--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For mile after mile the same melodic…" description: "\"“For mile after mile the same melodic phrase rose up in my memory. I simply couldn’t get free of it. Each time it had a new fascination for me. Initial..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/claude-levi-strauss-8995_imagery_for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phr_327873.jpg" --- # For mile after mile the same melodic phrase rose up in my… ![“For mile after mile the same melodic phrase rose up in my memory. I simply couldn’t get free of it. Each time it had a new fascination for me. Initially imprecise in outline, it seemed to become more and more intricately woven, as if to conceal from the listener how eventually it would end. This…” quote by Claude Lévi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/claude-levi-strauss-8995_imagery_for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phr_327873.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/claude-levi-strauss-8995_imagery_for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phr_327873.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/claude-levi-strauss-8995_imagery_for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phr_327873.jpg) > ““For mile after mile the same melodic phrase rose up in my memory. I simply couldn’t get free of it. Each time it had a new fascination for me. Initially imprecise in outline, it seemed to become more and more intricately woven, as if to conceal from the listener how eventually it would end. This weaving and re-weaving became so complicated that one wondered how it could possibly be unravelled; and then suddenly one note would resolve the whole problem, and the solution would seem yet more audacious than the procedures which had preceded, called for, and made possible its arrival; when it was heard, all that had gone before took on a new meaning, and the quest, which had seemed arbitrary, was seen to have prepared the way for this undreamed-of solution.”” [Claude Lévi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Complex ideas often seem tangled until a single insight resolves them, revealing deeper meaning. **In simple terms:** One insight can untangle complexity. Key Takeaway Seek the pivotal insight that simplifies the problem. Themes analysis creativity problem solving Mood analytical curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research - musical composition - software debugging - strategic planning Key Concepts structuralism cognitive patterns emergent order Questions to Reflect On - What single insight has clarified a complex issue for you? - How do you recognize when a solution is emerging? A Different Perspective The “single note” may oversimplify the effort needed for resolution. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagery/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) ## Related quotes > [History is a tangled skein that one may take up at any point, and break when one has unravelled enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/history-is-a-tangled-skein-that-one-may-take-up-at-any-point-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [“She was a mystery package to be unravelled in the nicest possible way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-howarth/she-was-a-mystery-package-to-be-unravelled-in-the-nicest-possible-way/) Francine Howarth > [“When you are close, you only see unravelled threads, but with time and distance, it will reveal itself as a mosaic. Just wait and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-bajaj/when-you-are-close-you-only-see-unravelled-threads-but-with-time-and/) [Karan Bajaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-bajaj/) > [“She waited for him with shallow breaths, head thrown back, eyes half closed, completely exposed in her trust of him, and it unravelled the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dianna-hardy/she-waited-for-him-with-shallow-breaths-head-thrown-back-eyes-half/) [Dianna Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dianna-hardy/) > [I do not know is a phrase which becomes us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/i-do-not-know-is-a-phrase-which-becomes-us/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [All I can tell you is I'm going to be myself. I'm not the type of person that is going to develop into some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cain-velasquez/all-i-can-tell-you-is-i-m-going-to-be-myself-i-m-not-the-type-of/) [Cain Velasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cain-velasquez/) > [Do you often find yourself uttering the phrase, 'I feel like I should go?' You do not need to go. You are busy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jami-attenberg/do-you-often-find-yourself-uttering-the-phrase-i-feel-like-i-should/) [Jami Attenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jami-attenberg/) > [In this culture, the phrase 'black woman' is not synonymous with 'tender,' or 'gentle.' It's as if those words couldn't possibly speak to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/in-this-culture-the-phrase-black-woman-is-not-synonymous-with-tender/) [bell hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [I don't have any contempt for the men who have to have jobs and have to commute and have to pay the mortgage and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloan-wilson/i-don-t-have-any-contempt-for-the-men-who-have-to-have-jobs-and-have/) [Sloan Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloan-wilson/) > [“i recommend the phrase 'pineapple ass”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tao-lin/i-recommend-the-phrase-pineapple-ass/) [Tao Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tao-lin/) > [Everything is derivative. Everything is a remix, and we all stand on the shoulders of giants - a great phrase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-ohanian/everything-is-derivative-everything-is-a-remix-and-we-all-stand-on/) [Alexis Ohanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-ohanian/) > [If we have to sum up the Book of Revelation in one phrase, it would be, 'Jesus wins.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jud-wilhite/if-we-have-to-sum-up-the-book-of-revelation-in-one-phrase-it-would-be/) [Jud Wilhite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jud-wilhite/) > [I like having a phrase lying around to get poems started. It's like having a key.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-mccrae/i-like-having-a-phrase-lying-around-to-get-poems-started-it-s-like/) [Shane McCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-mccrae/) > [When people say 'love to hate', they actually mean 'love to be appalled by' - if they truly hated them, they'd never repeat a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-morris/when-people-say-love-to-hate-they-actually-mean-love-to-be-appalled/) [Chris Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-morris/) > [There's when a phrase circles in my head in a number of ways for any number of days, weeks, or months, and then that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/there-s-when-a-phrase-circles-in-my-head-in-a-number-of-ways-for-any/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) ## More by Claude Lévi-Strauss > [Our students wanted to know everything: but only the newest theory seemed to them worth bothering with. Knowing nothing of the intellectual achievements of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/our-students-wanted-to-know-everything-but-only-the-newest-theory/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [While I complain of being able to glimpse no more than the shadow of the past, I may be insensitive to reality as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/while-i-complain-of-being-able-to-glimpse-no-more-than-the-shadow-of/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [Civilization has ceased to be that delicate flower which was preserved and painstakingly cultivated in one or two sheltered areas of a soil rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/civilization-has-ceased-to-be-that-delicate-flower-which-was/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [These facts make the creator of music a being like the gods, and make music itself the supreme mystery of human knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/these-facts-make-the-creator-of-music-a-being-like-the-gods-and-make/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [Being human signifies, for each one of us, belonging to a class, a society, a country, a continent and a civilization; and for us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/being-human-signifies-for-each-one-of-us-belonging-to-a-class-a/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [Anthropology found its Galileo in Rivers, its Newton in Mauss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/anthropology-found-its-galileo-in-rivers-its-newton-in-mauss/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he is one who asks the right questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/the-scientist-is-not-a-person-who-gives-the-right-answers-he-is-one/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [Natural man did not precede society, nor is he outside it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/natural-man-did-not-precede-society-nor-is-he-outside-it/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [“For everything is history: What was said yesterday is history, what was said a minute ago is history. But, above all, one is led…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/for-everything-is-history-what-was-said-yesterday-is-history-what-was/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [In the old days, people used to risk their lives in India or in the Americas in order to bring back products which now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/in-the-old-days-people-used-to-risk-their-lives-in-india-or-in-the/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [The musical emotion springs precisely from the fact that at each moment the composer withholds or adds more or less than the listener anticipates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/the-musical-emotion-springs-precisely-from-the-fact-that-at-each/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [Scientific knowledge advances haltingly and is stimulated by contention and doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/scientific-knowledge-advances-haltingly-and-is-stimulated-by/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [Understanding arises from reducing one type of reality into another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/understanding-arises-from-reducing-one-type-of-reality-into-another/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [All the essentials of humanity's artistic treasures can be found in New York.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/all-the-essentials-of-humanity-s-artistic-treasures-can-be-found-in/) [Claude Levi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) > [“A peculiar feature – no doubt a weakness – of my mental make-up is that I find it difficult to concentrate twice on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/a-peculiar-feature-no-doubt-a-weakness-of-my-mental-make-up-is-that-i/) [Claude Lévi-Strauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) [Explore all 62 Claude Lévi-Strauss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/) ## More Imagery quotes > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [Perhaps, if science is clever enough to see, it will realize that religion may not be too far off with its concrete imagery; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lanza/perhaps-if-science-is-clever-enough-to-see-it-will-realize-that/) [Robert Lanza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lanza/) > [That way of inspiration is always open, and open to everyone; it acts as go-between, interpreter, it explains symbols of the past in to-day's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/that-way-of-inspiration-is-always-open-and-open-to-everyone-it-acts/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [ “\]Sardis often turning her thoughts here \] you like a goddess and in your song most of all she rejoiced. But now she is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/sardis-often-turning-her-thoughts-here-you-like-a-goddess-and-in-your/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [ Probably the high-watermark of \[Bob\] Dylan's career came after he plugged in his guitar ("Judas!" one fan shouted during a concert) and exploded American… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/probably-the-high-watermark-of-bob-dylan-s-career-came-after-he/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [“Thousands of mosquitoes had already bitten all of us on chest and arms and ankles. Then a bright idea came to me: I jumped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/thousands-of-mosquitoes-had-already-bitten-all-of-us-on-chest-and/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Speech is like cloth of Arras opened and put abroad, whereby the imagery doth appear in figure; whereas in thoughts they lie but as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/speech-is-like-cloth-of-arras-opened-and-put-abroad-whereby-the/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [Grace abounds in contemporary movies, books, novels, films and music. If God is not in the whirlwind, He may be in a Woody Allen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/grace-abounds-in-contemporary-movies-books-novels-films-and-music-if/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [The religious imagery and fairytales that formed our shared cultural references have been replaced by the cult of celebrity. Marilyn is the sex goddess,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-jackson/the-religious-imagery-and-fairytales-that-formed-our-shared-cultural/) [Alison Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-jackson/) > [Who can now deny the loss of natural light, of skin tones, of real place, and common but precious things in our movies, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-jay-epstein/who-can-now-deny-the-loss-of-natural-light-of-skin-tones-of-real/) [Edward Jay Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-jay-epstein/) > [I don't want to spoil the magic, but it's a very curious thing that honestly baffles me. It's the nearest we'll ever get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-don-t-want-to-spoil-the-magic-but-it-s-a-very-curious-thing-that/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“It was not a great presence but a great absence, a geometric ocean of darkness that seemed to swallow heaven itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-hillenbrand/it-was-not-a-great-presence-but-a-great-absence-a-geometric-ocean-of/) [Laura Hillenbrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-hillenbrand/) > [“But the future lay open, a thousand kaleidoscopic possibilities with a small quick heartbeat, delicate and impatient”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/but-the-future-lay-open-a-thousand-kaleidoscopic-possibilities-with-a/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [The ability to have somebody read something and see it, or for somebody to paint an entire landscape of visual imagery with just sheets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mos-def/the-ability-to-have-somebody-read-something-and-see-it-or-for/) [Mos Def](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mos-def/) > [New concepts should be introduced by the power of imagery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coop/new-concepts-should-be-introduced-by-the-power-of-imagery/) Douglas Coop [Browse all 491 Imagery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagery/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For mile after mile the same melodic phrase rose up in my memory. I simply couldn’t get free of it. Each time it had a new fascination for me. Initially imprecise in outline, it seemed to become more and more intricately woven, as if to conceal from the listener how eventually it would end. This weaving and re-weaving became so complicated that one wondered how it could possibly be unravelled; and then suddenly one note would resolve the whole problem, and the solution would seem yet more audacious than the procedures which had preceded, called for, and made possible its arrival; when it was heard, all that had gone before took on a new meaning, and the quest, which had seemed arbitrary, was seen to have prepared the way for this undreamed-of solution.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Claude Lévi-Strauss" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phrase-rose-up-in-my-memory-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imagery" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phrase-rose-up-in-my-memory-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/claude-levi-strauss-8995_imagery_for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phr_327873.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/claude-levi-strauss-8995_imagery_for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phr_327873.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/claude-levi-strauss-8995_imagery_for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phr_327873.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For mile after mile the same melodic phrase rose up in my memory. I simply couldn’t get free of it. Each…” — Claude Lévi-Strauss", "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": "Claude Lévi-Strauss", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-levi-strauss/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“For mile after mile the same...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phrase-rose-up-in-my-memory-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-levi-strauss/for-mile-after-mile-the-same-melodic-phrase-rose-up-in-my-memory-i/#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 } } ] } ```