--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A strange thing is memory, and hope; one…" description: "\"A strange thing is memory, and hope; one looks backward, and the other forward; one is of today, the other of tomorrow. Memory is history recorded in o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/grandma-moses-28790_brain_a-strange-thing-is-memory-and-hope-one-l_2452895.png" --- # A strange thing is memory, and hope; one looks backward… ![“A strange thing is memory, and hope; one looks backward, and the other forward; one is of today, the other of tomorrow. Memory is history recorded in our brain, memory is a painter, it paints pictures of the past and of the day.” quote by Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/grandma-moses-28790_brain_a-strange-thing-is-memory-and-hope-one-l_2452895.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/grandma-moses-28790_brain_a-strange-thing-is-memory-and-hope-one-l_2452895.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/grandma-moses-28790_brain_a-strange-thing-is-memory-and-hope-one-l_2452895.png) > “A strange thing is memory, and hope; one looks backward, and the other forward; one is of today, the other of tomorrow. Memory is history recorded in our brain, memory is a painter, it paints pictures of the past and of the day.” [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory preserves past experiences; hope projects future possibilities; both shape our present outlook. **In simple terms:** Memory looks back, hope looks forward, together they guide today. Key Takeaway Balance remembering with aspiring. Themes memory hope time psychology Mood optimistic reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - therapy - storytelling Key Concepts nostalgia future orientation cognitive framing Questions to Reflect On - What past do you cherish? - What future do you envision? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on nostalgia can hinder present action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Painter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painter/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tomorrow/) ## Related quotes > [Memory is a painter. Paintin's not important. The important thing is keepin' busy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/memory-is-a-painter-paintin-s-not-important-the-important-thing-is/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [“Tomorrow is a memory best forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harley-king/tomorrow-is-a-memory-best-forgotten/) [Harley King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harley-king/) > [We only really remember things for five years. After that, what we remember, what's actually etched in our brain is our memory of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-dave/we-only-really-remember-things-for-five-years-after-that-what-we/) [Laura Dave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-dave/) > [How is the mind which functions on knowledge how is the brain which is recording all the time to end, to see the importance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/how-is-the-mind-which-functions-on-knowledge-how-is-the-brain-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Smell is the shortest synaptic leap in the brain to our memory, and I'm amazed that people don't sniff everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-e-grant/smell-is-the-shortest-synaptic-leap-in-the-brain-to-our-memory-and-i/) [Richard E. Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-e-grant/) > [“universe time brain memory psychology reality”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a/universe-time-brain-memory-psychology-reality/) a > [You will never know the true value of a thing, until it becomes a memory spongebob squarepants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieyem/you-will-never-know-the-true-value-of-a-thing-until-it-becomes-a/) Dieyem > [We no longer see the evolution of the nervous system, but that of a certain individual. The role of the memory is very important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodolfo-llinas/we-no-longer-see-the-evolution-of-the-nervous-system-but-that-of-a/) [Rodolfo Llinas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodolfo-llinas/) > [“If a memory wasn't a thing but a memory of a memory of a memory, mirrors set in parallel, then what the brain told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/if-a-memory-wasn-t-a-thing-but-a-memory-of-a-memory-of-a-memory/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“We have seen that there are two misconceptions involved in the myth that memory is a thing. One is that memory is a thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-l-higbee/we-have-seen-that-there-are-two-misconceptions-involved-in-the-myth/) [Kenneth L. Higbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-l-higbee/) > [The thing is, all memory is fiction,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-goolrick/the-thing-is-all-memory-is-fiction/) [Robert Goolrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-goolrick/) > [Memory is a dead thing. Memory is not truth and cannot ever be, because truth is always alive, truth is life; memory is persistence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/memory-is-a-dead-thing-memory-is-not-truth-and-cannot-ever-be-because/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“We known the past - and shape our schemas about it - through memory, history, and relics but also through imagination. With such aids,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-griswold/we-known-the-past-and-shape-our-schemas-about-it-through-memory/) [Wendy Griswold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-griswold/) > [“Gower is the first English writer to use "history" as an English word. He regularly rhymes the term with "memory," for to his way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-a-peck/gower-is-the-first-english-writer-to-use-history-as-an-english-word/) Russell A. Peck > [There is an ancient Indian saying that something lives only as long as the last person who remembers it. My people have come to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-red-crow-westerman/there-is-an-ancient-indian-saying-that-something-lives-only-as-long/) Floyd Red Crow Westerman ## More by Grandma Moses > [I have written my life in small sketches, a little today, a little yesterday... I look back on my life as a good day's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/i-have-written-my-life-in-small-sketches-a-little-today-a-little/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [I'll get an inspiration and start painting; then I'll forget everything, everything except how things used to be and how to paint it so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/i-ll-get-an-inspiration-and-start-painting-then-i-ll-forget/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [People should take time to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/people-should-take-time-to-be-happy/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [Now that I am ninety-five years old, looking back over the years, I have seen many changes taking place, so many inventions have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/now-that-i-am-ninety-five-years-old-looking-back-over-the-years-i/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [Someone has asked me to paint Biblical pictures, and I say no, I'll not paint something that we know nothing about, might just as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/someone-has-asked-me-to-paint-biblical-pictures-and-i-say-no-i-ll-not/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [I like to paint something that leads me on and on into the unknown, something that I want to see away on beyond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/i-like-to-paint-something-that-leads-me-on-and-on-into-the-unknown/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [ I don't advise any one to take it \[painting\] up as a business proposition, unless they really have talent... But I will say that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/i-don-t-advise-any-one-to-take-it-painting-up-as-a-business/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [If you know somethin' well, you can always paint it but people would be better off buyin' chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/if-you-know-somethin-well-you-can-always-paint-it-but-people-would-be/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [Even now / I am not old. / I never think of it, and yet / I am a grandmother to eleven grandchildren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/even-now-i-am-not-old-i-never-think-of-it-and-yet-i-am-a-grandmother/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [I look out the window sometimes to seek the color of the shadows and the different greens in the trees, but when I get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/i-look-out-the-window-sometimes-to-seek-the-color-of-the-shadows-and/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [I would never sit back in a rocking chair, waiting for someone to help me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/i-would-never-sit-back-in-a-rocking-chair-waiting-for-someone-to-help/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [I paint from the top down. From the sky, then the mountains, then the hills, then the houses, then the cattle, and then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/i-paint-from-the-top-down-from-the-sky-then-the-mountains-then-the/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [If I hadn't started painting, I would have raised chickens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/if-i-hadn-t-started-painting-i-would-have-raised-chickens/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/life-is-what-we-make-it-always-has-been-always-will-be/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) > [I have written my life in small sketches, a little today, a little yesterday, as I have thought of it, as I remember all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grandma-moses/i-have-written-my-life-in-small-sketches-a-little-today-a-little-2/) [Grandma Moses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) [Explore all 19 Grandma Moses quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grandma-moses/) ## More Brain quotes > [The brain abhors discrepancies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vilayanur-s-ramachandran/the-brain-abhors-discrepancies/) [Vilayanur S. 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Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [down with ought with because with every brain that thinks it thinks nor dares to feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/down-with-ought-with-because-with-every-brain-that-thinks-it-thinks/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To explicate the uses of the Brain seems as difficult a task as to paint the Soul, of which it is commonly said, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-willis/to-explicate-the-uses-of-the-brain-seems-as-difficult-a-task-as-to/) [Thomas Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-willis/) > [I prefer the word 'musician.' I'm a musician and a composer. I have a problem with the word 'artist.' I don't know if it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stromae/i-prefer-the-word-musician-i-m-a-musician-and-a-composer-i-have-a/) [Stromae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stromae/) > [Thinking of sex provides enough mental stimulation to reduce risk of diseases that damage the brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thinking-of-sex-provides-enough-mental-stimulation-to-reduce-risk-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My writing routine is: get son off to school and sit down at 8 A.M. I read what I wrote the day before, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-chevalier/my-writing-routine-is-get-son-off-to-school-and-sit-down-at-8-a-m-i/) [Tracy Chevalier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-chevalier/) > [The reason I'm drawn to it is - both the off road racing and the motorcycles on the track - it takes a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dax-shepard/the-reason-i-m-drawn-to-it-is-both-the-off-road-racing-and-the/) [Dax Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dax-shepard/) > [Without illusions. I love you because you are fallible and because your poor misguided testosterone-corrupted brain has you doing cartwheels trying not to be.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-gerard/without-illusions-i-love-you-because-you-are-fallible-and-because/) [Cindy Gerard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-gerard/) > [being asked to decide between your passion for work and your passion for children was like being asked by your doctor whether you preferred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-bevington/being-asked-to-decide-between-your-passion-for-work-and-your-passion/) [Helen Bevington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-bevington/) > [I was told I had brain damage. I always knew it was an unfair label. 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