"Well, if storytelling is important, then your narrative ability, or your ability to put into words or use what someone else has put into words effectively, is important too"
About this Quote
Gardner is sneaking a pragmatic point into what sounds like a gentle endorsement of stories: if narrative shapes how humans think, then narrative skill becomes a kind of cognitive power tool. The line reads almost like a syllogism, but it’s also a quiet critique of a culture that praises “storytelling” as a buzzword while treating language as ornamental. He’s insisting that stories don’t float above the medium; they live or die in phrasing, structure, and delivery.
The interesting twist is the bracketed humility: “or use what someone else has put into words effectively.” Gardner isn’t romanticizing the lone genius. He’s legitimizing interpretation, paraphrase, teaching, leadership, even advocacy as narrative work. In a world where people increasingly outsource language to templates, captions, and now AI, he’s arguing that the real competence isn’t just generating prose; it’s making meaning travel - selecting the right frame, pacing, and emphasis so an audience actually receives it.
Contextually, Gardner’s long project (multiple intelligences, education, how minds learn) makes this less about literature than about literacy as agency. Narrative ability becomes a bridge between inner thought and public consequence: the student who can explain, the scientist who can translate, the citizen who can argue without flattening complexity. Subtext: if you can’t narrate, you’re stuck living inside other people’s narratives. And if you can, you don’t just communicate - you compete in the marketplace of attention, credibility, and values.
The interesting twist is the bracketed humility: “or use what someone else has put into words effectively.” Gardner isn’t romanticizing the lone genius. He’s legitimizing interpretation, paraphrase, teaching, leadership, even advocacy as narrative work. In a world where people increasingly outsource language to templates, captions, and now AI, he’s arguing that the real competence isn’t just generating prose; it’s making meaning travel - selecting the right frame, pacing, and emphasis so an audience actually receives it.
Contextually, Gardner’s long project (multiple intelligences, education, how minds learn) makes this less about literature than about literacy as agency. Narrative ability becomes a bridge between inner thought and public consequence: the student who can explain, the scientist who can translate, the citizen who can argue without flattening complexity. Subtext: if you can’t narrate, you’re stuck living inside other people’s narratives. And if you can, you don’t just communicate - you compete in the marketplace of attention, credibility, and values.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
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