Why Stories Matter
2011
Sometimes stories make us open our eyes wider, challenge us to think bigger, and engage us in a world beyond our own backyards and national borders. Sometimes they make us smile and laugh till our cheeks shake and our throat hurts. And sometimes they infuriate us and confuse us and make us doubt everything we believe in.
Good stories come in all kinds of packages.
Images and words.
TV ads and classic novels.
Poetry and rock songs.
Fact and fiction.
The famous ones, the ones still to be famous, and those that may never be written.
Your story and my story.
Émile Zola knew how to tell a great story, but he also knew when to stand up for the truth. At the height of his career he took a huge personal risk and launched a public campaign to clear the name of Alfred Dreyfus – a French army officer whom Zola felt had been wrongly accused of treason – primarily because he was a Jew.
Zola’s decision to adamantly defend Dreyfus and openly accuse the French government of anti-semitism put this favorite literary son of France on shaky territory. But despite facing public outrage, financial losses, and exile from his beloved homeland, Zola never backed down from what he believed in. He stood up for what was right. And because of Zola and others like him, Dreyfus was cleared of all wrong doing.
Read everything. Use every word. Every color. Every smile. Every road sign. Pay attention. Look for truth. Truth matters. Stories Matter.
