--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For almost a decade I was haunted by the…" description: "\"“For almost a decade I was haunted by the memory of Deborah Black, I was about to claim. But the memory didn't haunt me; I haunted the memory. Went to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/glen-duncan-1307_memory_for-almost-a-decade-i-was-haunted-by-the_1657050.png" --- # For almost a decade I was haunted by the memory of Deborah… ![“For almost a decade I was haunted by the memory of Deborah Black, I was about to claim. But the memory didn't haunt me; I haunted the memory. Went to it, at night or in the deadened hours of empty afternoons, woke it up, reminded it of all the fun we'd had, made it do things with me.” quote by Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/glen-duncan-1307_memory_for-almost-a-decade-i-was-haunted-by-the_1657050.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/glen-duncan-1307_memory_for-almost-a-decade-i-was-haunted-by-the_1657050.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/065/glen-duncan-1307_memory_for-almost-a-decade-i-was-haunted-by-the_1657050.png) > ““For almost a decade I was haunted by the memory of Deborah Black, I was about to claim. But the memory didn't haunt me; I haunted the memory. Went to it, at night or in the deadened hours of empty afternoons, woke it up, reminded it of all the fun we'd had, made it do things with me.”” [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator confronts and re‑engages with a haunting memory, turning it into an active, playful interaction. **In simple terms:** He turns a haunting memory into a game. Key Takeaway Engage with past pains creatively. Themes memory haunting creativity Mood introspective hopeful Type literary psychological When to use this quote - writing workshops - personal healing - artistic expression Key Concepts psychology narrative therapy Questions to Reflect On - How can playfulness aid healing? - When is confronting memory harmful? A Different Perspective May trivialize serious trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ## Related quotes > [“The young hear memory in the voice of their elders and, delighted by these voices from the past or bored by them, too often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/the-young-hear-memory-in-the-voice-of-their-elders-and-delighted-by/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [Memory is not about what went on in the past, it is about what is going on inside us right this moment. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/memory-is-not-about-what-went-on-in-the-past-it-is-about-what-is/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [...you don't need ghosts to be haunted. Memory does that just fine without any supernatural help at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/you-don-t-need-ghosts-to-be-haunted-memory-does-that-just-fine/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Memory blurs, that's the point. If memory didn't blur you wouldn't have the fool's courage to do things again, again, again, that tear you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/memory-blurs-that-s-the-point-if-memory-didn-t-blur-you-wouldn-t-have/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Here is a shared memory that we didn't share, forgot to share, for almost ninety years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mcaleese/here-is-a-shared-memory-that-we-didn-t-share-forgot-to-share-for/) [Mary McAleese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mcaleese/) > [I think it's always hard for children to talk about abuse because it is only memory. I didn't carry around a tape recorder ……](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-heche/i-think-it-s-always-hard-for-children-to-talk-about-abuse-because-it/) [Anne Heche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-heche/) > [They're very strong in memory. Didn't do very much in microprocessors or digital signal processing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kilby/they-re-very-strong-in-memory-didn-t-do-very-much-in-microprocessors/) [Jack Kilby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kilby/) > [She was still there inside me now, just as she always was: a life put on hold, a memory I didn't know how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banana-yoshimoto/she-was-still-there-inside-me-now-just-as-she-always-was-a-life-put/) [Banana Yoshimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banana-yoshimoto/) > [What I would do is I would just remember the scene and I'd go home and I'd write out the scene from memory. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-tarantino/what-i-would-do-is-i-would-just-remember-the-scene-and-i-d-go-home/) [Quentin Tarantino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-tarantino/) > [We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/we-degenerate-into-hideous-puppets-haunted-by-the-memory-of-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Certain miracles that I beheld there have haunted my memory ever since: a gray April morning of sirocco, when the almond blossoms, the flaming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harrison-gray-otis-dwight/certain-miracles-that-i-beheld-there-have-haunted-my-memory-ever/) [Harrison Gray Otis Dwight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harrison-gray-otis-dwight/) > [“I jolt out of sleep and cold sweats creep on as they always do. Waking from one nightmare only to be haunted by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-newman/i-jolt-out-of-sleep-and-cold-sweats-creep-on-as-they-always-do-waking/) [Liz Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-newman/) > [Perhaps - I want the old days back again and they'll never come back, and I am haunted by the memory of them and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mitchell/perhaps-i-want-the-old-days-back-again-and-they-ll-never-come-back/) [Margaret Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mitchell/) > [But we never get back our youth… The pulse of joy that beats in us at twenty becomes sluggish. Our limbs fail, our senses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/but-we-never-get-back-our-youth-the-pulse-of-joy-that-beats-in-us-at/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were too much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/we-degenerate-into-hideous-puppets-haunted-by-the-memory-of-the-2/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Glen Duncan > [Nineteenth-century English literature I know; 19th-century sewage systems, not so much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/nineteenth-century-english-literature-i-know-19th-century-sewage/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“For the longest time the romantic explanation for low rates of female infection endured: Possession of a womb, it was supposed, conferred a gentleness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/for-the-longest-time-the-romantic-explanation-for-low-rates-of-female/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The question 'What was there before creation?' is meaningless. Time is a property of creation, therefore before creation there was no before creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-question-what-was-there-before-creation-is-meaningless-time-is-a/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The beauty spot by her lip was one of a dozen or so scattered over her body. My new constellations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-beauty-spot-by-her-lip-was-one-of-a-dozen-or-so-scattered-over/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [Fairy tales read before bed tend to make me dream. They're all quite violent stories, as are my dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/fairy-tales-read-before-bed-tend-to-make-me-dream-they-re-all-quite/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [I don’t know where the universe came from or what happens to creatures when they die. I don’t know if the whole thing’s an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/i-don-t-know-where-the-universe-came-from-or-what-happens-to/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [In a fit of pique, I said to my agent, 'I'm going to write something you can sell.' The idea was to write a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/in-a-fit-of-pique-i-said-to-my-agent-i-m-going-to-write-something-you/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The Mortals are free, Lucifer. What they've done they've done from within themselves. - Raphael”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-mortals-are-free-lucifer-what-they-ve-done-they-ve-done-from/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [One day the ordinariness will be terminally punctuated by the extraordinary full stop of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/one-day-the-ordinariness-will-be-terminally-punctuated-by-the/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [When I see gurgling retarded children (that's God's doing, by the way, not mine) happily styling their hair with their own stinking mards, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/when-i-see-gurgling-retarded-children-that-s-god-s-doing-by-the-way/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“She understood the genre constraints, the decencies we were supposed to be observing. The morally cosy vision allows the embrace of monstrosity only as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/she-understood-the-genre-constraints-the-decencies-we-were-supposed/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“Show us the world's not the way we thought it was and part of us rejoices.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/show-us-the-world-s-not-the-way-we-thought-it-was-and-part-of-us/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“It’s just what you’re stuck with, the lousy furniture you can’t change. The educated me knows hell’s nothing, a fiction I happened to inherit.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/it-s-just-what-you-re-stuck-with-the-lousy-furniture-you-can-t-change/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“Afterwards, sitting on my bunk, I cried. I read somewhere that when you’re a kid it’s people’s cruelty that makes you cry, then when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/afterwards-sitting-on-my-bunk-i-cried-i-read-somewhere-that-when-you/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“The absurdity of it, she thought, this quest for the love of a man who was her equal. She loathed herself for it. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-absurdity-of-it-she-thought-this-quest-for-the-love-of-a-man-who/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) [Explore all 259 Glen Duncan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) ## More Memory quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [“Maybe there is something when it all ends. Maybe there is memory, memory of the person you loved, when you lived. Maybe this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-ellison/maybe-there-is-something-when-it-all-ends-maybe-there-is-memory/) [Kate Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-ellison/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Once upon a time. Ah forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-ah-forget-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. In fact, the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/i-am-told-many-children-block-out-the-memory-of-trauma-in-fact-the/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [“The whole town rushed outside to celebrate this crowded minute when the time of suffering had ended and the time of forgetting had not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-whole-town-rushed-outside-to-celebrate-this-crowded-minute-when/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I've ever met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-caen/i-have-a-memory-like-an-elephant-i-remember-every-elephant-i-ve-ever/) [Herb Caen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-caen/) > [Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/your-memory-is-a-monster-you-forget-it-doesn-t-it-simply-files-things/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [My first Olympics memory was watching Haile Gebrselassie in Sydney 2000. His sprint finish to defend his title really moved me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-farah/my-first-olympics-memory-was-watching-haile-gebrselassie-in-sydney/) [Mo Farah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-farah/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [My greatest memories as a kid were playing sports with my dad and watching sports with my dad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-teixeira/my-greatest-memories-as-a-kid-were-playing-sports-with-my-dad-and/) [Mark Teixeira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-teixeira/) > [What’s the use of remembering anything? If it was unpleasant it was unpleasant and if it was pleasant it’s over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/what-s-the-use-of-remembering-anything-if-it-was-unpleasant-it-was/) [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [Always remember a little thing can change everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-remember-a-little-thing-can-change-everything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If God knows me I will never forget him](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trunxbeats/if-god-knows-me-i-will-never-forget-him/) Trunxbeats [Browse all 12,248 Memory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For almost a decade I was haunted by the memory of Deborah Black, I was about to claim. But the memory didn't haunt me; I haunted the memory. 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