--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are many things worth telling that…" description: "\"There are many things worth telling that are not quite narrative. And eternity itself possesses no beginning, middle or end. Fossils, arrowheads, castl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/david-james-duncan-8032_all-that-remains_there-are-many-things-worth-telling-that_1890051.png" --- # There are many things worth telling that are not quite… ![“There are many things worth telling that are not quite narrative. And eternity itself possesses no beginning, middle or end. Fossils, arrowheads, castle ruins, empty crosses: from the Parthenon to the Bo Tree to a grown man's or woman's old stuffed bear, what moves us about many objects is not…” quote by David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/david-james-duncan-8032_all-that-remains_there-are-many-things-worth-telling-that_1890051.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/david-james-duncan-8032_all-that-remains_there-are-many-things-worth-telling-that_1890051.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b48/david-james-duncan-8032_all-that-remains_there-are-many-things-worth-telling-that_1890051.png) > “There are many things worth telling that are not quite narrative. And eternity itself possesses no beginning, middle or end. Fossils, arrowheads, castle ruins, empty crosses: from the Parthenon to the Bo Tree to a grown man's or woman's old stuffed bear, what moves us about many objects is not what remains but what has vanished. There comes a time, thanks to rivers, when a few beautiful old teeth are all that remain of the two-hundred-foot spires of life we call trees. There comes a river, whose current is time, that does a similar sculpting in the mind.” [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Objects hold power because they remind us of loss and the passage of time, not just their existence. **In simple terms:** Objects matter for what they’ve lost. Key Takeaway Notice what’s gone, not just what remains. Themes memory loss time impermanence nostalgia Mood melancholic reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - Museums - personal reflection - grief counseling - heritage preservation Key Concepts Ephemerality historiography psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you honor what has vanished? - What does a vanished thing teach you about value? A Different Perspective Objects cannot fully convey the emotions attached to them. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Castles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/castles/) [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Parthenon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parthenon/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) [Sculpting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sculpting/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [There comes a time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/there-comes-a-time/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) ## Related quotes > [Man passes; he knows that he is dust; nothing is more evident than his frailty. If he should for a single moment forget it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-wagner/man-passes-he-knows-that-he-is-dust-nothing-is-more-evident-than-his/) [Charles Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-wagner/) > [In the world over, the very name of our country is immediately associated with the Parthenon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-mercouri/in-the-world-over-the-very-name-of-our-country-is-immediately/) [Melina Mercouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-mercouri/) > [I think people care. If not, why do so many people spend money going on vacations to see architecture? They go to the Parthenon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gehry/i-think-people-care-if-not-why-do-so-many-people-spend-money-going-on/) [Frank Gehry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gehry/) > [But it is fit that the Past should be dark; though the darkness is not so much a quality of the past as of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/but-it-is-fit-that-the-past-should-be-dark-though-the-darkness-is-not/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [You must understand what the Parthenon Marbles mean to us. They are our pride. They are our sacrifices. They are our noblest symbol of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-mercouri/you-must-understand-what-the-parthenon-marbles-mean-to-us-they-are/) [Melina Mercouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-mercouri/) > [The Elgin Marbles were supposed to be on the Parthenon. For many works of art, a museum is an artificial setting - a zoo,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-postrel/the-elgin-marbles-were-supposed-to-be-on-the-parthenon-for-many-works/) [Virginia Postrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-postrel/) > [I've never really wanted to go to Japan, simply because I don't like eating fish and I know that's very popular out there in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/britney-spears/i-ve-never-really-wanted-to-go-to-japan-simply-because-i-don-t-like/) [Britney Spears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/britney-spears/) > [“Imagine you are a member of a tour visiting Greece. The group goes to the Parthenon. It is a bore. Few people even bother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/imagine-you-are-a-member-of-a-tour-visiting-greece-the-group-goes-to/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [Earth proudly wears the Parthenon As the best gem upon her zone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/earth-proudly-wears-the-parthenon-as-the-best-gem-upon-her-zone/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The walls that fence our fields, as well as modern Rome, and not less the Parthenon itself, are all built of ruins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-walls-that-fence-our-fields-as-well-as-modern-rome-and-not-less/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The elms of New England! They are as much a part of her beauty as the columns of the Parthenon were the glory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/the-elms-of-new-england-they-are-as-much-a-part-of-her-beauty-as-the/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Modern architects and engineers are still trying to understand how the ancient Greeks were able to build the Parthenon in ten years when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dunn/modern-architects-and-engineers-are-still-trying-to-understand-how/) Christopher Dunn > [In the later nineteenth century, the tops of skyscrapers often took the shape of domes, surmounted by jaunty gilded lanterns; later came ziggurats, mausoleums,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-gill/in-the-later-nineteenth-century-the-tops-of-skyscrapers-often-took/) [Brendan Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-gill/) > [Digital media are biased toward replication and storage. Our digital photos practically upload and post themselves on Facebook, and our most deleted e-mails tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-rushkoff/digital-media-are-biased-toward-replication-and-storage-our-digital/) [Douglas Rushkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-rushkoff/) > [The Parthenon is really only a farmyard over which someone put a roof; colonades and sculptures were added because there were people in Athens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-parthenon-is-really-only-a-farmyard-over-which-someone-put-a-roof/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) ## More by David James Duncan > [“Because I wasn’t anything anymore. Not anythingI love or know or care about. Because thou shalt not kill, Kade. Thou shalt not kill. With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/because-i-wasn-t-anything-anymore-not-anythingi-love-or-know-or-care/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [Our lack of community is intensely painful. A TV talk show is not community. A couple of hours in a church pew each Sabbath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/our-lack-of-community-is-intensely-painful-a-tv-talk-show-is-not/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [“It was so good to see him in there, yet so funny to find him so much like me, and so tiny. "Nice kingdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/it-was-so-good-to-see-him-in-there-yet-so-funny-to-find-him-so-much/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [“Bobby Edson, like most coaches, was a kind of mystic: he believed the cosmos was endowed with an ineffable muffling system that rendered all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/bobby-edson-like-most-coaches-was-a-kind-of-mystic-he-believed-the/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [--I truly and deeply wanted to kill him. And I believe I could have done it, with nothing but my hands. But all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/i-truly-and-deeply-wanted-to-kill-him-and-i-believe-i-could-have-done/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [“Papa was no longer fixing a carburetor: he was setting up a greasy little Cuban missile base smack-dab in the middle of Mama’s immaculate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/papa-was-no-longer-fixing-a-carburetor-he-was-setting-up-a-greasy/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [“The Austrian writer Robert Musil summed up the Fanatic's great rhetorical advantage in just ten words: There is no truth which stupidity can't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/the-austrian-writer-robert-musil-summed-up-the-fanatic-s-great/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [“Is the work of sun worshippers to honor those who think they can see the sun? Or to worship the sun?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/is-the-work-of-sun-worshippers-to-honor-those-who-think-they-can-see/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [“Peter didn’t want to change the world: he wanted to fully comprehend it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/peter-didn-t-want-to-change-the-world-he-wanted-to-fully-comprehend-it/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [“It is a rare high school teacher who enjoys seeing their world being enormously improved upon by youths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/it-is-a-rare-high-school-teacher-who-enjoys-seeing-their-world-being/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [The principles that will save Earth's life are the same principles that save the living souls of humans: ineluctable spiritual principles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/the-principles-that-will-save-earth-s-life-are-the-same-principles/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [“I’m just saying that his card-burning would have meant far more, on the day he did it, if he hadn’t already incinerated his life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/i-m-just-saying-that-his-card-burning-would-have-meant-far-more-on/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [“I gave him everything from my lunches I hate, which is called Charity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/i-gave-him-everything-from-my-lunches-i-hate-which-is-called-charity/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [“If we can’t be ballplayers together, maybe I can start bein’ a Buddhist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/if-we-can-t-be-ballplayers-together-maybe-i-can-start-bein-a-buddhist/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) > [As a lifelong student of the world’s wisdom literature, it is my duty to inform students that “ridding the world of evil” is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james-duncan/as-a-lifelong-student-of-the-world-s-wisdom-literature-it-is-my-duty/) [David James Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) [Explore all 85 David James Duncan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james-duncan/) ## More All that remains quotes > [But who can remember pain, once its over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/but-who-can-remember-pain-once-its-over-all-that-remains-of-it-is-a/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Under a dictatorship, a nation ceases to exist. All that remains is a fiefdom, a planet of slaves regimented by aliens from outer-space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/under-a-dictatorship-a-nation-ceases-to-exist-all-that-remains-is-a/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [To Toronto City Council: The Sam The Record Man store and sign were important fixtures in Toronto's musical landscape as well as its Civic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geddy-lee/to-toronto-city-council-the-sam-the-record-man-store-and-sign-were/) [Geddy Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geddy-lee/) > [All that remains of that minute is time in all its purity, bone-white time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/all-that-remains-of-that-minute-is-time-in-all-its-purity-bone-white/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [All that remains is a fate whose outcome alone is fatal. Outside of that single fatality of death, everything, joy or happiness, is liberty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/all-that-remains-is-a-fate-whose-outcome-alone-is-fatal-outside-of/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [For me, making a photograph is mostly an intellectual process of understanding people or cities and their historical and phenomenological connections. At that point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-struth/for-me-making-a-photograph-is-mostly-an-intellectual-process-of/) [Thomas Struth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-struth/) > [Like a wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlan-ellison/like-a-wind-crying-endlessly-through-the-universe-time-carries-away/) [Harlan Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlan-ellison/) > [Germany's potential makes up about 20% of the EU's overall economic power, including Great Britain. The German army is by no means strong enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaroslaw-kaczynski/germany-s-potential-makes-up-about-20-of-the-eu-s-overall-economic/) [Jaroslaw Kaczynski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaroslaw-kaczynski/) > [Everyone just keeps on disappearing. Some things vanish, like they were cut away. Others fade slowly into the mist. And all that remains is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/everyone-just-keeps-on-disappearing-some-things-vanish-like-they-were/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [In 1997, we faced daunting challenges. Boom and bust economics… Now, for all that remains to be done, dwell for a moment on what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/in-1997-we-faced-daunting-challenges-boom-and-bust-economics-now-for/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [Nobody the dead man & Nobody the living Nobody is giving in & Nobody is giving Nobody hears me but just Nobody cares Nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/nobody-the-dead-man-nobody-the-living-nobody-is-giving-in-nobody-is/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [It's not my story anymore: whenever I speak about the past now, I feel as if I were talking about something that has nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-s-not-my-story-anymore-whenever-i-speak-about-the-past-now-i-feel/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Lots of different ways to live and lots of different ways to die. But in the end that doesn't make a bit of difference.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/lots-of-different-ways-to-live-and-lots-of-different-ways-to-die-but/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [In the New Testament, Thomas Jefferson cut out everything that was mystical, magical, miracle - physically with scissors - and then pasted in all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-new-testament-thomas-jefferson-cut-out-everything-that-was/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-nothing-new-to-be-discovered-in-physics-now-all-that-remains/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 55 All that remains quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are many things worth telling that are not quite narrative. And eternity itself possesses no beginning, middle or end. Fossils, arrowheads, castle ruins, empty crosses: from the Parthenon to the Bo Tree to a grown man's or woman's old stuffed bear, what moves us about many objects is not what remains but what has vanished. There comes a time, thanks to rivers, when a few beautiful old teeth are all that remain of the two-hundred-foot spires of life we call trees. 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