--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's not really much good tearing out a…" description: "\"“It's not really much good tearing out a page because you can see the place where it's been torn. [...] You can pull a stamp out,' she said with terrib..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/graham-greene-441_tearing_it-s-not-really-much-good-tearing-out-a_2942604.jpg" --- # It's not really much good tearing out a page because you… ![“It's not really much good tearing out a page because you can see the place where it's been torn. [...] You can pull a stamp out,' she said with terrible youthful clarity, 'and you don't know that it's ever been there.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/graham-greene-441_tearing_it-s-not-really-much-good-tearing-out-a_2942604.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/graham-greene-441_tearing_it-s-not-really-much-good-tearing-out-a_2942604.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/580/graham-greene-441_tearing_it-s-not-really-much-good-tearing-out-a_2942604.jpg) > ““It's not really much good tearing out a page because you can see the place where it's been torn. \[...\] You can pull a stamp out,' she said with terrible youthful clarity, 'and you don't know that it's ever been there.”” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on how the act of removal reveals absence, suggesting that what is gone can still be felt and that our perception is shaped by what we have lost. **In simple terms:** Removing something makes us notice its absence. Key Takeaway Acknowledge the impact of loss. Themes memory absence perception loss clarity Mood reflective poignant philosophical Type literary contemplative When to use this quote - grief counseling - archival work - creative writing - personal reflection - museum curation Key Concepts impermanence subjectivity psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does noticing absence change our appreciation of what remains? - What can we learn from the spaces left behind? A Different Perspective The focus on loss may overlook the value of what remains. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“I still love the sound of breaking, the tearing of the page”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-young/i-still-love-the-sound-of-breaking-the-tearing-of-the-page/) [Dean Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-young/) > [“The stamp is something left over from an inpatient hospital program. In some other program RELEASED used to mean a client was set free.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/the-stamp-is-something-left-over-from-an-inpatient-hospital-program/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Right about now, he’d like to have a stamp that said “Mine, stay the hell away” to put right on her forehead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-banks-echoes-at-dawn/right-about-now-he-d-like-to-have-a-stamp-that-said-mine-stay-the/) Maya Banks Echoes At Dawn > [Its tearing me apart cause I knw I can love the way yu need it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa/its-tearing-me-apart-cause-i-knw-i-can-love-the-way-yu-need-it/) [Melissa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa/) > [Just the circumstances of being in D.C., people give you books, and there are issues you want to learn more about, so you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-quigley/just-the-circumstances-of-being-in-d-c-people-give-you-books-and/) [Mike Quigley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-quigley/) > [This feeling's tearing me up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trace-cyrus/this-feeling-s-tearing-me-up/) [Trace Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trace-cyrus/) > [By the end of the time I'm writing a book, I'm tearing my hair out and I want to go do stand-up. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ian-black/by-the-end-of-the-time-i-m-writing-a-book-i-m-tearing-my-hair-out-and/) [Michael Ian Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ian-black/) > [“Tearing money is an impiety, like throwing away bread.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/tearing-money-is-an-impiety-like-throwing-away-bread/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“She rolled over and sat up as he bent, tearing off his boots. "Whatcha doing?" "Getting naked." "I like that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurann-dohner/she-rolled-over-and-sat-up-as-he-bent-tearing-off-his-boots-whatcha/) [Laurann Dohner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurann-dohner/) > [“Limb by limb and tooth by tooth, Tearing up inside of me, Every day, every hour, just wish that I... Was bulletproof”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radiohead/limb-by-limb-and-tooth-by-tooth-tearing-up-inside-of-me-every-day/) [Radiohead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radiohead/) > [“We are defining the boundaries of normality by tearing apart the people outside of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/we-are-defining-the-boundaries-of-normality-by-tearing-apart-the/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) > [“But if you don’t ride me hard enough, I’m flipping you over and tearing that ass up. Got it?” “That sounds fair.” I nod…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kennedy-ryan/but-if-you-don-t-ride-me-hard-enough-i-m-flipping-you-over-and/) [Kennedy Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kennedy-ryan/) > [You cannot help the small men, by tearing down the big men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-h-boetcker/you-cannot-help-the-small-men-by-tearing-down-the-big-men/) [William J. H. Boetcker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-h-boetcker/) > [Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?" "If you wanted me to rip my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/is-this-the-part-where-you-start-tearing-off-strips-of-your-shirt-to/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [What I was concerned about when I wrote the 'Downward Spiral' record was being a self-centred destructive force. The point was tearing down everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trent-reznor/what-i-was-concerned-about-when-i-wrote-the-downward-spiral-record/) [Trent Reznor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trent-reznor/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Tearing quotes > [What I was concerned about when I wrote the 'Downward Spiral' record was being a self-centred destructive force. The point was tearing down everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trent-reznor/what-i-was-concerned-about-when-i-wrote-the-downward-spiral-record/) [Trent Reznor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trent-reznor/) > [Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?" 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Got it?” “That sounds fair.” I nod…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kennedy-ryan/but-if-you-don-t-ride-me-hard-enough-i-m-flipping-you-over-and/) [Kennedy Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kennedy-ryan/) > [“We are defining the boundaries of normality by tearing apart the people outside of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/we-are-defining-the-boundaries-of-normality-by-tearing-apart-the/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) > [“Limb by limb and tooth by tooth, Tearing up inside of me, Every day, every hour, just wish that I... Was bulletproof”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radiohead/limb-by-limb-and-tooth-by-tooth-tearing-up-inside-of-me-every-day/) [Radiohead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radiohead/) > [“She rolled over and sat up as he bent, tearing off his boots. "Whatcha doing?" "Getting naked." "I like that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurann-dohner/she-rolled-over-and-sat-up-as-he-bent-tearing-off-his-boots-whatcha/) [Laurann Dohner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurann-dohner/) > [“Tearing money is an impiety, like throwing away bread.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/tearing-money-is-an-impiety-like-throwing-away-bread/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [By the end of the time I'm writing a book, I'm tearing my hair out and I want to go do stand-up. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ian-black/by-the-end-of-the-time-i-m-writing-a-book-i-m-tearing-my-hair-out-and/) [Michael Ian Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ian-black/) > [This feeling's tearing me up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trace-cyrus/this-feeling-s-tearing-me-up/) [Trace Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trace-cyrus/) > [Just the circumstances of being in D.C., people give you books, and there are issues you want to learn more about, so you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-quigley/just-the-circumstances-of-being-in-d-c-people-give-you-books-and/) [Mike Quigley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-quigley/) > [Its tearing me apart cause I knw I can love the way yu need it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa/its-tearing-me-apart-cause-i-knw-i-can-love-the-way-yu-need-it/) [Melissa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa/) > [“The worst type of crying wasn’t the kind everyone could see—the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-mcgarry/the-worst-type-of-crying-wasn-t-the-kind-everyone-could-see-the/) [Katie McGarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-mcgarry/) > [Limb by limb and tooth by tooth, tearing up inside of you, every day, every hour, just wish that you...were bulletproof?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/limb-by-limb-and-tooth-by-tooth-tearing-up-inside-of-you-every-day/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Reading nice stuff about you is lovely, but I know it's going to be soul-destroying when you do something that everyone is tearing apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mackay/reading-nice-stuff-about-you-is-lovely-but-i-know-it-s-going-to-be/) [George MacKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mackay/) Browse all 142 Tearing quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It's not really much good tearing out a page because you can see the place where it's been torn. 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