--- title: "1 Memory Held Quotes By M.L. Stedman" description: "1 Memory Held quotes by M.L. Stedman. Plus more from M.L. Stedman and more Memory Held sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/m-l-stedman-9230_children_later-the-child-climbs-down-from-her-mot_1104722.jpg" --- > [“Later, the child climbs down from her mother’s knee and clambers up onto Tom. He holds her wordlessly, trying to imprint everything about her: the smell of her hair, the softness of her skin, the shape of her tiny fingers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/later-the-child-climbs-down-from-her-mother-s-knee-and-clambers-up/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/m-l-stedman-9230_children_later-the-child-climbs-down-from-her-mot_1104722.jpg) ## More by M.L. Stedman > [“He traced the constellations as they slid their way across the roof of the world from dusk till dawn. The precision of it, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/he-traced-the-constellations-as-they-slid-their-way-across-the-roof/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day. You have to keep remembering all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/you-only-have-to-forgive-once-to-resent-you-have-to-do-it-all-day/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“Putting down the burden of the lie has meant giving up the freedom of the dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/putting-down-the-burden-of-the-lie-has-meant-giving-up-the-freedom-of/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“Tom thought back to the imposing, empty house: to the silence that deadened every room with a subtly different pitch; to the kitchen smelling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/tom-thought-back-to-the-imposing-empty-house-to-the-silence-that/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“He must turn to something solid, because if he didn't, who knew where his mind or his soul could blow away to, like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/he-must-turn-to-something-solid-because-if-he-didn-t-who-knew-where/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“He struggles to make sense of it--all this love, so bent out of shape, refracted, like light through the lens.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/he-struggles-to-make-sense-of-it-all-this-love-so-bent-out-of-shape/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“You don't make an omelette without breaking eggs, I'm afraid”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/you-don-t-make-an-omelette-without-breaking-eggs-i-m-afraid/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“We always have a choice. All of us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/we-always-have-a-choice-all-of-us/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“Sometimes, you're the one who strikes it lucky. Sometimes, it's the other poor bastard who's left with the short straw, and you just have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/sometimes-you-re-the-one-who-strikes-it-lucky-sometimes-it-s-the/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“The town draws a veil over certain events. This is a small community, where everyone knows that sometimes the contract to forget is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/the-town-draws-a-veil-over-certain-events-this-is-a-small-community/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“Coming back last time to the house she grew up in, Isabel had been reminded of the darkness that had descended with her brothers'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/coming-back-last-time-to-the-house-she-grew-up-in-isabel-had-been/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“Everything's ruined. Nothing can ever be put right." Tom rested a hand on hers. "We've put things right as well as we can. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/everything-s-ruined-nothing-can-ever-be-put-right-tom-rested-a-hand/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“Later still, the war memorials would sprout from the earth, dwelling not on the loss, but on what the loss had won, and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/later-still-the-war-memorials-would-sprout-from-the-earth-dwelling/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“I can forgive and forget... it is so much less exhausting. You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/i-can-forgive-and-forget-it-is-so-much-less-exhausting-you-only-have/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) > [“It occurs to him that there are different versions of himself to farewell—the abandoned eight-year-old; the delusional soldier who hovered somewhere in hell; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/it-occurs-to-him-that-there-are-different-versions-of-himself-to/) [M.L. Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-l-stedman/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-held/m-l-stedman/#itemlist", "name": "1 Memory Held Quotes By M.L. Stedman", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Later, the child climbs down from her mother’s knee and clambers up onto Tom. He holds her wordlessly, trying to imprint everything about her: the smell of her hair, the softness of her skin, the shape of her tiny fingers, the sound of her breath as she puts her face so close to his. The island swims away from them, fading into an ever more miniature version of itself, until it is just a flash of memory, held differently, imperfectly by each passenger. Tom watches Isabel, waits for her to return his glance, longs for her to give him one of the old smiles that used to remind him of Janus Light – a fixed, reliable point in the world, which meant he was never lost. But the flame has gone out – her face seems uninhabited now.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "M.L. Stedman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-l-stedman/later-the-child-climbs-down-from-her-mother-s-knee-and-clambers-up/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/m-l-stedman-9230_children_later-the-child-climbs-down-from-her-mot_1104722.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/m-l-stedman-9230_children_later-the-child-climbs-down-from-her-mot_1104722.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab0/m-l-stedman-9230_children_later-the-child-climbs-down-from-her-mot_1104722.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Later, the child climbs down from her mother’s knee and clambers up onto Tom. 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