--- title: "1 Think Memory Quotes By W. S. Merwin" description: "1 Think Memory quotes by W. S. Merwin. Plus more from W. S. Merwin and more Think Memory sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/w-s-merwin-10641_i-think_i-think-memory-is-essential-to-what-we-a_2421816.jpg" --- > [I think memory is essential to what we are. If we - we wouldn't be able to talk to each other without memory. And what we think of as the present really is the past. It is made out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/i-think-memory-is-essential-to-what-we-are-if-we-we-wouldn-t-be-able/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f2/w-s-merwin-10641_i-think_i-think-memory-is-essential-to-what-we-a_2421816.jpg) ## More by W. S. Merwin > [When a poem is really finished, you can't change anything. You can't move words around. You can't say, 'In other words, you mean.' No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/when-a-poem-is-really-finished-you-can-t-change-anything-you-can-t/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [We are not born to survive. Only to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/we-are-not-born-to-survive-only-to-live/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [What you remember saves you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/what-you-remember-saves-you/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [I also think that life itself is both indifferent to us and the source of all of our joys and everything that we love.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/i-also-think-that-life-itself-is-both-indifferent-to-us-and-the/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [I think it's good for anybody to learn languages. Americans are particularly limited in that way. Europeans less so... We're beginning to have Spanish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/i-think-it-s-good-for-anybody-to-learn-languages-americans-are/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [You have to be rather relentless about pushing other things out of the way. This activity of writing, which has no promises attached to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/you-have-to-be-rather-relentless-about-pushing-other-things-out-of/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [Laughter was the shape the darkness took around the first appearance of the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/laughter-was-the-shape-the-darkness-took-around-the-first-appearance/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [In a sense, much that is learned is bound to be bad habits. You're always beginning again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/in-a-sense-much-that-is-learned-is-bound-to-be-bad-habits-you-re/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [I go five steps in the garden, and I immediately lose track of time... it is a kind of joy in being alive in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/i-go-five-steps-in-the-garden-and-i-immediately-lose-track-of-time-it/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [What I really believe is the only hopeful relation between our life and the whole of life is one of reverence and respect and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/what-i-really-believe-is-the-only-hopeful-relation-between-our-life/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [As soon as I could write with a little pencil, I was writing these little hymns and illustrating them, and I thought they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/as-soon-as-i-could-write-with-a-little-pencil-i-was-writing-these/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [There are aspects of human life that are not purely destructive, and there is a need to pay attention to the things around us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/there-are-aspects-of-human-life-that-are-not-purely-destructive-and/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [If there'd been a better-balanced society, where there were other ways of making a decent living, I think it might have been different. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/if-there-d-been-a-better-balanced-society-where-there-were-other-ways/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [We are the shadow of Sirius. There is the other side of - as we talk to each other, we see the light, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/we-are-the-shadow-of-sirius-there-is-the-other-side-of-as-we-talk-to/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [Any work of art makes one very simple demand on anyone who genuinely wants to get in touch with it. And that is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/any-work-of-art-makes-one-very-simple-demand-on-anyone-who-genuinely/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-memory/w-s-merwin/#itemlist", "name": "1 Think Memory Quotes By W. S. Merwin", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think memory is essential to what we are. If we - we wouldn't be able to talk to each other without memory. And what we think of as the present really is the past. It is made out of the past.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. S. 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