--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now as I began to sort through his…" description: "\"“Now as I began to sort through his “effects” it occurred to me how little I had really known him … I had forced upon my father the character that fitt..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/david-malouf-15192_father_now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effec_2925765.jpg" --- # Now as I began to sort through his “effects” it occurred… ![“Now as I began to sort through his “effects” it occurred to me how little I had really known him … I had forced upon my father the character that fitted most easily with my image of myself; to have had to admit to any complexity in him would have compromised my own.” quote by David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/david-malouf-15192_father_now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effec_2925765.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/david-malouf-15192_father_now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effec_2925765.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/david-malouf-15192_father_now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effec_2925765.jpg) > ““Now as I began to sort through his “effects” it occurred to me how little I had really known him … I had forced upon my father the character that fitted most easily with my image of myself; to have had to admit to any complexity in him would have compromised my own.”” [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He realizes he imposed a simplified image on his father, avoiding his true complexity. **In simple terms:** Father’s image was oversimplified. Key Takeaway Embrace complexity in relationships. Themes family identity perception Mood reflective introspective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - family dynamics - personal growth - self‑reflection Key Concepts Projection self‑image Questions to Reflect On - What complexities have you ignored? - How can you see others more fully? A Different Perspective Complexity may be uncomfortable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Complexity Compromised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexity-compromised-4285997/) [Effects Occurred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects-occurred-4285996/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Father Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father-character-3056835/) [Forced Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forced-father-4285995/) [Known Forced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/known-forced-4285998/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) ## Related quotes > [My father's a character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-adams/my-father-s-a-character/) [Bryan Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-adams/) > [“I bring this up because in writing some thoughts about a father, or not having a father, I feel as though I'm writing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/i-bring-this-up-because-in-writing-some-thoughts-about-a-father-or/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [As the child outlives the father,so must the character bury the author.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/as-the-child-outlives-the-father-so-must-the-character-bury-the-author/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [My father was a very fun dad; he was always coaching our soccer sports teams, he made sure that we had activities to do.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-ventimiglia/my-father-was-a-very-fun-dad-he-was-always-coaching-our-soccer-sports/) [Milo Ventimiglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-ventimiglia/) > [“This was, I sometimes thought, the last gift my father gave me. And the best: His death stood out as the supreme-o excuse for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-stahl/this-was-i-sometimes-thought-the-last-gift-my-father-gave-me-and-the/) [Jerry Stahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-stahl/) > [“I don’t know. We all have to bear things, Ari. All of us. Your father has to bear the war and what it did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-know-we-all-have-to-bear-things-ari-all-of-us-your-father-has/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The old men of the village of Mahotière say that the Mistress of the Water is a mulatto woman. At midnight she comes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-roumain/the-old-men-of-the-village-of-mahoti-re-say-that-the-mistress-of-the/) [Jacques Roumain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-roumain/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [My father longed for a better life for us, and when I was nine he got a job as a heart surgeon in Belfast.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-melua/my-father-longed-for-a-better-life-for-us-and-when-i-was-nine-he-got/) [Katie Melua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-melua/) > [“My father called twice and left a voicemail—who does that?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-erickson/my-father-called-twice-and-left-a-voicemail-who-does-that/) [Megan Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-erickson/) > [My parents were not musical, and they were not effervescent people; everything was very quiet. The music that I played was loud; it used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-mclean/my-parents-were-not-musical-and-they-were-not-effervescent-people/) [Don McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-mclean/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/whatever-meaning-annie-s-song-had-for-me-on-a-personal-level-there/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) ## More by David Malouf > [“Brisbane is so sleepy, so slatternly, so sprawlingly unlovely… It is simply the most ordinary place in the world…It was so shabby and makeshift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/brisbane-is-so-sleepy-so-slatternly-so-sprawlingly-unlovely-it-is/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“The hundred possibilities a situation contains may be more significant than the occurrence of any of them, and metaphor truer in the long run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/the-hundred-possibilities-a-situation-contains-may-be-more/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [Words his soul danced to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/words-his-soul-danced-to/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [I write not to record what I think but to discover what I think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-write-not-to-record-what-i-think-but-to-discover-what-i-think/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“So these things happen, deep in our lives. We do not speak of them. We hide them even from ourselves, but they do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/so-these-things-happen-deep-in-our-lives-we-do-not-speak-of-them-we/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [All the things we achieve are things we have first of all imagined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/all-the-things-we-achieve-are-things-we-have-first-of-all-imagined/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“However the story is told and elaborated, the raw shame of it will be with him now til his last breath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/however-the-story-is-told-and-elaborated-the-raw-shame-of-it-will-be/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [The earth's warmth under me, as I stretch out at night, is astonishing. It is like the warmth of another body that has absorbed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/the-earth-s-warmth-under-me-as-i-stretch-out-at-night-is-astonishing/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“I scoffed at such old fashioned notions as duty, patriotism, the military virtues. And here I was, aged fifty, standing on guard at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-scoffed-at-such-old-fashioned-notions-as-duty-patriotism-the/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [Fiction, with its preference for what is small and might elsewhere seem irrelevant; its facility for smuggling us into another skin and allowing us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/fiction-with-its-preference-for-what-is-small-and-might-elsewhere/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“I have heard no word of my own language; I am rendered dumb.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-have-heard-no-word-of-my-own-language-i-am-rendered-dumb/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“She had given him up. That was the hard condition of his being and of all commerce between them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/she-had-given-him-up-that-was-the-hard-condition-of-his-being-and-of/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [With all those prizes the most interesting thing is getting on to the shortlist, because that tells you who people see as your peers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/with-all-those-prizes-the-most-interesting-thing-is-getting-on-to-the/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“So long as we are driven by the need to make up for our needs; by the restless sense that we are not yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/so-long-as-we-are-driven-by-the-need-to-make-up-for-our-needs-by-the/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [We’re such contrary creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/we-re-such-contrary-creatures/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) [Explore all 44 David Malouf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) ## More Father quotes > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/whatever-meaning-annie-s-song-had-for-me-on-a-personal-level-there/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [(knitting while on a motorcycle) "For several years she knitted in secret (my father would not approve; she was to concentrate on motorcycling and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-zimmermann/knitting-while-on-a-motorcycle-for-several-years-she-knitted-in/) [Elizabeth Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-zimmermann/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [My parents were not musical, and they were not effervescent people; everything was very quiet. The music that I played was loud; it used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-mclean/my-parents-were-not-musical-and-they-were-not-effervescent-people/) [Don McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-mclean/) > [“My father called twice and left a voicemail—who does that?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-erickson/my-father-called-twice-and-left-a-voicemail-who-does-that/) [Megan Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-erickson/) > [My father longed for a better life for us, and when I was nine he got a job as a heart surgeon in Belfast.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-melua/my-father-longed-for-a-better-life-for-us-and-when-i-was-nine-he-got/) [Katie Melua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-melua/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [The old men of the village of Mahotière say that the Mistress of the Water is a mulatto woman. At midnight she comes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-roumain/the-old-men-of-the-village-of-mahoti-re-say-that-the-mistress-of-the/) [Jacques Roumain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-roumain/) > [“I don’t know. We all have to bear things, Ari. All of us. Your father has to bear the war and what it did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-don-t-know-we-all-have-to-bear-things-ari-all-of-us-your-father-has/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“This was, I sometimes thought, the last gift my father gave me. And the best: His death stood out as the supreme-o excuse for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-stahl/this-was-i-sometimes-thought-the-last-gift-my-father-gave-me-and-the/) [Jerry Stahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-stahl/) > [My father was very encouraging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-nutini/my-father-was-very-encouraging/) [Paolo Nutini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-nutini/) > [I'm a strange mixture of my mother's curiosity; my father, who grew up the son of the manse in a Presbyterian family, who had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/i-m-a-strange-mixture-of-my-mother-s-curiosity-my-father-who-grew-up/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [It is a sweet thing that we serve a dissatisfied God who has destinations in mind for us that we would never choose for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-david-tripp/it-is-a-sweet-thing-that-we-serve-a-dissatisfied-god-who-has/) [Paul David Tripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-david-tripp/) > [Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) [Browse all 19,784 Father quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Now as I began to sort through his “effects” it occurred to me how little I had really known him … I had forced upon my father the character that fitted most easily with my image of myself; to have had to admit to any complexity in him would have compromised my own.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Malouf" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effects-it-occurred-to-me-how/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Father" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effects-it-occurred-to-me-how/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/david-malouf-15192_father_now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effec_2925765.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/david-malouf-15192_father_now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effec_2925765.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80e/david-malouf-15192_father_now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effec_2925765.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Now as I began to sort through his “effects” it occurred to me how little I had really known him … I had…” — David Malouf", "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 Malouf", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Now as I began to sort...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effects-it-occurred-to-me-how/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/now-as-i-began-to-sort-through-his-effects-it-occurred-to-me-how/#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 } } ] } ```