--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Time is the River on which the leaves of…" description: "\"Time is the River on which the leaves of our thoughts are carried into oblivion.\" — Doris Lessing" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2a/doris-lessing-501_inspirational_time-is-the-river-on-which-the-leaves-of_1692656.png" --- # Time is the River on which the leaves of our thoughts are… ![“Time is the River on which the leaves of our thoughts are carried into oblivion.” quote by Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2a/doris-lessing-501_inspirational_time-is-the-river-on-which-the-leaves-of_1692656.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2a/doris-lessing-501_inspirational_time-is-the-river-on-which-the-leaves-of_1692656.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2a/doris-lessing-501_inspirational_time-is-the-river-on-which-the-leaves-of_1692656.png) > “Time is the River on which the leaves of our thoughts are carried into oblivion.” [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Thoughts drift away like leaves in a river, eventually fading from memory. **In simple terms:** Thoughts fade over time. Key Takeaway Accept impermanence of ideas. Themes impermanence memory reflection Mood nostalgic thoughtful Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - writing - meditation - creative brainstorming Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you capture fleeting thoughts? - What helps you remember important ideas? A Different Perspective Ideas can be preserved with notes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Oblivion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oblivion/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [If you go the way of your thoughts you will be carried away by them and you will find yourself in an endless maze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/if-you-go-the-way-of-your-thoughts-you-will-be-carried-away-by-them/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [Make it your moment-to-moment aim to recognize the difference between being aware of your thoughts, and being carried along by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-finley/make-it-your-moment-to-moment-aim-to-recognize-the-difference-between/) [Guy Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-finley/) > [Each is like a river that leaves behind its name and shape, the whole course of its path , to vanish into the vast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-selzer/each-is-like-a-river-that-leaves-behind-its-name-and-shape-the-whole/) [Richard Selzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-selzer/) > [Bird leaves the land to enjoy the freedom; man leaves his thoughts to enjoy the silence. 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So,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-way-teale/time-is-the-river-we-are-the-islands-time-washes-around-us-and-flows/) [Edwin Way Teale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-way-teale/) > [“But time’s a river, Locke, and we’ve always drifted farther down it than we think.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-lynch/but-time-s-a-river-locke-and-we-ve-always-drifted-farther-down-it/) [Scott Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-lynch/) > [Time is a river of passing events and we are the fish searching for an ocean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/time-is-a-river-of-passing-events-and-we-are-the-fish-searching-for/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?" That the river is everywhere at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/have-you-also-learned-that-secret-from-the-river-that-there-is-no/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) ## More by Doris Lessing > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“In the morning, when she wishes me to wake, she crouches on my chest, and pats my face with her paw. Or, if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/in-the-morning-when-she-wishes-me-to-wake-she-crouches-on-my-chest/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [You know, whenever women make imaginary female kingdoms in literature, they are always very permissive, to use the jargon word, and easy and generous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-whenever-women-make-imaginary-female-kingdoms-in-literature/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/there-is-only-one-real-sin-and-that-is-to-persuade-oneself-that-the/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“She was using the water as she had used the fruit earlier—to calm herself, to assure herself of the possibility of normality. 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I've been much happier unmarried than married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-do-not-think-that-marriage-is-one-of-my-talents-i-ve-been-much/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I haven't got the energy to write now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-haven-t-got-the-energy-to-write-now/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What really fascinates me is this need that is so strong now that if you read a work of the imagination you instantly have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-really-fascinates-me-is-this-need-that-is-so-strong-now-that-if/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“The charge that the United Nations are using bacteriological warfare in Korea cannot be dismissed merely because it would be insane.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-charge-that-the-united-nations-are-using-bacteriological-warfare/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [What I did have, which others perhaps didn't, was a capacity for sticking at it, which really is the point, not the talent at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/what-i-did-have-which-others-perhaps-didn-t-was-a-capacity-for/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [The human community is evolving... . We can survive anything you care to mention. We are supremely equipped to survive, to adapt and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/the-human-community-is-evolving-we-can-survive-anything-you-care-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [So love is rest? The cosy corner? The little nook? Sometimes it ought to be. Sometimes it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/so-love-is-rest-the-cosy-corner-the-little-nook-sometimes-it-ought-to/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) [Explore all 508 Doris Lessing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) ## More Inspirational quotes > [Life is full of change. 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