After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.

Pullman ranks storytelling alongside basic human necessities, suggesting that narrative is not a luxury but a vital form of sustenance. After the body is fed and protected, and after social belonging is secured through companionship, stories provide the frameworks through which people make meaning: they transmit culture, teach empathy, rehearse moral choices, and help individuals interpret suffering and joy. The quote also implies that stories are a communal technology—binding people together across time and difference—while remaining personally transformative, shaping identity and imagination. In Pullman’s broader literary outlook, this elevates fiction (especially for the young) as a serious ethical and intellectual force rather than mere entertainment.