“And, of course, people are interested only in themselves. If a story is not about the hearer he will not listen.”

“If a story is not about the hearer, he will not listen. And here I make a rule—a great and interesting story is about everyone or it will not last.”

“I'm only interested in stories that are about the crushing of the human heart.”

“They [dogs] never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation.”

“As writers, of course we’re interested in human beings, human stories, human trauma, and all that is very compelling for readers. But when we write these powerful stories about individual people, we have the illusion that we’ve made a difference. And of course we have—people read the books, they’re touched emotionally by these kinds of stories, and that’s great. But to the extent that the stories that we’re telling are about people who are weaker, in some way—they come from a small country, or a forcibly removed population, they’re underrepresented collectively—individual stories don’t change the conditions that produce those refugees in the first place…”

“I speak and speak, … but the listener retains only the words he is expecting. … It is not the voice that commands the story: it is the ear.”

“People prefer to listen to Stories…
rather than to Facts.”

“I'm uninterested in superheroes. I am only interested in real stories, real people, real connection.”

“They meant no harm, of course; they wanted only that he be like themselves, which was the prerogative of all parents.”

“Talk to someone about themselves and they'll listen for hours.”