--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Tis a funny thing, reflected the Count as…" description: "\"“Tis a funny thing, reflected the Count as he stood ready to abandon his suite. From the earliest age, we must learn to say good-bye to friends and fam..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/amor-towles-1249_christmas-eve_tis-a-funny-thing-reflected-the-count-as_2298891.jpg" --- # Tis a funny thing, reflected the Count as he stood ready… ![“Tis a funny thing, reflected the Count as he stood ready to abandon his suite. From the earliest age, we must learn to say good-bye to friends and family. We see our parents and siblings off at the station; we visit cousins, attend schools, join the regiment; we marry, or travel abroad. It is part…” quote by Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/amor-towles-1249_christmas-eve_tis-a-funny-thing-reflected-the-count-as_2298891.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/amor-towles-1249_christmas-eve_tis-a-funny-thing-reflected-the-count-as_2298891.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/amor-towles-1249_christmas-eve_tis-a-funny-thing-reflected-the-count-as_2298891.jpg) > ““Tis a funny thing, reflected the Count as he stood ready to abandon his suite. From the earliest age, we must learn to say good-bye to friends and family. We see our parents and siblings off at the station; we visit cousins, attend schools, join the regiment; we marry, or travel abroad. It is part of the human experience that we are constantly gripping a good fellow by the shoulders and wishing him well, taking comfort from the notion that we will hear word of him soon enough. But experience is less likely to teach us how to bid our dearest possessions adieu. And if it were to? We wouldn’t welcome the education. For eventually, we come to hold our dearest possessions more closely than we hold our friends. We carry them from place to place, often at considerable expense and inconvenience; we dust and polish their surfaces and reprimand children for playing too roughly in their vicinity—all the while, allowing memories to invest them with greater and greater importance. This armoire, we are prone to recall, is the very one in which we hid as a boy; and it was these silver candelabra that lined our table on Christmas Eve; and it was with this handkerchief that she once dried her tears, et cetera, et cetera. Until we imagine that these carefully preserved possessions might give us genuine solace in the face of a lost companion. But, of course, a thing is just a thing.”” [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflects on human tendency to cling to possessions more tightly than relationships, warning against material attachment. **In simple terms:** People often value objects over people. Key Takeaway Prioritize relationships over material things. Themes attachment materialism human experience loss Mood nostalgic reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - moving house - selling heirlooms - travel - inheritance Key Concepts philosophy psychology sociology Questions to Reflect On - What objects hold emotional weight for you? - How can you balance sentiment with practicality? A Different Perspective Emotions can cloud rational decisions about possessions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Christmas eve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-eve/) [Friends and family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends-and-family/) [Human experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-experience/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Possessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possessions/) [Travel abroad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/travel-abroad/) ## Related quotes > [“But experience is less likely to teach us how to bid our dearest possessions adieu. And if we were to? 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Cool,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/when-we-get-out-of-the-glass-bottle-of-our-ego-things-will-happen-to/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Jacob wrote that the true poet 'is like a man who is happy anywhere, in endless measure, if he is allowed to look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/jacob-wrote-that-the-true-poet-is-like-a-man-who-is-happy-anywhere-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/traveling-is-a-brutality-it-forces-you-to-trust-strangers-and-to-lose/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/we-travel-to-open-our-hearts-and-eyes-and-learn-more-about-the-world/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [For years, I had a top secret clearance and never left Russia. Just once did I go to Bulgaria with my wife for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-kalashnikov/for-years-i-had-a-top-secret-clearance-and-never-left-russia-just/) [Mikhail Kalashnikov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-kalashnikov/) > [When I travel abroad, because I'm Columbian, I'm always one that they check twice and security and I'm the one that they open my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-vergara/when-i-travel-abroad-because-i-m-columbian-i-m-always-one-that-they/) [Sofia Vergara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-vergara/) ## More by Amor Towles > [“To have even one year when you're presented with choices that can alter your circumstances, your character, your course- that's by the grace of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/to-have-even-one-year-when-you-re-presented-with-choices-that-can/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“Rather than sitting in orderly rows in a schoolhouse, wouldn't one be better served by working her way towards an actual horizon, so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/rather-than-sitting-in-orderly-rows-in-a-schoolhouse-wouldn-t-one-be/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [That's how quickly New York City comes about - like a weather wane - or the head of a cobra. 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Never again would he walk Nevsky Prospekt, however they chose to rename it, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/mishka-would-pine-for-katerina-the-rest-of-his-life-never-again-would/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [Every year, I would spend weeks at a time in the hotels of distant cities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/every-year-i-would-spend-weeks-at-a-time-in-the-hotels-of-distant/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“For eventually, we come to hold our dearest possessions more closely than we hold our friends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/for-eventually-we-come-to-hold-our-dearest-possessions-more-closely/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“As we age, we are bound to find comfort from the notion that it takes generations for a way of life to fade. 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A man may have been born in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/for-it-is-a-fact-that-a-man-can-be-profoundly-out-of-step-with-his/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) [Explore all 266 Amor Towles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) ## More Christmas eve quotes > [“I took ten days off and by 11 o’clock on the first morning I had drunk fourteen cups of coffee, read all the newspapers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-clarkson/i-took-ten-days-off-and-by-11-o-clock-on-the-first-morning-i-had/) [Jeremy Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-clarkson/) > [“I stopped keeping an eye out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve because, when I was five, my mother told me that Santa was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/i-stopped-keeping-an-eye-out-for-santa-claus-on-christmas-eve-because/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“Out here, without the clouds of cigar smoke, there was nothing to compete with the scent of the rich wood panelling, the preparation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anouska-knight/out-here-without-the-clouds-of-cigar-smoke-there-was-nothing-to/) [Anouska Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anouska-knight/) > [“‎He decided quite suddenly, having kept fairly good record on the calendar, that tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and zombies be damned. 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And my worst present ever was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-di-martino/my-worst-christmas-ever-was-in-1987-when-santa-brought-me-and-my/) Sophia Di Martino > [“Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hangin' curveball, high fiber, good scotch, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-shelton/well-i-believe-in-the-soul-the-cock-the-pussy-the-small-of-a-woman-s/) Ron Shelton > [“Ramirez and I wanted to spend our first Christmas Eve together with just a nice, romantic, quiet evening at home.” “I never promised to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-halliday/ramirez-and-i-wanted-to-spend-our-first-christmas-eve-together-with/) [Gemma Halliday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-halliday/) > [Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. 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As soon as it turns to Christmas Day, we're opening those gifts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frankie-grande/opening-presents-at-midnight-on-christmas-eve-midnight-as-soon-as-it/) [Frankie Grande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frankie-grande/) > [Christ was born in the first century, yet he belongs to all centuries. He was born a Jew, yet He belongs to all races.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-truett/christ-was-born-in-the-first-century-yet-he-belongs-to-all-centuries/) [George W Truett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-truett/) [Browse all 244 Christmas eve quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-eve/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Tis a funny thing, reflected the Count as he stood ready to abandon his suite. From the earliest age, we must learn to say good-bye to friends and family. We see our parents and siblings off at the station; we visit cousins, attend schools, join the regiment; we marry, or travel abroad. It is part of the human experience that we are constantly gripping a good fellow by the shoulders and wishing him well, taking comfort from the notion that we will hear word of him soon enough. But experience is less likely to teach us how to bid our dearest possessions adieu. And if it were to? We wouldn’t welcome the education. For eventually, we come to hold our dearest possessions more closely than we hold our friends. We carry them from place to place, often at considerable expense and inconvenience; we dust and polish their surfaces and reprimand children for playing too roughly in their vicinity—all the while, allowing memories to invest them with greater and greater importance. 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