--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I write - so it would seem - to…" description: "\"I write - so it would seem - to recapture, to preserve and return to the past, though I might just as easily be writing to forget and put that past beh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/andre-aciman-459_behind_i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to_1883175.jpg" --- # I write - so it would seem - to recapture, to preserve and… ![“I write - so it would seem - to recapture, to preserve and return to the past, though I might just as easily be writing to forget and put that past behind me.” quote by Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/andre-aciman-459_behind_i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to_1883175.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/andre-aciman-459_behind_i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to_1883175.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/andre-aciman-459_behind_i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to_1883175.jpg) > “I write - so it would seem - to recapture, to preserve and return to the past, though I might just as easily be writing to forget and put that past behind me.” [Andre 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 writer balances memory preservation with the desire to move beyond it, reflecting tension between nostalgia and forgetting. **In simple terms:** Writing can both keep and release the past. Key Takeaway Embrace memory but allow growth. Themes memory nostalgia creative process Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing memoirs - personal essays - therapy - artistic reflection Key Concepts identity time letting go Questions to Reflect On - What past do you cherish versus what you need to release? - How does writing help you process memory? A Different Perspective Focusing too much on the past can hinder present action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Recapture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recapture/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“In the time of writing you have to forget the present, if you can do that. Try to live in the period you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teodoro-a-agoncillo/in-the-time-of-writing-you-have-to-forget-the-present-if-you-can-do/) [Teodoro A. Agoncillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teodoro-a-agoncillo/) > [In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people's lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/in-an-age-like-ours-which-is-not-given-to-letter-writing-we-forget/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [The work saved me. I clung to it like flotsam in a boiling sea. It was the only solitary sport that I ever played,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rheta-grimsley-johnson/the-work-saved-me-i-clung-to-it-like-flotsam-in-a-boiling-sea-it-was/) Rheta Grimsley Johnson > [I wanted to go out there and do what no one's ever done - and that's recapture some kind of glory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-gatlin/i-wanted-to-go-out-there-and-do-what-no-one-s-ever-done-and-that-s/) [Justin Gatlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-gatlin/) > [But what if your obsession has nothing to do with drugs or thrills or money? What if what you want most in the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/but-what-if-your-obsession-has-nothing-to-do-with-drugs-or-thrills-or/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“We can't escape history, anymore than we can recapture it." Master Kai”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleni-papanou/we-can-t-escape-history-anymore-than-we-can-recapture-it-master-kai/) [Eleni Papanou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleni-papanou/) > [“But a word once spoken who can recapture it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/but-a-word-once-spoken-who-can-recapture-it/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [I'm not trying to recapture anything. It's really about moving forward. I don't have much reverence for what I've done in the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-sharp/i-m-not-trying-to-recapture-anything-it-s-really-about-moving-forward/) [Matt Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-sharp/) > [“In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/in-the-practical-art-of-war-the-best-thing-of-all-is-to-take-the/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I can recapture everything when I write, my thoughts, my ideals and my fantasies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frank/i-can-recapture-everything-when-i-write-my-thoughts-my-ideals-and-my/) [Anne Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frank/) > [Gather and hoard your inspirations as you live, then recapture them as needed in the studio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-engle/gather-and-hoard-your-inspirations-as-you-live-then-recapture-them-as/) Nita Engle > [To want to understand is an attempt to recapture something we have lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/to-want-to-understand-is-an-attempt-to-recapture-something-we-have/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [“We are all exiles from our past , and, as such, we need to recapture it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-salaman/we-are-all-exiles-from-our-past-and-as-such-we-need-to-recapture-it/) Esther Salaman > [“Time made apologies and absolution unnecessary. Time didn't really heal, it just made bad memories distant so that the brain couldn't recapture the lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amulya-malladi/time-made-apologies-and-absolution-unnecessary-time-didn-t-really/) [Amulya Malladi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amulya-malladi/) > [“The paint is drying, and time is dying. The pain is crying, lying on my back, trying to get back the time, to brushstrokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/the-paint-is-drying-and-time-is-dying-the-pain-is-crying-lying-on-my/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) ## More by Andre 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. Rituals are made not just for us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/rituals-are-how-we-step-into-our-private-field-of-dreams-a-small/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“I desperately wanted to give him something. 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. 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/) > [“This is heaven.” And I wouldn’t hear him say another word for at least an hour. There was nothing I loved more in life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/this-is-heaven-and-i-wouldn-t-hear-him-say-another-word-for-at-least/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“He loved the sticky taste. What had I done? I told him and pointed to the bruised evidence sitting on my desk. “Let me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/he-loved-the-sticky-taste-what-had-i-done-i-told-him-and-pointed-to/) [André Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“When had they separated us, you and me, Oliver? 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 Andre Aciman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) ## More Behind quotes > [With 'Pretty Girls,' I saw the opportunity to talk not just about crime but what crime leaves behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/with-pretty-girls-i-saw-the-opportunity-to-talk-not-just-about-crime/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [I wonder: when a Jehovah's Witness dies and goes to Heaven, does God hide behind the door and pretend He's not home?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-celio/i-wonder-when-a-jehovah-s-witness-dies-and-goes-to-heaven-does-god/) [Brian Celio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-celio/) > [I'm not the type of player that's going to run in behind or go past three and score.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-crouch/i-m-not-the-type-of-player-that-s-going-to-run-in-behind-or-go-past/) [Peter Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-crouch/) > [I hadn't been to drama school. I hadn't been to university and acted there. I had no qualifications behind me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jason/i-hadn-t-been-to-drama-school-i-hadn-t-been-to-university-and-acted/) [David Jason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jason/) > [For girls who want to get their waistline down a little bit and don't have any weights in the house, they can actually use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pepa/for-girls-who-want-to-get-their-waistline-down-a-little-bit-and-don-t/) [Pepa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pepa/) > [My sister-in-law works for a group that supports orphanages in Cairo. She and her colleagues take care of children left behind by circumstances beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohamed-elbaradei/my-sister-in-law-works-for-a-group-that-supports-orphanages-in-cairo/) [Mohamed ElBaradei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohamed-elbaradei/) > [I'm not on any social media; I don't even know what things are. I'm so behind the times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosemarie-dewitt/i-m-not-on-any-social-media-i-don-t-even-know-what-things-are-i-m-so/) [Rosemarie DeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosemarie-dewitt/) > [I think we were raised in a nice Texas Jewish family where education was the most important thing, and close behind that was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-loeb/i-think-we-were-raised-in-a-nice-texas-jewish-family-where-education/) [Lisa Loeb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-loeb/) > [I am hands-on in any project that I am associated with. I just don't want to put my face or name and lend it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-kardashian/i-am-hands-on-in-any-project-that-i-am-associated-with-i-just-don-t/) [Kim Kardashian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-kardashian/) > [I don't really have loads of friends - three or four who are close. 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That's how I began my career, behind the camera.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-tripathi/i-was-a-photographer-that-s-how-i-began-my-career-behind-the-camera/) [Shweta Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-tripathi/) Browse all 1,625 Behind quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I write - so it would seem - to recapture, to preserve and return to the past, though I might just as easily be writing to forget and put that past behind me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andre Aciman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to-preserve-and-return-to-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Behind" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to-preserve-and-return-to-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/andre-aciman-459_behind_i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to_1883175.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/andre-aciman-459_behind_i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to_1883175.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/andre-aciman-459_behind_i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to_1883175.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I write - so it would seem - to recapture, to preserve and return to the past, though I might just as easily…” — Andre Aciman", "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": "Andre Aciman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I write - so it would...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to-preserve-and-return-to-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/i-write-so-it-would-seem-to-recapture-to-preserve-and-return-to-the/#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 } } ] } ```