---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Memory is the mother of the muses…"
description: "\"“Memory is the mother of the muses, prototype Artist. As a rule picks and highlights what is important, omitting what is accidental or trivial. Occasio..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/frank-harris-28254_20th-century_memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-protot_1513870.jpg"
---

#  Memory is the mother of the muses, prototype Artist. As a…

![“Memory is the mother of the muses, prototype Artist. As a rule picks and highlights what is important, omitting what is accidental or trivial. Occasionally, however, is mistaken as all the other artists. Nevertheless it is what I take as a guide page.” quote by Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/frank-harris-28254_20th-century_memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-protot_1513870.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/frank-harris-28254_20th-century_memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-protot_1513870.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/frank-harris-28254_20th-century_memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-protot_1513870.jpg)

> ““Memory is the mother of the muses, prototype Artist. As a rule picks and highlights what is important, omitting what is accidental or trivial. Occasionally, however, is mistaken as all the other artists. Nevertheless it is what I take as a guide page.””

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Memory selects what matters and discards the trivial, guiding artistic creation, though it can mislead.

**In simple terms:** Memory shapes art by focusing on important details.

Key Takeaway

Use memory wisely to inform creativity.

Themes

memory creativity selection

Mood

reflective critical

Type

philosophical analytical

When to use this quote

- writing
- visual arts
- design
- historical research

Key Concepts

cognitive bias artistic process

Questions to Reflect On

- How do we verify the accuracy of remembered details?
- What role does forgetting play in innovation?

A Different Perspective

Memory can be unreliable, leading to skewed perspectives.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Muse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/muse/) [Muses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/muses/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Writers-on-writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writers-on-writing/)

## Related quotes

> [Memory in Greek mythology is the mother of the muses, and it is so for me. Both personal and societal memory move me strongly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/memory-in-greek-mythology-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-and-it-is-so-for/)

[Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/)

> [“If the essence of creativity is linking disparate facts and ideas, then the more facility you have making associations, and the more facts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/if-the-essence-of-creativity-is-linking-disparate-facts-and-ideas/)

[Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/)

> [“The perfect person does not exist. There is no woman or man you would meet who would make you write poetry. So poets create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avijeet-das/the-perfect-person-does-not-exist-there-is-no-woman-or-man-you-would/)

[Avijeet Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avijeet-das/)

> [“You are lovelier than all the roses in the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avijeet-das/you-are-lovelier-than-all-the-roses-in-the-world/)

[Avijeet Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avijeet-das/)

> [I have no memory at all of my mother shouting at me or at my sister. But I do have horrible memories of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-have-no-memory-at-all-of-my-mother-shouting-at-me-or-at-my-sister/)

[James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/)

> [My mother was the making of me. She was so true and so sure of me, I felt that I had someone to live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/my-mother-was-the-making-of-me-she-was-so-true-and-so-sure-of-me-i/)

[Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/)

> [Last memory of my mother is her being dragged away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-mcconville/last-memory-of-my-mother-is-her-being-dragged-away/)

Jean McConville

> [“Reggie's earliest memory of her mother began with her mother balancing an egg on its end and ended with Reggie losing her left ear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-mcmahon/reggie-s-earliest-memory-of-her-mother-began-with-her-mother/)

[Jennifer McMahon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-mcmahon/)

> [I have a memory of my mother kneeling in front of a cabinet in our home, tenderly cradling her wedding china. We never used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roma-downey/i-have-a-memory-of-my-mother-kneeling-in-front-of-a-cabinet-in-our/)

[Roma Downey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roma-downey/)

> [Conscience is less an inner voice than the memory of a mother's glance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/conscience-is-less-an-inner-voice-than-the-memory-of-a-mother-s-glance/)

[Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/)

> [There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness... The memory of my mother and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-jackson/there-never-was-a-woman-like-her-she-was-gentle-as-a-dove-and-brave/)

[Andrew Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-jackson/)

> [“Think your mother will let me drive you to school tomorrow? Now that we're all friends and united by a belief in the careful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-jay/think-your-mother-will-let-me-drive-you-to-school-tomorrow-now-that/)

[Stacey Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-jay/)

> [A bad memory is the mother of invention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-brenan/a-bad-memory-is-the-mother-of-invention/)

[Gerald Brenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-brenan/)

> [The memory of my mother will always be a blessing to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/the-memory-of-my-mother-will-always-be-a-blessing-to-me/)

[Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/)

> [Memory is the mother of all wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/memory-is-the-mother-of-all-wisdom/)

[Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/)

## More by Frank Harris

> [“There are two main traditions of English writing: the one of perfect liberty, that of Chaucer and Shakespeare, completely outspoken, with a certain liking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/there-are-two-main-traditions-of-english-writing-the-one-of-perfect/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [“For the first time, vague doubts assaulted me, the shattering suspicion that for all pleasure and joy in life we had to pay ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/for-the-first-time-vague-doubts-assaulted-me-the-shattering-suspicion/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [“(...) always regretted that good memory often prevents us from thinking for ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/always-regretted-that-good-memory-often-prevents-us-from-thinking-for/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [Strong people are made by opposition like kites that go up against the wind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/strong-people-are-made-by-opposition-like-kites-that-go-up-against/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [I am, really, a great writer; my only difficulty is in finding great readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/i-am-really-a-great-writer-my-only-difficulty-is-in-finding-great/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [All the faults of the age come from Christianity and journalism. Christianity, of course, but why journalism?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/all-the-faults-of-the-age-come-from-christianity-and-journalism/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [Memoirs are a well-known form of fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/memoirs-are-a-well-known-form-of-fiction/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [“Orang-orang kuat ditempa oleh pelbagai tantangan, seperti layang-layang yang dilambungkan ke langit oleh terpaan angin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/orang-orang-kuat-ditempa-oleh-pelbagai-tantangan-seperti-layang/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [“I will, however, establish that success in love, as in all other aspects of life, belongs, as a rule, to the persistent and fiber…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/i-will-however-establish-that-success-in-love-as-in-all-other-aspects/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [“What will happen to those who stone the prophets and persecute the masters? His fate is written in flaming letters on each page of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/what-will-happen-to-those-who-stone-the-prophets-and-persecute-the/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [Sex is the gateway to life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/sex-is-the-gateway-to-life/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [“Such actions are beyond praise: it is the perfume of such sweet and noble human sympathy that makes this wild beasts' cage a world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/such-actions-are-beyond-praise-it-is-the-perfume-of-such-sweet-and/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [ “\[Referring to the imprisonment of Oscar Wilde\] ... Will civilization never reach humane ideals? Will men always punish most severely the sins they do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/referring-to-the-imprisonment-of-oscar-wilde-will-civilization-never/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [There is a destiny that shapes our ends rough, hew them as we will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/there-is-a-destiny-that-shapes-our-ends-rough-hew-them-as-we-will/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

> [“The truth is that the fever of desire in youth is fleeting disease that intimacy promptly cure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/the-truth-is-that-the-fever-of-desire-in-youth-is-fleeting-disease/)

[Frank Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

[Explore all 18 Frank Harris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/)

## More 20th century quotes

> [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/)

[Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/)

> [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/)

[Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/)

> [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/)

[Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/)

> [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/)

[Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/)

> [I've studied the lives of the 20th century's great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-spanos/i-ve-studied-the-lives-of-the-20th-century-s-great-businessmen-and/)

[Alex Spanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-spanos/)

> [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/)

[Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/)

> [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/)

[Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/)

> [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/)

[Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/)

> [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/)

[Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/)

> [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/)

[Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/)

> [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/)

[Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/)

> [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/)

[Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/)

> [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/)

[David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/)

> [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/)

[Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/)

> [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/)

[Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/)

Browse all 672 20th century quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Memory is the mother of the muses, prototype Artist. As a rule picks and highlights what is important, omitting what is accidental or trivial. Occasionally, however, is mistaken as all the other artists. Nevertheless it is what I take as a guide page.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Frank Harris"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-prototype-artist-as-a-rule-picks/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "20th century"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-prototype-artist-as-a-rule-picks/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/frank-harris-28254_20th-century_memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-protot_1513870.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/frank-harris-28254_20th-century_memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-protot_1513870.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/frank-harris-28254_20th-century_memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-protot_1513870.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Memory is the mother of the muses, prototype Artist. As a rule picks and highlights what is important…” — Frank Harris",
                "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": "Frank Harris",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-harris/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Memory is the mother of the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-prototype-artist-as-a-rule-picks/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-harris/memory-is-the-mother-of-the-muses-prototype-artist-as-a-rule-picks/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
