--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We make too much of that long groan which…" description: "\"We make too much of that long groan which underlines the past.\" — Derek Walcott" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/derek-walcott-2220_long_we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-whic_2250335.jpg" --- # We make too much of that long groan which underlines the… ![“We make too much of that long groan which underlines the past.” quote by Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/derek-walcott-2220_long_we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-whic_2250335.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/derek-walcott-2220_long_we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-whic_2250335.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/derek-walcott-2220_long_we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-whic_2250335.jpg) > “We make too much of that long groan which underlines the past.” [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People overemphasize past grievances, hindering present progress. **In simple terms:** Don’t dwell on old pains; move forward. Key Takeaway Release past burdens for growth. Themes memory healing progress Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - personal reflection Key Concepts nostalgia psychological weight Questions to Reflect On - Which past hurts still affect you? - How can you honor the past while advancing? A Different Perspective Some past lessons are essential for learning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Especially in repetitive music, to make a long piece of music you have to be extremely skilled in your sleight of hand. 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Otherwise, it will break you down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/my/relax-take-a-break-but-don-t-make-it-last-too-long-otherwise-it-will/) MY > [No not at all... it is rare for shows to make it as long as Once and Again... It was a pretty good run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sela-ward/no-not-at-all-it-is-rare-for-shows-to-make-it-as-long-as-once-and/) [Sela Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sela-ward/) > [I don't make long-term plans, for sure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yorgos-lanthimos/i-don-t-make-long-term-plans-for-sure/) [Yorgos Lanthimos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yorgos-lanthimos/) > [Relationship is a work of two, not by one. 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The way I see it, since we can’t make long-term plans, we just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konstantina-p/you-ve-been-putting-a-deadline-on-this-relationship-from-the-get-go/) [Konstantina P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konstantina-p/) > [Imagination doesn't always make you long for what you cannot have, but rather thrive in what you do not have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/imagination-doesn-t-always-make-you-long-for-what-you-cannot-have-but/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Lyf is too short so make it long by living it Shortly ..!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/komal/lyf-is-too-short-so-make-it-long-by-living-it-shortly/) [Komal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/komal/) > [Life is short, but its ills make it seem long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/life-is-short-but-its-ills-make-it-seem-long/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [I want to get better and make it last as long as I can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-keith/i-want-to-get-better-and-make-it-last-as-long-as-i-can/) [Duncan Keith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-keith/) ## More by Derek Walcott > [Memory that yearns to join the centre, a limb remembering the body from which it has been severed, like those bamboo thighs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/memory-that-yearns-to-join-the-centre-a-limb-remembering-the-body/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/peel-your-own-image-from-the-mirror-sit-feast-on-your-life/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [I don't feel I've arrived home until I get on the beach. All my life, the theater of the sea has been a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-don-t-feel-i-ve-arrived-home-until-i-get-on-the-beach-all-my-life/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“As human beings we’ve certainly suffered the loss of awe, the loss of sacredness, and the loss of the fact that we’re not here—…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/as-human-beings-we-ve-certainly-suffered-the-loss-of-awe-the-loss-of/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“I shall unlearn feeling, unlearn my gift. That is greater and harder than what passes there for life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-shall-unlearn-feeling-unlearn-my-gift-that-is-greater-and-harder/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The greatest writers have been, at heart, parochial, provincial in their rootedness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-greatest-writers-have-been-at-heart-parochial-provincial-in-their/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-time-will-come-when-with-elation-you-will-greet-yourself-arriving/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Break a vase, and the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than that love which took its symmetry for granted when it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/break-a-vase-and-the-love-that-reassembles-the-fragments-is-stronger/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [My mother, who is nearly ninety now, still talks continually about my father. All my life, I've been aware of her grief about his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/my-mother-who-is-nearly-ninety-now-still-talks-continually-about-my/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [My family background really only consists of my mother. She was a widow. My father died quite young; he must have been thirty-one. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/my-family-background-really-only-consists-of-my-mother-she-was-a/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [“I am the man my father loved and was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/i-am-the-man-my-father-loved-and-was/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Like any art, what is the most imprisoning thing is also the most delivering thing. If an actor knows he only has 12 syllables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/like-any-art-what-is-the-most-imprisoning-thing-is-also-the-most/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The thing that is believed is a reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-thing-that-is-believed-is-a-reality/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The history of the world - by which, of course, we mean Europe - is a record of intertribal lacerations, of ethnic cleansings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-history-of-the-world-by-which-of-course-we-mean-europe-is-a/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [The English language is nobody's special property. It is the property of the imagination: it is the property of the language itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/the-english-language-is-nobody-s-special-property-it-is-the-property/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) [Explore all 177 Derek Walcott quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) ## More Groan quotes > [“se there was a matter of half a ream of brown paper stuck upon me, from first to last. As I laid all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/se-there-was-a-matter-of-half-a-ream-of-brown-paper-stuck-upon-me/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“groan again when my brother’s name”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-hart/groan-again-when-my-brother-s-name/) [Emma Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-hart/) > [“No choice but stand. Somehow up and stand. Somehow stand. That or groan. The groan so long on its way. No. No groan. Simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/no-choice-but-stand-somehow-up-and-stand-somehow-stand-that-or-groan/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [There is a groan that unites men and women, rich and poor, in any nation. These muscle pains are "explained" in every culture, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-david-wall/there-is-a-groan-that-unites-men-and-women-rich-and-poor-in-any/) Patrick David Wall > [I have no use for the kind of God who goes walking in his garden with a stick, sends his friends to live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/i-have-no-use-for-the-kind-of-god-who-goes-walking-in-his-garden-with/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [“Ah, that groan, Alexis. It’s like you are fucking me from a distance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-m-golland/ah-that-groan-alexis-it-s-like-you-are-fucking-me-from-a-distance/) [K.M. Golland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-m-golland/) > [“Where are you going?" I asked, as Frank swung his feet off the bed. "I'd hate the dear old thing to be disappointed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/where-are-you-going-i-asked-as-frank-swung-his-feet-off-the-bed-i-d/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [And I mean to hear ye groan like that again. And to moan and sob, even though you dinna wish to, for ye canna…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/and-i-mean-to-hear-ye-groan-like-that-again-and-to-moan-and-sob-even/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [“What?” Ryder huffed. “Come on that was funny! That was comic gold right there.” She shrugged, enjoying teasing him. “It was OK. Kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-young/what-ryder-huffed-come-on-that-was-funny-that-was-comic-gold-right/) [Samantha Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-young/) > [“Galadir called her back against his chest and he clearly heard a groan of the woman. «So let me help you, for once. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiara-cilli/galadir-called-her-back-against-his-chest-and-he-clearly-heard-a/) [Chiara Cilli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiara-cilli/) > [“hung-over groan, the elective malady’s melody.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/hung-over-groan-the-elective-malady-s-melody/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I had to groan a bit on the couch when my brow was mopped - as it is when you've been shot across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-head/i-had-to-groan-a-bit-on-the-couch-when-my-brow-was-mopped-as-it-is/) [Anthony Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-head/) > [“I swallowed a frustrated groan. “Is this one of those idiotic clichés where I turn around and see myself in the mirror of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seanan-mcguire/i-swallowed-a-frustrated-groan-is-this-one-of-those-idiotic-clich-s/) [Seanan McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seanan-mcguire/) > [“one knee, with a groan, I released my hold upon his throat,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-northup/one-knee-with-a-groan-i-released-my-hold-upon-his-throat/) [Solomon Northup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-northup/) > [Groan and forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessamyn-west/groan-and-forget-it/) [Jessamyn West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessamyn-west/) Browse all 47 Groan quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We make too much of that long groan which underlines the past.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Derek Walcott" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-which-underlines-the-past/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Groan" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-which-underlines-the-past/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/derek-walcott-2220_long_we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-whic_2250335.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/derek-walcott-2220_long_we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-whic_2250335.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f2/derek-walcott-2220_long_we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-whic_2250335.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We make too much of that long groan which underlines the past.” — Derek Walcott", "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": "Derek Walcott", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We make too much of that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-which-underlines-the-past/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/we-make-too-much-of-that-long-groan-which-underlines-the-past/#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 } } ] } ```