--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nostalgia is only amnesia turned around,”…" description: "\"“Nostalgia is only amnesia turned around,” said the poet Adrienne Rich.”\" — Alfie Kohn" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/alfie-kohn-7728_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around_845981.jpg" --- # Nostalgia is only amnesia turned around,” said the poet… ![“Nostalgia is only amnesia turned around,” said the poet Adrienne Rich.” quote by Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/alfie-kohn-7728_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around_845981.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/alfie-kohn-7728_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around_845981.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/alfie-kohn-7728_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around_845981.jpg) > ““Nostalgia is only amnesia turned around,” said the poet Adrienne Rich.”” [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nostalgia is a selective memory that romanticizes the past while ignoring present reality. **In simple terms:** Nostalgia rewrites past memories. Key Takeaway Recognize when nostalgia clouds judgment. Themes memory reflection identity Mood melancholic contemplative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - therapy - marketing - historical analysis Key Concepts psychology nostalgia perception Questions to Reflect On - How does nostalgia affect your decisions? - Can you distinguish memory from idealization? A Different Perspective Nostalgia can hinder growth if over‑relied upon. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [“Nostalgia is only amnesia turned around,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [“Traveling together into what the poet Adrienne Rich has called ‘the cratered night of female memory,’ they undertook a shared process of self-discovery, working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-kaplan/traveling-together-into-what-the-poet-adrienne-rich-has-called-the/) Janet Kaplan > [“In her insightful Of Woman Born (1976), Adrienne Rich said it very eloquently: “My children cause me the most exquisite suffering of which I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ina-may-gaskin/in-her-insightful-of-woman-born-1976-adrienne-rich-said-it-very/) [Ina May Gaskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ina-may-gaskin/) > [“There's a poem by Adrienne Rich I first read twenty years ago called "Splittings" that I thought of when I read your letter. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/there-s-a-poem-by-adrienne-rich-i-first-read-twenty-years-ago-called-2/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [Adrienne Rich was one of the most widely-read and influential poets of her time, a leading feminist, known especially for her politically-engaged verse. Her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-scruggs/adrienne-rich-was-one-of-the-most-widely-read-and-influential-poets/) [Earl Scruggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-scruggs/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/a-vacation-is-like-love-anticipated-with-pleasure-experienced-with/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [“Can you miss someone you haven’t seen for longer than you knew them? 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Presidential commissions on education are commonly chaired…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/many-of-our-elected-officials-have-virtually-handed-the-keys-to-our/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [“a grade can be regarded only as an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgment by a biased and variable judge of the extent to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/a-grade-can-be-regarded-only-as-an-inadequate-report-of-an-inaccurate/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [In some suburban schools, the curriculum is chock-full of rigorous A.P. courses and the parking lot glitters with pricey SUVs, but one doesn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/in-some-suburban-schools-the-curriculum-is-chock-full-of-rigorous-a-p/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [Standardized testing has swelled and mutated, like a creature in one of those old horror movies, to the point that it now threatens to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/standardized-testing-has-swelled-and-mutated-like-a-creature-in-one/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [If a child is off-task...mayb e the problem is not the child...maybe it's the task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/if-a-child-is-off-task-mayb-e-the-problem-is-not-the-child-maybe-it-s/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [If unconditional love and genuine enthusiasm are present, praise isn't necessary. 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But what counts is how things look from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/most-of-us-would-protest-that-of-course-we-love-our-children-without/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [What can we surmise about the likelihood of someone's being caring and generous, loving and helpful, just from knowing that they are a believer?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/what-can-we-surmise-about-the-likelihood-of-someone-s-being-caring/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [When was the last time you spent the entire day with only 42 year olds?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/when-was-the-last-time-you-spent-the-entire-day-with-only-42-year-olds/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [Punishment and reward proceed from basically the same psychological model, one that conceives of motivation as nothing more than the manipulation of behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/punishment-and-reward-proceed-from-basically-the-same-psychological/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [Each time I visit such a classroom, where the teacher is more interested in creating a democratic community than in maintaining her position of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/each-time-i-visit-such-a-classroom-where-the-teacher-is-more/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [Educators remind us that what counts in a classroom is not what the teacher teaches; it’s what the learner learns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/educators-remind-us-that-what-counts-in-a-classroom-is-not-what-the/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [In short, with each of the thousand-and-one problems that present themselves in family life, our choice is between controlling and teaching, between creating an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/in-short-with-each-of-the-thousand-and-one-problems-that-present/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [To control students is to force them to accommodate to a preestablished curriculum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/to-control-students-is-to-force-them-to-accommodate-to-a/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [“But as I mastered the material, homework ceased to be necessary. A no homework policy is a challenge to me," he adds. "I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/but-as-i-mastered-the-material-homework-ceased-to-be-necessary-a-no/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) [Explore all 88 Alfie Kohn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) ## More Nostalgia quotes > [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“When I was alive, I aimed to be a student not of longing but of light.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-nelson/when-i-was-alive-i-aimed-to-be-a-student-not-of-longing-but-of-light/) [Maggie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-nelson/) > [“Haunted by the longing to feel something real, deep and magical; I searched for a shared ecstasy... that's when you came along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/haunted-by-the-longing-to-feel-something-real-deep-and-magical-i/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I don't want to break my memories with you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arzum-uzun/i-don-t-want-to-break-my-memories-with-you/) [Arzum Uzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arzum-uzun/) > [Sometimes it has to do with other longings that are much more existential. Sometimes you go elsewhere not because you are not liking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-perel/sometimes-it-has-to-do-with-other-longings-that-are-much-more/) [Esther Perel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-perel/) > [“Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/not-very-long-ago-i-was-driving-with-my-husband-on-the-back-roads-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Can you miss someone you haven’t seen for longer than you knew them? Maybe we rue the time not the person.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-rothschild/can-you-miss-someone-you-haven-t-seen-for-longer-than-you-knew-them/) Hannah Rothschild > [A vacation is like love - anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/a-vacation-is-like-love-anticipated-with-pleasure-experienced-with/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/could-it-be-in-longing-we-are-most-ourselves/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Any time gone by was better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-time-gone-by-was-better/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Let us not burthen our remembrance with A heaviness that's gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-us-not-burthen-our-remembrance-with-a-heaviness-that-s-gone/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/some-things-in-this-world-just-ain-t-meant-to-be-not-in-the-times-we/) [James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/) > [For me, growing up in hip-hop culture, it's all about having the next style, the new fashion, the new way to express yourself, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/el-p/for-me-growing-up-in-hip-hop-culture-it-s-all-about-having-the-next/) [El-P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/el-p/) > [“Out of infinite longings rise finite deeds like weak fountains, falling back just in time and trembling. And yet, what otherwise remains silent, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/out-of-infinite-longings-rise-finite-deeds-like-weak-fountains/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) [Browse all 2,425 Nostalgia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Nostalgia is only amnesia turned around,” said the poet Adrienne Rich.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alfie Kohn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around-said-the-poet-adrienne-rich/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Nostalgia" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around-said-the-poet-adrienne-rich/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/alfie-kohn-7728_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around_845981.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/alfie-kohn-7728_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around_845981.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/862/alfie-kohn-7728_nostalgia_nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around_845981.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nostalgia is only amnesia turned around,” said the poet Adrienne Rich.” — Alfie Kohn", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alfie Kohn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Nostalgia is only amnesia turned around,”...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around-said-the-poet-adrienne-rich/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/nostalgia-is-only-amnesia-turned-around-said-the-poet-adrienne-rich/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```