--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I indulge myself and surrender to…" description: "\"If I indulge myself and surrender to memory, I can still feel the knot of excitement that gripped me as I turned the corner into Rue Mimosas, looking f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e7/duane-michals-10800_assumption_if-i-indulge-myself-and-surrender-to-mem_516477.png" --- # If I indulge myself and surrender to memory, I can still… ![“If I indulge myself and surrender to memory, I can still feel the knot of excitement that gripped me as I turned the corner into Rue Mimosas, looking for the house of Rene Magritte. It was August, 1965. I was 33 years old and about to meet the man whose profound and witty surrealist paintings had…” quote by Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e7/duane-michals-10800_assumption_if-i-indulge-myself-and-surrender-to-mem_516477.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e7/duane-michals-10800_assumption_if-i-indulge-myself-and-surrender-to-mem_516477.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e7/duane-michals-10800_assumption_if-i-indulge-myself-and-surrender-to-mem_516477.png) > “If I indulge myself and surrender to memory, I can still feel the knot of excitement that gripped me as I turned the corner into Rue Mimosas, looking for the house of Rene Magritte. It was August, 1965. I was 33 years old and about to meet the man whose profound and witty surrealist paintings had contradicted my assumptions about photography.” [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflecting on memory, he feels excitement recalling a surrealist encounter that challenged his photographic assumptions. **In simple terms:** He feels excited recalling a past surrealist encounter. Key Takeaway Embrace past experiences to inspire current creative work. Themes memory surrealism artistic growth Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery openings - art critiques - personal retrospectives Key Concepts nostalgia creative inspiration assumption testing Questions to Reflect On - How does nostalgia shape artistic perception? - What can we learn from confronting past assumptions? A Different Perspective Memory can distort facts, leading to romanticized expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assumption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) [August](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/august/) [Excitement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excitement/) [Magritte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magritte/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mimosas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mimosas/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Profound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound/) [Surrealist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrealist/) [Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender/) [Witty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witty/) ## Related quotes > [I thought of a high school report I did on the Belgian artist Rene Magritte and a quote I once read from him, something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/i-thought-of-a-high-school-report-i-did-on-the-belgian-artist-rene/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) > [I like Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. I also like the Scottish artist John Byrne, another surrealist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-connolly/i-like-salvador-dali-and-rene-magritte-i-also-like-the-scottish/) [Billy Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-connolly/) > [“The shirt was a screen print of a famous Surrealist artwork by René Magritte in which he drew a pipe and then beneath it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-shirt-was-a-screen-print-of-a-famous-surrealist-artwork-by-ren/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“After Magritte often serves as a companion piece to The Real Inspector Hound, which I think is appropriate in at least one way: neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-magritte-often-serves-as-a-companion-piece-to-the-real/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“That's what dreams are really like, you know? They're not full of melting clocks or floating roses or people made out of rocks. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-reed/that-s-what-dreams-are-really-like-you-know-they-re-not-full-of/) [Amy Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-reed/) > [Sometimes to walk in shaded parts of Manhattan is to be inserted into a Magritte: the street is night while the sky is day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-o-neill/sometimes-to-walk-in-shaded-parts-of-manhattan-is-to-be-inserted-into/) [Joseph O'Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-o-neill/) > [I feel like I swallowed a Magritte. Like on the inside, I'm made of clouds and floating eyes, green apples, and slowly rising men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/i-feel-like-i-swallowed-a-magritte-like-on-the-inside-i-m-made-of-2/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [“Magritte presents ordinary objects in impossible contexts. He challenges us to our place in relation to the world: our own humanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-rideal/magritte-presents-ordinary-objects-in-impossible-contexts-he/) Liz Rideal > [Our Onirisme movement was a synthesis between the Romantic Fantastique and Surrealism. Dimov and I rejected automatic writing. We loved surrealist painters: Chirico, Magritte,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/our-onirisme-movement-was-a-synthesis-between-the-romantic/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [“Magritte’s painting The Human Condition. The real-world 3-D scene and the 2-D painting on the canvas create the same pattern of light at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-j-rogers/magritte-s-painting-the-human-condition-the-real-world-3-d-scene-and/) Brian J Rogers > [Blair Waldorf: Here's my advice. Have a little faith, and if that doesn't work, have a lot of mimosas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gossip-girl/blair-waldorf-here-s-my-advice-have-a-little-faith-and-if-that-doesn/) [Gossip Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gossip-girl/) > [But that mimosa grove-the haze of stars, the tingle, the flame, the honey-dew, and the ache remained with me, and that little girl with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/but-that-mimosa-grove-the-haze-of-stars-the-tingle-the-flame-the/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [and if i if i ever let love go because the hatred and the whisperings become a phantom dictate i o- bey in lieu…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-jordan/and-if-i-if-i-ever-let-love-go-because-the-hatred-and-the-whisperings/) [June Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-jordan/) > [“she looks at me in wonder and speaks of mimosas in february”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanna-abi-akl/she-looks-at-me-in-wonder-and-speaks-of-mimosas-in-february/) [Hanna Abi Akl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanna-abi-akl/) > [A tall blonde entered the room, wearing a yellow sash that marked her as advocate. Two men followed her, carrying papers. She was lean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/a-tall-blonde-entered-the-room-wearing-a-yellow-sash-that-marked-her/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) ## More by Duane Michals > [I already know what things look like - I don't want description. People believe in appearances, and I don't believe in appearances at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-already-know-what-things-look-like-i-don-t-want-description-people/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [All good children's books, I think, address metaphysical issues in some kind of way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/all-good-children-s-books-i-think-address-metaphysical-issues-in-some/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [My work is about my life as an event, and I find myself to be very temporal, transient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/my-work-is-about-my-life-as-an-event-and-i-find-myself-to-be-very/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [And in not learning the rules, I was free. I always say, you're either defined by the medium or you redefine the medium in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/and-in-not-learning-the-rules-i-was-free-i-always-say-you-re-either/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Photography does deal with 'truth' or a kind of superficial reality better than any of the other arts, but it never questions the nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/photography-does-deal-with-truth-or-a-kind-of-superficial-reality/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [People of my generation who became photographers in the late fifties, early sixties, there were no rewards in photography. There were no museum shows.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/people-of-my-generation-who-became-photographers-in-the-late-fifties/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Taking photographs and writing is my way of saying I was here, I saw this, I felt this, I heard this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/taking-photographs-and-writing-is-my-way-of-saying-i-was-here-i-saw/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [I write in order to express what the photo itself cannot say. A photograph of my father doesn't tell me what I thought of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-write-in-order-to-express-what-the-photo-itself-cannot-say-a/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Art has to address eternal issues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/art-has-to-address-eternal-issues/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [I believe in the invisible. I do not believe in the definitive reality of things around us. For me, reality is the intuition and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-believe-in-the-invisible-i-do-not-believe-in-the-definitive-reality/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [All good work has magic in it, and addresses the mind in a subtle way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/all-good-work-has-magic-in-it-and-addresses-the-mind-in-a-subtle-way/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Art is not fashionable. That's why fashion and art are two different things. Fashion can never be art because fashion deals with whim, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/art-is-not-fashionable-that-s-why-fashion-and-art-are-two-different/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [There are those photographers who have made a whole career doing commercial work but have never had a museum show, and then there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/there-are-those-photographers-who-have-made-a-whole-career-doing/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/photography-deals-exquisitely-with-appearances-but-nothing-is-what-it/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) > [Flowers construct the most charming geometries: circles like the sun, ovals, cones, curlicues and a variety of triangular eccentricities, which when viewed with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/flowers-construct-the-most-charming-geometries-circles-like-the-sun/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) [Explore all 62 Duane Michals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) ## More Assumption quotes > [Next to the assumption of power was the responsibility of relinquishing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/next-to-the-assumption-of-power-was-the-responsibility-of/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of the people ever really get the word about life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/it-s-difficult-for-people-to-come-to-the-understanding-that-only-a/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The risk of developing carcinoma of the lung increases steadily as the amount smoked increases. If the risk among non-smokers is taken as unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-doll/the-risk-of-developing-carcinoma-of-the-lung-increases-steadily-as/) Richard Doll > [Fortunately, the mind is restless; when it uncovers a layer of its own deception, gives up an illusion, exposes a lie, it does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-chernin/fortunately-the-mind-is-restless-when-it-uncovers-a-layer-of-its-own/) [Kim Chernin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-chernin/) > [The possibility of saying anything about a thing rests on the assumption that it preserves its identity, or continues to be the same thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-knight/the-possibility-of-saying-anything-about-a-thing-rests-on-the/) [Frank Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-knight/) > [She spent hours drawing on her own, trying to perfect her craft. And when she got into music, she had that same diligence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/she-spent-hours-drawing-on-her-own-trying-to-perfect-her-craft-and/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [If they are, then the only ultimate truths are the particulars of concrete experience, and no postulate or general assumption is inherent in science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chauncey-wright/if-they-are-then-the-only-ultimate-truths-are-the-particulars-of/) [Chauncey Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chauncey-wright/) > [If he's - the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a - is a noble institution I would - I would strongly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-he-s-the-inference-is-that-somehow-he-thinks-slavery-is-a-is-a/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [Leadership, pure and simple, is the assumption of responsibility for the pursuit of excellence in group life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-selznick/leadership-pure-and-simple-is-the-assumption-of-responsibility-for/) Philip Selznick > [Humans suffer from self-centred notions as to the nature of life. Humans assume that alien life forms should conform to standards that match our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-perry/humans-suffer-from-self-centred-notions-as-to-the-nature-of-life/) [Steve Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-perry/) > [When I see a fan coming over, I can't help but make an assumption about what they want to talk about. A middle-aged American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-dormer/when-i-see-a-fan-coming-over-i-can-t-help-but-make-an-assumption/) [Natalie Dormer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-dormer/) > [The Bell curve is a fact of life. The blacks on average score 85 per cent on IQ and it is accurate, nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/the-bell-curve-is-a-fact-of-life-the-blacks-on-average-score-85-per/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/pussy-riot-have-certainly-changed-some-people-s-assumptions-about-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) [Browse all 1,277 Assumption quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumption/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If I indulge myself and surrender to memory, I can still feel the knot of excitement that gripped me as I turned the corner into Rue Mimosas, looking for the house of Rene Magritte. It was August, 1965. 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