Quote: Salman Rushdie

Man is the animal that tells stories about himself to himself.

— Salman Rushdie, Lecture at the University of Iowa (March 2004)

It’s been years since I sat in that lecture hall, but Rushdie’s description of humans as storytelling creatures still gets me with it’s perfect simplicity. I think that was the first time I heard someone express this notion so clearly. I wrote this quote in my journal that night, and I revisit it often.