Quotes About Memory

Writing is like riding a bicycle: you don't forget how, even if you go for years without doing it.

Así te recuerdo, en calma

con el tiempo se recuerdan los hechos, pero se borran las emociones. Ya no soy la mujer que fui entonces.

Cada instante desaparece en un soplo y al punto se convierte en pasado, la realidad es efímera y migratoria, pura añoranza

Mediante la fotografía y la palabra escrita intento desesperadamente vencer la condición fugaz de mi existencia, atrapar los momentos antes de que se desvanezcan, despejar la confusión de mi pasado.

I write, she wrote, that memory is fragile and the space of a single life is brief, passing so quickly that we never get a chance to see the relationship between events; we cannot gauge the consequences of our acts, and we believe in the fiction of past, present, and future, but it may also be true that everything happens simultaneously...That's why my Grandmother Clara wrote in her notebooks, in order to see things in their true dimension

Memory is fragile and capricious; each of us remembers and forgets according to what is convenient. The past is a notebook with many leaves on which we jot down our lives with ink that changes according to our state of mind.

Patria es donde están nuestros muertos

La mente selecciona, exagera, traiciona, los acontecimientos se esfuman, las personas se olvidan, y al final sólo queda el trayecto del alma, esos escasos momentos de revelación del espíritu

Cada pieza tiene una razón de ser tal como es. [...] La memoria es frágil y el transcurso de una vida es muy breve y sucede todo tan deprisa, que no alcanzamos a ver la relación entre los acontecimientos, no podemos medir la consecuencia de los actos, creemos en la ficción del tiempo, en el presente, el pasado y el futuro, pero puede ser también que todo ocurre simultáneamente.

a memória é frágil e o trânsito de uma vida é muito breve e sucede tudo tão depressa que não conseguimos ver a relação entre os acontecimentos na ficção do tempo, no presente, no passado e no futuro (...)

Mi vida se hace al contarla y mi memoria se fija con la escritura; lo que no pongo en palabras sobre papel, lo borra el tiempo.

Next to the tree was a short, broad-shouldered Asian man in overalls and a straw hat, leaning on a spade. His face was weathered, and in a halting English difficult to follow, he told Alma that this moment was beautiful, but that it would last only a few days before the blooms fell like rain to the ground; much better was the memory of the cherry tree in bloom, because that would last all year, until the following spring.

los sentimientos se destiñen y el olvido se desliza en las vidas como neblina. Se requiere una voluntad heroica para mantener todo en su sitio.

I write, she wrote, that memory is fragile and the space of a single life is brief, passing so quickly that we never get a chance to see the relationship between events; we cannot gauge the consequences of our acts, and we believe in the fiction of past, present, and future, but it may also be true that everything happens simultaneously—as the three Mora sisters said, who could see the spirits of all eras mingled in space.

I go, but I always remember you.

D]as Gedächtnis [ist] schwach und der Lauf eines Lebens kurz und alles [geschieht] so rasch, dass wir den Zusammenhang zwischen den Ereignissen nicht mehr sehen, die Folgen der Taten nicht mehr ermessen können, wir glauben an die Fiktion der Zeit, an Gegenwart, Vergangenheit und Zukunft, aber es kann auch sein, dass alles gleichzeitig geschieht [...]

There's a time to live and a time to die. In between there's time to remember. That is all I've done for these past days, silently filling in the missing details to complete this testament—a sentimental legacy, more than a material one.

become a ghost. They've killed several

Al final, lo único que tenemos a plenitud es la memoria que hemos tejido.

Scrivo, lei ha scritto, che la memoria è fragile e il corso di una vita è molto breve e tutto avviene così in fretta, che non riusciamo a vedere il rapporto tra gli eventi, non possiamo misurare le conseguenze delle azioni, crediamo nella finzione del tempo, nel presente, nel passato, nel futuro, ma può anche darsi che tutto succeda simultaneamente...

El tío Ramón me dio los más útiles instrumentos para la vida, como descubrí en terapia a una edad madura: memoria selectiva para recordar lo bueno, prudencia lógica para no arruinar el presente, y optimismo desafiante para encarar el futuro.

Distance erases the contours and colors of memory. I have letters and photographs of the family that Juan Martín built in Norway; he calls me on the phone and has come to see me in recent years, when I no longer had the strength for such a long trip, but when I think of my son I can't seem to conjure the exact details of his features or voice.

thought about the years I still had left to live and decided that without her it wasn't worth it, for I would never find another woman with her green hair and underwater beauty. If anyone had told me then that I would live to be more than ninety, I would have put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger.