--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The past is the only dead thing that…" description: "\"The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet.\" — Cyril Connolly" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/cyril-connolly-1829_past_the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-sme_1775279.png" --- # The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet. ![“The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet.” quote by Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/cyril-connolly-1829_past_the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-sme_1775279.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/cyril-connolly-1829_past_the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-sme_1775279.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/cyril-connolly-1829_past_the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-sme_1775279.png) > “The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet.” [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We cherish memories of the past because they are gone and thus idealized, making them seem pleasant despite any flaws. **In simple terms:** We love past memories because they’re gone and seem nice. Key Takeaway Value memories but stay present‑focused. Themes nostalgia memory loss Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - reflecting on childhood - revisiting old friendships - archiving personal history Key Concepts Romanticism subjective perception Questions to Reflect On - What does the past mean to you? - How do you balance nostalgia with present reality? A Different Perspective Memories can distort reality, leading to unrealistic expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dead Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-thing-342895/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-dead-1354213/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) [Smells Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smells-sweet-762115/) [Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweet/) [Thing Smells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-smells-1814434/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Honor is an old-world thing; but it smells sweet to those in whose hand it is strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/honor-is-an-old-world-thing-but-it-smells-sweet-to-those-in-whose/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [Truth only smells sweet forever, and illusions, however innocent, are deadly as the canker worm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anthony-froude/truth-only-smells-sweet-forever-and-illusions-however-innocent-are/) [James Anthony Froude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anthony-froude/) > [“Now from where I sit this whole thing smells like its downwind from a cow barn on a hot June day!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/waylon-jennings/now-from-where-i-sit-this-whole-thing-smells-like-its-downwind-from-a/) [Waylon Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/waylon-jennings/) > [The gentlemen like it when a lady smells sweet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrice-small/the-gentlemen-like-it-when-a-lady-smells-sweet/) [Bertrice Small](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrice-small/) > [The body of a dead enemy always smells sweet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-body-of-a-dead-enemy-always-smells-sweet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Remember, gentlemen, what a Roman emperor said: The corpse of an enemy always smells sweet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/remember-gentlemen-what-a-roman-emperor-said-the-corpse-of-an-enemy/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“Everything that smells sweet, doesn't taste sweet!!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijaya-raje-lakshmi/everything-that-smells-sweet-doesn-t-taste-sweet/) [Vijaya Raje Lakshmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vijaya-raje-lakshmi/) > [“A girl by any other name still smells as sweet, and, baby, you sure do smell good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-k-schiller/a-girl-by-any-other-name-still-smells-as-sweet-and-baby-you-sure-do/) [M.K. 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Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“A tethered thing is a dead thing...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-hartnett/a-tethered-thing-is-a-dead-thing/) [Sonya Hartnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-hartnett/) > [My fishing hole is deader than...a dead thing that's dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-riley/my-fishing-hole-is-deader-than-a-dead-thing-that-s-dead/) [Tom Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-riley/) > [Hate is a dead thing. Who of you would be a tomb?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/hate-is-a-dead-thing-who-of-you-would-be-a-tomb/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) ## More by Cyril Connolly > [Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism what will be read once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no fury like a woman searching for a new lover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-fury-like-a-woman-searching-for-a-new-lover/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Beautiful women must think about their beauty as capitalists think about their investments or politicians about their majorities; it is all they have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/beautiful-women-must-think-about-their-beauty-as-capitalists-think/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [We cannot be happy until we can love ourselves without egotism and our friends without tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-cannot-be-happy-until-we-can-love-ourselves-without-egotism-and/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [What grape to keep its place in the sun, taught our ancestors to make wine?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/what-grape-to-keep-its-place-in-the-sun-taught-our-ancestors-to-make/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/literature-is-the-art-of-writing-something-that-will-be-read-twice-2/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“Our memories are card-indexes consulted and then put back in disorder by authorities whom we do not control.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/our-memories-are-card-indexes-consulted-and-then-put-back-in-disorder/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Were I to deduce any system from my feelings on leaving Eton, it might be called The Theory of Permanent Adolescence. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/were-i-to-deduce-any-system-from-my-feelings-on-leaving-eton-it-might/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Failure on the other hand is infectious. The world is full of charming failures (for all charming people have something to conceal, usually their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/failure-on-the-other-hand-is-infectious-the-world-is-full-of-charming/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-civilization-of-one-epoch-becomes-the-manure-of-the-next/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [There is no more somber enemy of good art than the pram in the hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/there-is-no-more-somber-enemy-of-good-art-than-the-pram-in-the-hall/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The true function of a writer is to produce a masterpiece and no other task is of any consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-true-function-of-a-writer-is-to-produce-a-masterpiece-and-no/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [“We pay for vice by the knowledge that we are wicked; we pay for pleasure when we find out too late that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/we-pay-for-vice-by-the-knowledge-that-we-are-wicked-we-pay-for/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [The books I haven't written are better than the books other people have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-books-i-haven-t-written-are-better-than-the-books-other-people/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [If Montaigne is a man in the prime of life sitting in his study on a warm morning and putting down the sum of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/if-montaigne-is-a-man-in-the-prime-of-life-sitting-in-his-study-on-a/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) [Explore all 204 Cyril Connolly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) ## More Past quotes > [Because after you've crossed some lines, you just keep crossing them. And there's no escaping from constant escape. Distracting ourselves. Avoiding confrontation. Getting past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-after-you-ve-crossed-some-lines-you-just-keep-crossing-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [You can think about it, wonder what went wrong, over analyze the situation but the fact remains... it's the past, just let it go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-rowe/you-can-think-about-it-wonder-what-went-wrong-over-analyze-the/) [Rashida Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-rowe/) > [The Iranian people have a proud past. They merit a great future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/condoleezza-rice/the-iranian-people-have-a-proud-past-they-merit-a-great-future/) [Condoleezza Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/condoleezza-rice/) > [I used to fight with hate. There's been a lot of aggression in my past growing up and stuff. That's because I was hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-namajunas/i-used-to-fight-with-hate-there-s-been-a-lot-of-aggression-in-my-past/) [Rose Namajunas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-namajunas/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Above Coblentz almost every mountain has a ruin and a legend. One feels everywhere the spirit of the past, and its stirring recollections come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bayard-taylor/above-coblentz-almost-every-mountain-has-a-ruin-and-a-legend-one/) [Bayard Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bayard-taylor/) > [Time is painted with a lock before, and bald behind, signifying thereby that we must take time by the forelock; for, when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/time-is-painted-with-a-lock-before-and-bald-behind-signifying-thereby/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [Right before the pandemic, 'Past Lives' came across to me as something to read and possibly put myself on tape for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-faist/right-before-the-pandemic-past-lives-came-across-to-me-as-something/) [Mike Faist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-faist/) > [I nibbled my lower lip. "If you could see into my past just by touching my back, you'd have a hard time resisting the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/i-nibbled-my-lower-lip-if-you-could-see-into-my-past-just-by-touching/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [Liberalism is the philosophy for our time, because it does not try to conserve every tradition of the past, because it does not apply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-trudeau/liberalism-is-the-philosophy-for-our-time-because-it-does-not-try-to/) [Pierre Trudeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-trudeau/) > [I have a way to photograph. You work with space, you have a camera, you have a frame, and then a fraction of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastiao-salgado/i-have-a-way-to-photograph-you-work-with-space-you-have-a-camera-you/) [Sebastiao Salgado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastiao-salgado/) > [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/) [Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/) > [Voting Labour in the past hasn't protected Scotland against Tory governments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-sturgeon/voting-labour-in-the-past-hasn-t-protected-scotland-against-tory/) [Nicola Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-sturgeon/) [Browse all 19,844 Past quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cyril Connolly" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-smells-sweet/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Past" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-smells-sweet/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/cyril-connolly-1829_past_the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-sme_1775279.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/cyril-connolly-1829_past_the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-sme_1775279.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/077/cyril-connolly-1829_past_the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-sme_1775279.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet.” — Cyril Connolly", "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": "Cyril Connolly", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The past is the only dead...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-smells-sweet/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/the-past-is-the-only-dead-thing-that-smells-sweet/#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 } } ] } ```