former First Lady of the United States
2010s, Farewell Speech (2017)
Context: !-- So the young people here and the young people out there: --> Do not ever let anyone make you feel like you don't matter, or like you don't have a place in our American story — because you do. And you have a right to be exactly who you are.
But I also want to be very clear: This right isn't just handed to you. No, this right has to be earned every single day. You cannot take your freedoms for granted. Just like generations who have come before you, you have to do your part to preserve and protect those freedoms. And that starts right now, when you're young.
Right now, you need to be preparing yourself to add your voice to our national conversation. You need to prepare yourself to be informed and engaged as a citizen, to serve and to lead, to stand up for our proud American values and to honor them in your daily lives. And that means getting the best education possible so you can think critically, so you can express yourself clearly, so you can get a good job and support yourself and your family, so you can be a positive force in your communities.
