--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The thing that was your bright treasure…" description: "\"“The thing that was your bright treasure. You don’t think about it. A loss you could not contemplate at one time, and now it becomes something you can ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/alice-munro-1231_loss_the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure_229757.png" --- # The thing that was your bright treasure. You don’t think… ![“The thing that was your bright treasure. You don’t think about it. A loss you could not contemplate at one time, and now it becomes something you can barely remember” quote by Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/alice-munro-1231_loss_the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure_229757.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/alice-munro-1231_loss_the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure_229757.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/alice-munro-1231_loss_the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure_229757.png) > ““The thing that was your bright treasure. You don’t think about it. A loss you could not contemplate at one time, and now it becomes something you can barely remember”” [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A cherished memory fades when unacknowledged, becoming a vague recollection. **In simple terms:** Lost treasure fades when ignored. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and preserve important memories. Themes memory loss reflection Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal journaling - grief counseling - family storytelling - heritage preservation Key Concepts nostalgia psychology impermanence Questions to Reflect On - What cherished memory have you let slip away? - How can you keep important moments vivid? A Different Perspective Neglecting memories can lead to emotional detachment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Barely Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barely-remember-355883/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Loss Contemplate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss-contemplate-1450684/) [Think Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-loss-396499/) [Treasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treasure/) ## Related quotes > [“This is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/this-is-what-happens-you-put-it-away-for-a-little-while-and-now-and/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“This is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/this-is-what-happens-you-put-it-away-for-a-little-while-and-now-and-2/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Eight hours West sat a man alone on a beach mourning an inexplicable loss. He could only think of his loss in little packets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/eight-hours-west-sat-a-man-alone-on-a-beach-mourning-an-inexplicable/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“Grief is a kind of war, I think now. Loss is like a bullet. A person can only take so much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-oakes/grief-is-a-kind-of-war-i-think-now-loss-is-like-a-bullet-a-person-can/) [Stephanie Oakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-oakes/) > [You don't that often see writers being sought out when there are matters of great moment to discuss. And I think that's a loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/you-don-t-that-often-see-writers-being-sought-out-when-there-are/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“I think loss isolates a person. Everybody is far too nervous to ask you how you feel, in case you have a breakdown in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-connelly/i-think-loss-isolates-a-person-everybody-is-far-too-nervous-to-ask/) [Victoria Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-connelly/) > [“I wondered: What can come after Childhood, when scenes like these will mean nothing more than being lost in a big world? I shivered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wondered-what-can-come-after-childhood-when-scenes-like-these-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I'm not always able to think about so much loss without bitterness and anger. I don't know if I'll ever be capable of loving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-miles/i-m-not-always-able-to-think-about-so-much-loss-without-bitterness/) [Sara Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-miles/) > [I think loss can fuel how you lead your whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-short/i-think-loss-can-fuel-how-you-lead-your-whole-life/) [Martin Short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-short/) > [I think loss of loved ones is the hardest blow in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlo-thomas/i-think-loss-of-loved-ones-is-the-hardest-blow-in-life/) [Marlo Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlo-thomas/) > [“I was thinking of how, when we think of loss in our life, how our sense of ‘home’ was the first thing to go.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tabitha-vohn/i-was-thinking-of-how-when-we-think-of-loss-in-our-life-how-our-sense/) [Tabitha Vohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tabitha-vohn/) > [I can barely remember what I wrote yesterday, let alone 10 years ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sullivan/i-can-barely-remember-what-i-wrote-yesterday-let-alone-10-years-ago/) [Andrew Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sullivan/) > [“She could barely remember what life had been like before him and didn't even want to try. All Grace knew was that she wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-michaels/she-could-barely-remember-what-life-had-been-like-before-him-and-didn/) [Victoria Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-michaels/) > [...some of the best sex I can barely remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-handler/some-of-the-best-sex-i-can-barely-remember/) [Chelsea Handler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-handler/) > [I just read an 800-page history of the Scottish Enlightenment and, honestly, I may as well just start it again now, because I cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/i-just-read-an-800-page-history-of-the-scottish-enlightenment-and/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) ## More by Alice Munro > [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. And an Irish writer who used to write for 'The New Yorker' called Maeve Brennan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/william-maxwell-s-my-favorite-north-american-writer-i-think-and-an/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“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/) > [“Her silent singing wrapped around the story she was telling herself, which she extended further every night on the deck. (Averill often told herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/her-silent-singing-wrapped-around-the-story-she-was-telling-herself/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Something happened here. In your life there are a few places, or maybe only the one place, were something happened, and then there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/something-happened-here-in-your-life-there-are-a-few-places-or-maybe/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps of information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-such-bright-scraps-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The thing is to be happy, no matter what. Just try that. You can. It gets to be easier and easier. It's nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-is-to-be-happy-no-matter-what-just-try-that-you-can-it-gets/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [What she wants to do if she can get the time to do it, is not so much to live in the past as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-she-wants-to-do-if-she-can-get-the-time-to-do-it-is-not-so-much/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Children Katy's age had no problem with monotony. In fact they embraced it, diving into it and wrapping the familiar words round their tongues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/children-katy-s-age-had-no-problem-with-monotony-in-fact-they/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“This is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/this-is-what-happens-you-put-it-away-for-a-little-while-and-now-and/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips cautiously from the mug of weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-with-piles-of-books-and-unopened/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The images, the language, of pornography, and romance are alike; monotonous and mechanically seductive, quickly leading to despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-images-the-language-of-pornography-and-romance-are-alike/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [I was a grade B housewife, maybe a B minus. But when I got time to write, I would be unable to finish a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-was-a-grade-b-housewife-maybe-a-b-minus-but-when-i-got-time-to/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She would live now, not read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-would-live-now-not-read/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“You would think as you get older your mind would fill up with what they call the spiritual side of things, but mine just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/you-would-think-as-you-get-older-your-mind-would-fill-up-with-what/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [Peoples lives, in Jubilee as elsewhere, were dull, simple, amazing, unfathomable-deep caves paved with kitchen linoleum. . . . What I wanted \[to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/peoples-lives-in-jubilee-as-elsewhere-were-dull-simple-amazing/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Explore all 261 Alice Munro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## More Loss quotes > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Certainly, it is. Love is love, and loss is loss. We all love, and we all die, and everyone suffers the pain of grieving.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynsay-sands/certainly-it-is-love-is-love-and-loss-is-loss-we-all-love-and-we-all/) [Lynsay Sands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynsay-sands/) > [Shhh.” He put a finger to her lips. “Hear me out. I cannot deny that I would've liked to have made babies with you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/shhh-he-put-a-finger-to-her-lips-hear-me-out-i-cannot-deny-that-i/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [“Good morning,” one of the soldiers said. “I’m Captain Joseph Walker and this is Sergeant James Vanetten. We are members of the One-Hundred-and-First Airborne…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shafter-bailey/good-morning-one-of-the-soldiers-said-i-m-captain-joseph-walker-and/) [Shafter Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shafter-bailey/) > [When you lose a person you love so much, surviving the loss is difficult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristiano-ronaldo/when-you-lose-a-person-you-love-so-much-surviving-the-loss-is/) [Cristiano Ronaldo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristiano-ronaldo/) > [Many companies have long contended that stress in the home causes productivity loss in the market place.. and it does. But research now reveals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/many-companies-have-long-contended-that-stress-in-the-home-causes/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [My idea for 'BoneMan's Daughters' came from the loss of my own daughter when she left home to live with a monster at age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/my-idea-for-boneman-s-daughters-came-from-the-loss-of-my-own-daughter/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [“This book is written in a barren period of loss with an attempt to move forward towards substance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phindiwe-nkosi/this-book-is-written-in-a-barren-period-of-loss-with-an-attempt-to/) [Phindiwe Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phindiwe-nkosi/) > [My mind shrank from the menace sweeping down on us, as children's do from belief in death and misfortune, vainly clinging to the fancy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-pankhurst/my-mind-shrank-from-the-menace-sweeping-down-on-us-as-children-s-do/) [Sylvia Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-pankhurst/) > [“...what happens when you return and find nothing but a hollowed shell, shingles and floor, walls and echoes and the light that lead you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellie-elmore/what-happens-when-you-return-and-find-nothing-but-a-hollowed-shell/) [Kellie Elmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellie-elmore/) > [Sorrow and happiness are the heresies of virtue; joy and anger lead astray from TAO; love and hate cause loss of virtue. The heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/sorrow-and-happiness-are-the-heresies-of-virtue-joy-and-anger-lead/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [“...our loves ones truly are ever-present. We may bury their bodies or scatter their ashes, but their spirits are boundless and do not accompany…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-slaughter/our-loves-ones-truly-are-ever-present-we-may-bury-their-bodies-or/) [April Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-slaughter/) [Browse all 6,621 Loss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The thing that was your bright treasure. You don’t think about it. A loss you could not contemplate at one time, and now it becomes something you can barely remember”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure-you-don-t-think-about-it-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Loss" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure-you-don-t-think-about-it-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/alice-munro-1231_loss_the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure_229757.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/alice-munro-1231_loss_the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure_229757.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f41/alice-munro-1231_loss_the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure_229757.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The thing that was your bright treasure. You don’t think about it. A loss you could not contemplate at one…” — Alice Munro", "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": "Alice Munro", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The thing that was your bright...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure-you-don-t-think-about-it-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-that-was-your-bright-treasure-you-don-t-think-about-it-a/#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 } } ] } ```