--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Tom said people should repaint their…" description: "\"“Tom said people should repaint their houses in and out, especially in, at least once a year—because who wants to live with the memories of themselves?..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/frank-lentricchia-36155_once-a-year_tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-hou_1025907.png" --- # Tom said people should repaint their houses in and out… ![“Tom said people should repaint their houses in and out, especially in, at least once a year—because who wants to live with the memories of themselves?” quote by Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/frank-lentricchia-36155_once-a-year_tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-hou_1025907.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/frank-lentricchia-36155_once-a-year_tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-hou_1025907.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/frank-lentricchia-36155_once-a-year_tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-hou_1025907.png) > ““Tom said people should repaint their houses in and out, especially in, at least once a year—because who wants to live with the memories of themselves?”” [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that constantly renewing our surroundings helps us avoid being haunted by past selves and encourages personal renewal. **In simple terms:** Changing your environment prevents being stuck in past identity. Key Takeaway Refresh your space regularly to stay mentally fresh. Themes self‑renewal environment identity memory change Mood reflective thoughtful inspirational Type advice philosophical motivational When to use this quote - home renovation - personal rebranding - creative reset - annual decluttering Key Concepts existentialism psychology habit formation Questions to Reflect On - How does your living space reflect your current self? - What internal changes accompany an external refresh? A Different Perspective May overlook the deeper need for internal change beyond physical updates. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Houses Especially](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/houses-especially-2314796/) [Once a year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/once-a-year/) [People Repaint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-repaint-2314795/) [Repaint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repaint-1579693/) [Repaint Houses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repaint-houses-2314794/) [Tom Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tom-said-404777/) ## Related quotes > [IF SOMEONE SHOWS YOU THEIR TRUE COLOURS, DON'T TRY TO REPAINT THEM.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madhu-desai/if-someone-shows-you-their-true-colours-don-t-try-to-repaint-them/) [Madhu Desai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madhu-desai/) > [It so often happens that somebody says 'change your life' and you repaint your car rather than re-wire the engine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/it-so-often-happens-that-somebody-says-change-your-life-and-you/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [I was leaving the hotel to get to the fight when my phone went and someone said 'Hello Ricky, it's Tom'. I said 'Tom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-hatton/i-was-leaving-the-hotel-to-get-to-the-fight-when-my-phone-went-and/) [Ricky Hatton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-hatton/) > [“Oyster Tom said that they were not talking about people but about men. He agreed that most men remain accountable to themselves only, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-weller/oyster-tom-said-that-they-were-not-talking-about-people-but-about-men/) [Lance Weller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-weller/) > [Once, when Tom was over here, to tease Rose, I asked him, "Before she was born, can you remember? Were things just the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mckay/once-when-tom-was-over-here-to-tease-rose-i-asked-him-before-she-was/) [Hilary McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mckay/) > [“Guns and badges don’t scare everyone,” Black Tom said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-lavalle/guns-and-badges-don-t-scare-everyone-black-tom-said/) [Victor LaValle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-lavalle/) > [“For perhaps the first time in recorded history, Coalhouse and I agree on something," Tom said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lia-habel/for-perhaps-the-first-time-in-recorded-history-coalhouse-and-i-agree/) [Lia Habel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lia-habel/) > [Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/tom-said-to-himself-that-it-was-not-such-a-hollow-world-after-all-he/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“Dr. Tom had said that Texas was the only place he had ever found that, when it killed you, it didn't forget about you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-kent/dr-tom-had-said-that-texas-was-the-only-place-he-had-ever-found-that/) [Kathleen Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-kent/) > [All of Japan once a year will get up on their rooftops, because that's the night that the shepherd boy from one side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/all-of-japan-once-a-year-will-get-up-on-their-rooftops-because-that-s/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [“Shouting about gender equality once a year doesn't end the patriarchal and misogynistic stereotypes. We must live every day as women's day, only then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/shouting-about-gender-equality-once-a-year-doesn-t-end-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“That's the beauty of the summer holidays. It's as if life is just a big Etch-a-Sketch, and once a year you get to shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-smale/that-s-the-beauty-of-the-summer-holidays-it-s-as-if-life-is-just-a/) [Holly Smale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-smale/) > [In certain savage tribes in New Guinea, they put the old people up in the trees and shake them once a year in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/in-certain-savage-tribes-in-new-guinea-they-put-the-old-people-up-in/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [We have a family holiday once a year, usually abroad, but that's it. I feel I should have holidays for my family's sake, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-webb/we-have-a-family-holiday-once-a-year-usually-abroad-but-that-s-it-i/) [Robert Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-webb/) > [“Just before six, Bee pulled three wineglasses out of the cabinet and uncorked the bottle of white that Greg had selected for us. "Light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jio/just-before-six-bee-pulled-three-wineglasses-out-of-the-cabinet-and/) [Sarah Jio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jio/) ## More by Frank Lentricchia > [People are mysterious, even to themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/people-are-mysterious-even-to-themselves/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [“Kyle says (with glee), “Addicted to breathing? I can fix that. Get on the rower and give me two thousand meters, all out, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/kyle-says-with-glee-addicted-to-breathing-i-can-fix-that-get-on-the/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [In the end, everything is found to be wanting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/in-the-end-everything-is-found-to-be-wanting/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [“Cinema is a mixed form. L'Avventura has characters, it has social context, and these things are not trivial. Its plot is the disappearance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/cinema-is-a-mixed-form-l-avventura-has-characters-it-has-social/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [“Only the past is real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/only-the-past-is-real/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [The camera has a mind of its own--its own point of view. Then the human bearer of time stumbles into the camera's gaze--the camera's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/the-camera-has-a-mind-of-its-own-its-own-point-of-view-then-the-human/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [Our personal past is only available to us now through black-and-white film, it's a medium for communication with the dead, including our dead selves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/our-personal-past-is-only-available-to-us-now-through-black-and-white/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [Take the road to contradiction, it'll lead you, I promise, to the palace of wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/take-the-road-to-contradiction-it-ll-lead-you-i-promise-to-the-palace/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [No one can be the total cure for another person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/no-one-can-be-the-total-cure-for-another-person/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [“...that out of the quarrel with others we produce rhetoric, matter for the editorial page, while out of the quarrel with ourselves we create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/that-out-of-the-quarrel-with-others-we-produce-rhetoric-matter-for/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [“Here's the most startling irony I know in film history: Antonioni, who is often denigrated by left-wing critics as a formalist and aesthete gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/here-s-the-most-startling-irony-i-know-in-film-history-antonioni-who/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) > [I want to die, stripped, by myself, of all fantasies. That's the goal. I want to feel what is real, at the end, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/i-want-to-die-stripped-by-myself-of-all-fantasies-that-s-the-goal-i/) [Frank Lentricchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) [Explore all 13 Frank Lentricchia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/) ## More Once a year quotes > [“Just before six, Bee pulled three wineglasses out of the cabinet and uncorked the bottle of white that Greg had selected for us. "Light…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jio/just-before-six-bee-pulled-three-wineglasses-out-of-the-cabinet-and/) [Sarah Jio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jio/) > [We have a family holiday once a year, usually abroad, but that's it. I feel I should have holidays for my family's sake, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-webb/we-have-a-family-holiday-once-a-year-usually-abroad-but-that-s-it-i/) [Robert Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-webb/) > [In certain savage tribes in New Guinea, they put the old people up in the trees and shake them once a year in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/in-certain-savage-tribes-in-new-guinea-they-put-the-old-people-up-in/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [“That's the beauty of the summer holidays. It's as if life is just a big Etch-a-Sketch, and once a year you get to shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-smale/that-s-the-beauty-of-the-summer-holidays-it-s-as-if-life-is-just-a/) [Holly Smale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-smale/) > [“Shouting about gender equality once a year doesn't end the patriarchal and misogynistic stereotypes. We must live every day as women's day, only then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/shouting-about-gender-equality-once-a-year-doesn-t-end-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [All of Japan once a year will get up on their rooftops, because that's the night that the shepherd boy from one side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/all-of-japan-once-a-year-will-get-up-on-their-rooftops-because-that-s/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [George Clooney and Brad Pitt, with those 'Oceans' films they do, they get to work together, make a whole lot of money, and make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-gossett-jr/george-clooney-and-brad-pitt-with-those-oceans-films-they-do-they-get/) [Louis Gossett, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-gossett-jr/) > [“Once a year Jobs took his most valuable employees on a retreat, which he called " The Top 100." They were picked based on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/once-a-year-jobs-took-his-most-valuable-employees-on-a-retreat-which/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [“Although Thanksgiving comes but once a year, every day should be a day of Thanks. Among all the challenges that we face as people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monique-hammond/although-thanksgiving-comes-but-once-a-year-every-day-should-be-a-day/) [Monique Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monique-hammond/) > [So if a Christian is touched only once a year, the touching is still worth it, and maybe on some given Christmas, some quiet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-reasoner/so-if-a-christian-is-touched-only-once-a-year-the-touching-is-still/) [Harry Reasoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-reasoner/) > [I do standup once a year, when I host the CMAs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-paisley/i-do-standup-once-a-year-when-i-host-the-cmas/) [Brad Paisley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-paisley/) > [So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases. Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-c-coates/so-then-man-tortures-and-kills-millions-more-animals-to-look-for/) [David C. Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-c-coates/) > [Established in 2001, the Medal of Valor is our nation's highest public safety award. Officers across the nation are nominated by their peers, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barr/established-in-2001-the-medal-of-valor-is-our-nation-s-highest-public/) [William Barr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barr/) > [“In regard to propaganda the early advocates of universal literacy and a free press envisaged only two possibilities: the propaganda might be true, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/in-regard-to-propaganda-the-early-advocates-of-universal-literacy-and/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Thanksgiving is so called because we are all so thankful that it only comes once a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/thanksgiving-is-so-called-because-we-are-all-so-thankful-that-it-only/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) [Browse all 284 Once a year quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/once-a-year/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Tom said people should repaint their houses in and out, especially in, at least once a year—because who wants to live with the memories of themselves?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frank Lentricchia" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-houses-in-and-out-especially-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Once a year" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-houses-in-and-out-especially-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/frank-lentricchia-36155_once-a-year_tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-hou_1025907.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/frank-lentricchia-36155_once-a-year_tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-hou_1025907.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c46/frank-lentricchia-36155_once-a-year_tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-hou_1025907.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Tom said people should repaint their houses in and out, especially in, at least once a year—because who…” — Frank Lentricchia", "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 Lentricchia", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lentricchia/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Tom said people should repaint their...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-houses-in-and-out-especially-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lentricchia/tom-said-people-should-repaint-their-houses-in-and-out-especially-in/#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 } } ] } ```