The telling of stories is the abiding act by which people of all times and places pass down to the coming generations their hard-won fragments of wisdom. One can call it culture, or one can call it fun, but it will always remain indispensable. Wisdom is often purchased at great price, and much of it fades into disremembering because of silence or modest restraint, or because of shame and grief. Yet without the telling, we would soon cease to understand who we are.
