--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But this thing that almost never was…" description: "\"“But this thing that almost never was still beckons, I wanted to tell him. They can never undo it, never unwrite it, never unlive it, or relive it—it's..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/613/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_but-this-thing-that-almost-never-was-sti_161661.jpg" --- # But this thing that almost never was still beckons, I… ![“But this thing that almost never was still beckons, I wanted to tell him. They can never undo it, never unwrite it, never unlive it, or relive it—it's just stuck there like a vision of fireflies on a summer field toward evening that keeps saying, You could have had this instead . But going back is…” quote by André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/613/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_but-this-thing-that-almost-never-was-sti_161661.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/613/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_but-this-thing-that-almost-never-was-sti_161661.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/613/andre-aciman-459_andre-aciman_but-this-thing-that-almost-never-was-sti_161661.jpg) > ““But this thing that almost never was still beckons, I wanted to tell him. They can never undo it, never unwrite it, never unlive it, or relive it—it's just stuck there like a vision of fireflies on a summer field toward evening that keeps saying, You could have had this instead . But going back is false. Moving ahead is false. Looking the other way is false. Trying to redress all that is false turns out to be just as false. Their life is like a garbled echo buried for all time in a sealed Mithraic chamber.”” [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on the impossibility of undoing past experiences and the futility of trying to change them, emphasizing that all choices—returning, moving forward, or ignoring—are equally illusory. **In simple terms:** Past actions cannot be erased and any attempt to fix them is futile. Key Takeaway Accept the past and focus on present choices. Themes regret memory choice illusion acceptance Mood melancholic reflective Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - grieving a loss - making decisions - reflecting on missed opportunities Key Concepts existentialism psychology time perception Questions to Reflect On - What can you control now? - How does acceptance change your outlook? 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That he's come to take me with him." "Just...try and figure it out ok? I've got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-moon/your-what-he-keeps-saying-he-s-my-brother-that-he-s-come-to-take-me/) [Debbie Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-moon/) > [You know, everyone keeps saying 'It's your year, it's your year.' People have told me that for over 10 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-buteau/you-know-everyone-keeps-saying-it-s-your-year-it-s-your-year-people/) [Michelle Buteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-buteau/) > [She just keeps saying "He’s gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/she-just-keeps-saying-he-s-gone/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) ## More by André Aciman > [Don't all writers have a hidden nerve, call it a secret chamber, something irreducibly theirs, which stirs their prose and makes it tick and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/don-t-all-writers-have-a-hidden-nerve-call-it-a-secret-chamber/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I wanted him to remember the morning on Monet's berm when I'd kissed him not the first but the second time and given him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-wanted-him-to-remember-the-morning-on-monet-s-berm-when-i-d-kissed/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [Rituals are how we step into our private field of dreams, a small Elysium all our own. 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By contrast, taking seemed so bland, so facile, so mechanical.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-desperately-wanted-to-give-him-something-by-contrast-taking-seemed/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“The man who'll lay the last stone here isn't even born yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/the-man-who-ll-lay-the-last-stone-here-isn-t-even-born-yet/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [Proust is interested in minutiae because life, as he sees it, is seldom ever about things but about our impression of things, not about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/proust-is-interested-in-minutiae-because-life-as-he-sees-it-is-seldom/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Well, since you're not going to do anything with me—can you at least read me a story? I'd settle for that. 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And why did I know it, and why didn't you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/when-had-they-separated-us-you-and-me-oliver-and-why-did-i-know-it/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“As we were swimming back, he asked as though it were an afterthought, “Are you going to hold last night against me?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/as-we-were-swimming-back-he-asked-as-though-it-were-an-afterthought/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“To be with you. To be with you, Oliver. With or without my bathing suit. To be with you on my bed. In your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/to-be-with-you-to-be-with-you-oliver-with-or-without-my-bathing-suit/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I thought I could ever want another living soul, gently, softly, and, with the kindness one Jew extends to another, work his way into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-thought-i-could-ever-want-another-living-soul-gently-softly-and/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Oliver: But there's the catch: you're still twenty years younger than those gathered around you, which is why I can be twenty-four in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/oliver-but-there-s-the-catch-you-re-still-twenty-years-younger-than/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [I cannot write if there is a sense of plenitude. I have to hypothesize that there is a loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-cannot-write-if-there-is-a-sense-of-plenitude-i-have-to-hypothesize/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) [Explore all 527 André Aciman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) ## More Andre-aciman quotes > [“Well, since you're not going to do anything with me—can you at least read me a story? I'd settle for that. I wanted him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/well-since-you-re-not-going-to-do-anything-with-me-can-you-at-least/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“It was just that I was hoping we'd go together.' 'You mean like the other day?' he added, as though to help me say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/it-was-just-that-i-was-hoping-we-d-go-together-you-mean-like-the/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Finally his voice came through. 'Elio,' he said. I could hear my parents and the voices of children in the background. No one could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/finally-his-voice-came-through-elio-he-said-i-could-hear-my-parents/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“If I put my foot on the floor and pretend that his is just behind the leg of the table, will that foot, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/if-i-put-my-foot-on-the-floor-and-pretend-that-his-is-just-behind-the/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I’m not wise at all. I told you, I know nothing. I know books, and I know how to string words together—it doesn’t mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-m-not-wise-at-all-i-told-you-i-know-nothing-i-know-books-and-i-know/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“We were too close, I thought, I'd never been so close to him except in a dream or when he cupped his hand to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/we-were-too-close-i-thought-i-d-never-been-so-close-to-him-except-in/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I look back on those days and regret none of it, not the risks, not the shame, not the total lack of foresight. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-look-back-on-those-days-and-regret-none-of-it-not-the-risks-not-the/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“This felt special. Like showing someone your private chapel, your secret haunt, the place where, as with the berm, one comes to be alone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/this-felt-special-like-showing-someone-your-private-chapel-your/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“The picture would remind Oliver of the morning when I first spoke out. Or of the day when we rode by the berm pretending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/the-picture-would-remind-oliver-of-the-morning-when-i-first-spoke-out/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“The thought washed over me like water on a flower shop window, like a soothing, cool lotion after you've showered and spent the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/the-thought-washed-over-me-like-water-on-a-flower-shop-window-like-a/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“Looking at him now from the balustrade, I felt something so tender for him that it reminded me how eagerly I had rushed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/looking-at-him-now-from-the-balustrade-i-felt-something-so-tender-for/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I was happy that the room would revert to me. In my/his room, it would be easier to remember our nights. No, better keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-was-happy-that-the-room-would-revert-to-me-in-my-his-room-it-would/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“What had been in my head for so long would now be out in the real world, no longer afloat in my foreverland of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/what-had-been-in-my-head-for-so-long-would-now-be-out-in-the-real/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“And on that evening when we grow older still we'll speak about these two young men as though they were two strangers we met…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/and-on-that-evening-when-we-grow-older-still-we-ll-speak-about-these/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“He is right, there is no denying it,' said my father under his breath, as though mimicking the part of a cowered Galileo forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/he-is-right-there-is-no-denying-it-said-my-father-under-his-breath-as/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) [Browse all 65 Andre-aciman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/andre-aciman/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But this thing that almost never was still beckons, I wanted to tell him. 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