Life as lived is personal. There is no other way to experience life except from the perspective of and from inside the body, h eart and mind of a person. Development, and everything to do with de velopment, is also personal. And there is no other way to experie nce development except from the perspective of and from inside the body, heart and mind of a person. What I have called ‘the story per spective’ draws on the personal, lesh and blood, life as lived, indivi dual stories of people’s lives in development situations in order to see mor e clearly the true nature of development effects and processes. The un ique combination of emotional and rational knowledge contained withi n life stories can give us a broader perspective on the human face of development, a perspective that I believe is needed to compliment and balance the facts of ‘the measurement perspective’, and the ins ights of ‘the theory perspective’. This paper, which is based on a disse rtation written for the Kimmage Development Studies Centre, argues that ‘the story perspective’ contributes an essential, and often ne glected, human and personal dimension to development work and debates.