--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The more images I gathered from the past…" description: "\"The more images I gathered from the past, I said, the more unlikely it seemed to me that the past had actually happened in this or that way, for nothin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/anonymous-1_absurd_the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past_2784287.jpg" --- # The more images I gathered from the past, I said, the more… ![“The more images I gathered from the past, I said, the more unlikely it seemed to me that the past had actually happened in this or that way, for nothing about it could be called normal: most of it was absurd, and if not absurd, then appalling.” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/anonymous-1_absurd_the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past_2784287.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/anonymous-1_absurd_the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past_2784287.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/anonymous-1_absurd_the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past_2784287.jpg) > “The more images I gathered from the past, I said, the more unlikely it seemed to me that the past had actually happened in this or that way, for nothing about it could be called normal: most of it was absurd, and if not absurd, then appalling.” [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The past often appears chaotic and absurd when examined, challenging the notion of a coherent, normal history and highlighting the strange, unsettling nature of memory. **In simple terms:** The past can seem strange and absurd. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about historical normalcy. Themes memory history absurdity uncertainty Mood thoughtful intrigued Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - studying history - personal reflection - creative writing - critical analysis Key Concepts philosophy of history cognitive dissonance Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing absurdity change your view of history? - What methods help make sense of chaotic past events? A Different Perspective Might dismiss valuable lessons by focusing on absurdity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“What lies ahead seems unlikely; when it becomes the past, it seems inevitable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/what-lies-ahead-seems-unlikely-when-it-becomes-the-past-it-seems/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [I'm the end of the line; absurd and appalling as it may seem, serious New York theater has died in my lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/i-m-the-end-of-the-line-absurd-and-appalling-as-it-may-seem-serious/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [The past actually happened but history is only what someone wrote down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-past-actually-happened-but-history-is-only-what-someone-wrote-down/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Filing is concerned with the past; anything you actually need to see again has to do with the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-whitehorn/filing-is-concerned-with-the-past-anything-you-actually-need-to-see/) [Katharine Whitehorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-whitehorn/) > [You have to let things go from the past to actually move on to your future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica/you-have-to-let-things-go-from-the-past-to-actually-move-on-to-your/) Jessica > [There's a sort of romanticizing of the past. When you actually think about the past, you know it's a little different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kristol/there-s-a-sort-of-romanticizing-of-the-past-when-you-actually-think/) [William Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kristol/) > [The past actually happened. History is what someone took the time to write down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-whitney-brown/the-past-actually-happened-history-is-what-someone-took-the-time-to/) [A. Whitney Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-whitney-brown/) > [I don't think too much about the past when I am actually playing, I prefer to concentrate on the present. The performance of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-finckel/i-don-t-think-too-much-about-the-past-when-i-am-actually-playing-i/) [David Finckel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-finckel/) > [“But if you have an unmessianic sense of nondestiny, this is unlikely to be a problem: you won’t consider yourself important enough to justify…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-if-you-have-an-unmessianic-sense-of-nondestiny-this-is-unlikely/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It seems to me immensely unlikely that mind is a mere by-product of matter. For if my mental processes are determined wholly by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-seems-to-me-immensely-unlikely-that-mind-is-a-mere-by-product-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [i'm never going to understand the Barrani." "You needn't sound so morose, Lord Kaylin. They are unlikely to understand you either." "Yes, but I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-never-going-to-understand-the-barrani-you-needn-t-sound-so-morose/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I love no one but you, I have discovered, but you are far away and I am here alone. Then this is my life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-love-no-one-but-you-i-have-discovered-but-you-are-far-away-and-i-am-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People who cannot distinguish between good and bad language, or who regard the distinction as unimportant, are unlikely to think carefully about anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-who-cannot-distinguish-between-good-and-bad-language-or-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've started to look at life differently. When you're thanking God for every little you - every meal, every time you wake up, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-ve-started-to-look-at-life-differently-when-you-re-thanking-god-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If success seems unlikely, that should be your reason to push even harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-success-seems-unlikely-that-should-be-your-reason-to-push-even/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Anonymous > [And a tear rolled down her cheek, as she said goodbye; because she's walking away, and she's never looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-tear-rolled-down-her-cheek-as-she-said-goodbye-because-she-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Me.. I have been through a lot, but I still manage to have a smile on my face. Im not worried about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-i-have-been-through-a-lot-but-i-still-manage-to-have-a-smile-on-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Distance is a test of love. many will fail for those who can't withstand it, but for those who can, theres only one answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distance-is-a-test-of-love-many-will-fail-for-those-who-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Im sorry I ever tried...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-sorry-i-ever-tried/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Explore all 162,899 Anonymous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. 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But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The more images I gathered from the past, I said, the more unlikely it seemed to me that the past had actually happened in this or that way, for nothing about it could be called normal: most of it was absurd, and if not absurd, then appalling.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past-i-said-the-more-unlikely-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurd" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past-i-said-the-more-unlikely-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/anonymous-1_absurd_the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past_2784287.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/anonymous-1_absurd_the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past_2784287.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/143/anonymous-1_absurd_the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past_2784287.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The more images I gathered from the past, I said, the more unlikely it seemed to me that the past had…” — Anonymous", "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": "Anonymous", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The more images I gathered from...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past-i-said-the-more-unlikely-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-more-images-i-gathered-from-the-past-i-said-the-more-unlikely-it/#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 } } ] } ```