--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The word 'archive' seems so reassuring…" description: "\"The word 'archive' seems so reassuring, but I have a lot ofconcern over the longevity of documentary materials.\" — David Grubbs" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/david-grubbs-27090_longevity_the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but_1026160.jpg" --- # The word 'archive' seems so reassuring, but I have a lot… ![“The word 'archive' seems so reassuring, but I have a lot ofconcern over the longevity of documentary materials.” quote by David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/david-grubbs-27090_longevity_the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but_1026160.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/david-grubbs-27090_longevity_the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but_1026160.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/david-grubbs-27090_longevity_the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but_1026160.jpg) > “The word 'archive' seems so reassuring, but I have a lot ofconcern over the longevity of documentary materials.” [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The term “archive” feels safe, yet concerns persist about the durability of stored media over time. **In simple terms:** Archives promise security but may not endure. Key Takeaway Plan for long‑term preservation strategies. Themes preservation technology uncertainty legacy media future Mood cautious reflective pragmatic Type professional informative concerned When to use this quote - library management - digital storage - historical research - media longevity Key Concepts archival science digital decay information stewardship Questions to Reflect On - What measures ensure durability? - How can we balance accessibility with longevity? A Different Perspective Archives can be vulnerable to unforeseen disasters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Documentary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentary/) [Longevity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longevity/) [Reassuring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reassuring/) ## Related quotes > [The word "archive" seems so reassuring, but I'm not sure about these things that are now being called archives. Is anything lost by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but-i-m-not-sure-about-these/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [Doing 'Young Adult' was really reassuring to me in a lot of ways. It confirmed a lot of suspicions I had about great actors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patton-oswalt/doing-young-adult-was-really-reassuring-to-me-in-a-lot-of-ways-it/) [Patton Oswalt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patton-oswalt/) > [When I look out at the audience at some of our shows, I think we are reaching a younger audience... I see lots of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-lifeson/when-i-look-out-at-the-audience-at-some-of-our-shows-i-think-we-are/) [Alex Lifeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-lifeson/) > [To me having a party is something like having a baby. The fact that you got through the last one alive is not somehow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-kerr/to-me-having-a-party-is-something-like-having-a-baby-the-fact-that/) [Jean Kerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-kerr/) > [As soon as I started writing Julia, by which I mean while writing its first sentence, I felt a sudden, reassuring charge of excitement.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-straub/as-soon-as-i-started-writing-julia-by-which-i-mean-while-writing-its/) [Peter Straub](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-straub/) > [Theres nothing more reassuring than a world thats crazier than you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stellan-skarsgard/theres-nothing-more-reassuring-than-a-world-thats-crazier-than-you-are/) [Stellan Skarsgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stellan-skarsgard/) > [“How reassuring." - Queen Elizabeth, when told during a walking tour of Scotland that she looks like the Queen”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-petrella/how-reassuring-queen-elizabeth-when-told-during-a-walking-tour-of/) Kate Petrella > [Talking too much about the future is a little crazy but JUST the right amount is reassuring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/talking-too-much-about-the-future-is-a-little-crazy-but-just-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I like getting informed about being played , so reassuring...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-like-getting-informed-about-being-played-so-reassuring/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The growing influence of women is the one reassuring thing in our political life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-growing-influence-of-women-is-the-one-reassuring-thing-in-our/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [While testimonies can come as dramatic manifestations, they usually do not. Sometimes people think they need to have an experience like Joseph Smith's vision…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-f-packer/while-testimonies-can-come-as-dramatic-manifestations-they-usually-do/) [Allan F. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-f-packer/) > [I've been sent down to the minor leagues six or seven times in my career. You've just got to have that stability. It's huge.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-diaz/i-ve-been-sent-down-to-the-minor-leagues-six-or-seven-times-in-my/) [Matt Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-diaz/) > [“We never figured out whether I need to be more reassuring or if he just needs reassurance too much. We both try to readjust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/we-never-figured-out-whether-i-need-to-be-more-reassuring-or-if-he/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [It is reassuring for people to feel they have a boss, someone who knows the answers and has charted the course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-cukor/it-is-reassuring-for-people-to-feel-they-have-a-boss-someone-who/) [George Cukor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-cukor/) > [Not reassuring when weathermen say 'Today will be terrible but don't worry it won't be as terrible as tomorrow or Friday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/not-reassuring-when-weathermen-say-today-will-be-terrible-but-don-t/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) ## More by David Grubbs > [My experience that undergirds that observation comes from punk, where people might have scraped together the money to be in the studio for an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/my-experience-that-undergirds-that-observation-comes-from-punk-where/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [I recall improvisational drummer and composer Michael Evans telling me a story of someone who had the opportunity to meet Cage and give him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/i-recall-improvisational-drummer-and-composer-michael-evans-telling/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [For me, it's good to have those dissimilar modes of songwriting sit side-by-side on a record, because they yield such different results.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/for-me-it-s-good-to-have-those-dissimilar-modes-of-songwriting-sit/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [The danger of these collaborations across disciplines is in having too strict of a division of labor - in my case, of getting stuck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-danger-of-these-collaborations-across-disciplines-is-in-having/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [What a strange thing - that musicians grant permission to places like Ubuweb, and then because it's free, it'll probably be listened to more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/what-a-strange-thing-that-musicians-grant-permission-to-places-like/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [If the records that I make have one thing in common, it's that there is little recapitulation, and the idea is that it should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/if-the-records-that-i-make-have-one-thing-in-common-it-s-that-there/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [In eighteenth-century England, there was a practice of hiring a picturesque hermit who would inhabit the beautiful ruin on your estate. To me it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/in-eighteenth-century-england-there-was-a-practice-of-hiring-a/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [I don't write poetry for the page because my inclination in that area is satisfied by songwriting. "Ornamental Hermit" was a comparatively effortless song…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/i-don-t-write-poetry-for-the-page-because-my-inclination-in-that-area/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [The instrumental pieces are compositions, certainly, although that's not the language that I instinctively use. They're not scored, and arrangements are often arrived at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-instrumental-pieces-are-compositions-certainly-although-that-s/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [When I read John Cage's book Silence, I was growing up in Louisville, Kentucky. For me, records were a mode of time travel and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/when-i-read-john-cage-s-book-silence-i-was-growing-up-in-louisville/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [The word "archive" seems so reassuring, but I'm not sure about these things that are now being called archives. Is anything lost by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but-i-m-not-sure-about-these/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [As there are more online archives of improvised music, it becomes more like the daily practice of playing it. It lessens the idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/as-there-are-more-online-archives-of-improvised-music-it-becomes-more/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [Chance in music doesn't have to involve the I Ching or rolling dice or throwing yarrow stalks. It can involve an out-of-tune guitar, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/chance-in-music-doesn-t-have-to-involve-the-i-ching-or-rolling-dice/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [Otherwise the history just gets completely flattened out, and people imagine that everything was always available and accessible. One of the things that struck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/otherwise-the-history-just-gets-completely-flattened-out-and-people/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) > [Records have always been the most extraordinary form of time travel for me, and that's why it matters to know when something was circulated,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/records-have-always-been-the-most-extraordinary-form-of-time-travel/) [David Grubbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) [Explore all 21 David Grubbs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/) ## More Documentary quotes > [When I speak a serious subject in an informal and humorous way, it has bigger impact. So much so, when BBC made a small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arunachalam-muruganantham/when-i-speak-a-serious-subject-in-an-informal-and-humorous-way-it-has/) [Arunachalam Muruganantham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arunachalam-muruganantham/) > [The documentary style is an incredibly flexible and useful one. It's a wonderful tool for establishing the credibility of the version of things that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gohlke/the-documentary-style-is-an-incredibly-flexible-and-useful-one-it-s-a/) [Frank Gohlke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gohlke/) > [In the spring of 1984, I went to the northwest of France, to Normandy, to prepare an NBC documentary on the 40th anniversary of D-Day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/in-the-spring-of-1984-i-went-to-the-northwest-of-france-to-normandy/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) > [Most of the photographs people take with their cameraphones are of little value in terms of documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/most-of-the-photographs-people-take-with-their-cameraphones-are-of/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [My senior thesis was a documentary. By the time I graduated from college, I thought I was going to make films, and my interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaby-hoffmann/my-senior-thesis-was-a-documentary-by-the-time-i-graduated-from/) [Gaby Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaby-hoffmann/) > [Most of my life, I thought that I would end up a novelist. But then, in New York City, after college, I started a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-spaihts/most-of-my-life-i-thought-that-i-would-end-up-a-novelist-but-then-in/) [Jon Spaihts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-spaihts/) > [By calling it a memoir, I meant is as a collection of memories. I thought it was (a more) artful (title) than documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-merchant/by-calling-it-a-memoir-i-meant-is-as-a-collection-of-memories-i/) [Natalie Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-merchant/) > [I'm a documentary photographer. That's what I've always wanted to be; that's where my heart and soul is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ellen-mark/i-m-a-documentary-photographer-that-s-what-i-ve-always-wanted-to-be/) [Mary Ellen Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ellen-mark/) > [Yeah I'm telling real stories, but if you pick up a documentary on strippers, you're going to want to see some stripping, so we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/method-man/yeah-i-m-telling-real-stories-but-if-you-pick-up-a-documentary-on/) [Method Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/method-man/) > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [It's supposed to be entertainment. It's not supposed to be a documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeri-ryan/it-s-supposed-to-be-entertainment-it-s-not-supposed-to-be-a/) [Jeri Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeri-ryan/) > [If you merely focus on what we already know, then it's not revelatory. You may as well just go and watch a documentary or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oyelowo/if-you-merely-focus-on-what-we-already-know-then-it-s-not-revelatory/) [David Oyelowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oyelowo/) > [Helen Weaver’s book was a revelation to me! Although I was a young woman in the fifties, I was there, but I wasn’t there!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-cassady/helen-weaver-s-book-was-a-revelation-to-me-although-i-was-a-young/) Carolyn Cassady > [If you want to see the real Pablo Escobar, go see a documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wagner-moura/if-you-want-to-see-the-real-pablo-escobar-go-see-a-documentary/) [Wagner Moura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wagner-moura/) > [There's a tradition of reenactment in documentary which is about sort of illustrating what the past might have been like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-oppenheimer/there-s-a-tradition-of-reenactment-in-documentary-which-is-about-sort/) [Joshua Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-oppenheimer/) [Browse all 655 Documentary quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentary/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The word 'archive' seems so reassuring, but I have a lot ofconcern over the longevity of documentary materials.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Grubbs" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but-i-have-a-lot-ofconcern-over/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Documentary" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but-i-have-a-lot-ofconcern-over/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/david-grubbs-27090_longevity_the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but_1026160.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/david-grubbs-27090_longevity_the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but_1026160.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/david-grubbs-27090_longevity_the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but_1026160.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The word 'archive' seems so reassuring, but I have a lot ofconcern over the longevity of documentary…” — David Grubbs", "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": "David Grubbs", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grubbs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The word 'archive' seems so reassuring,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but-i-have-a-lot-ofconcern-over/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grubbs/the-word-archive-seems-so-reassuring-but-i-have-a-lot-ofconcern-over/#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 } } ] } ```