--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Remembering is my only job and it's hard…" description: "\"“Remembering is my only job and it's hard work. We are natural-born amnesiacs, hardwired to let go of the past, to release ourselves from history; the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/greg-olear-138940_bottled-water_remembering-is-my-only-job-and-it-s-hard_706742.jpg" --- # Remembering is my only job and it's hard work. We are… ![“Remembering is my only job and it's hard work. We are natural-born amnesiacs, hardwired to let go of the past, to release ourselves from history; the only way to withstand our pain is to forget our pain. We may think we don't forget, but we do. Time wears down the rough edges of our memory, sure…” quote by Greg Olear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/greg-olear-138940_bottled-water_remembering-is-my-only-job-and-it-s-hard_706742.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/greg-olear-138940_bottled-water_remembering-is-my-only-job-and-it-s-hard_706742.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40b/greg-olear-138940_bottled-water_remembering-is-my-only-job-and-it-s-hard_706742.jpg) > ““Remembering is my only job and it's hard work. We are natural-born amnesiacs, hardwired to let go of the past, to release ourselves from history; the only way to withstand our pain is to forget our pain. We may think we don't forget, but we do. Time wears down the rough edges of our memory, sure as a stone on the river bank is smoothed by the rushing current. And like the eroding stone, the memory fades so gradually we don't even feel it. We don't notice. Eighteen years fly by, whoosh, and we don't even realize that not long ago, we didn't all drink bottled water, the Soviet Union loomed as a threat, smoking was commonplace in restaurants, and Bono was just a rockstar. What I want... all I want... is not to forget. But it's an uphill battle. Over time, the image blurs, the scent dissipates, the memory fades. ”” [Greg Olear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-olear/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory fades over time; forgetting can ease pain but also erases history **In simple terms:** We forget naturally, which can both heal and harm Key Takeaway Balance remembering with letting go Themes memory history impermanence Mood nostalgic contemplative Type reflective philosophical When to use this quote - journaling - therapy - storytelling Key Concepts personal growth psychology culture Questions to Reflect On - What memories shape you? - How do you honor past while moving forward? A Different Perspective Over‑forgetting can lose valuable lessons ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bottled water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bottled-water/) [Forget Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget-time-353122/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Fades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-fades-819880/) [Pain Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-forget-608752/) [Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering/) [Remembering Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering-job-5583308/) [Rough edges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rough-edges/) [Soviet union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet-union/) ## Related quotes > [“Goodbye is the absolute hardest thing to say because you have to walk away with just a memory and after awhile that memory fades.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dillon/goodbye-is-the-absolute-hardest-thing-to-say-because-you-have-to-walk/) [Sarah Dillon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dillon/) > [What is memory but the repository of things doomed to be forgotten, so you must have History. You must have labor to invent History.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/what-is-memory-but-the-repository-of-things-doomed-to-be-forgotten-so/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Memory fades, memory adjusts, memory conforms to what we think we remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/memory-fades-memory-adjusts-memory-conforms-to-what-we-think-we/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Memories need to be shared because there will come a time that our memory fades and memories are forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merlyn/memories-need-to-be-shared-because-there-will-come-a-time-that-our/) [Merlyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merlyn/) > [When my hair's all but gone and my memory fades And the crowds don't remember my name When my hands don't play the strings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-sheeran/when-my-hair-s-all-but-gone-and-my-memory-fades-and-the-crowds-don-t/) [Ed Sheeran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-sheeran/) > [“The brightest memory fades faster than the dullest ink.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-brightest-memory-fades-faster-than-the-dullest-ink/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [The memory fades, and I’m left hanging on to the ghosts of his words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/the-memory-fades-and-i-m-left-hanging-on-to-the-ghosts-of-his-words/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) > [As we get older it is our short term memory that fades rather than our long term memory. Perhaps we have evolved like this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-perry/as-we-get-older-it-is-our-short-term-memory-that-fades-rather-than/) [Philippa Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-perry/) > [Everyone is down on pain, because they forget something important about it: Pain is for the living. Only the dead don't feel it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/everyone-is-down-on-pain-because-they-forget-something-important/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [“Everyone is down on pain, because they forget one important thing about it: Pain is for the living. Only the dead don't feel it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/everyone-is-down-on-pain-because-they-forget-one-important-thing/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [Then come the lights shining on you from above. You are a performer. You forget all you learned, the process of technique, the fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/then-come-the-lights-shining-on-you-from-above-you-are-a-performer/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [“Homer suggest that if you forget your pain, you forget your homeland-you 'lose your hope of home.'"-pg.39”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-shay/homer-suggest-that-if-you-forget-your-pain-you-forget-your-homeland/) [Jonathan Shay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-shay/) > [“Let go of the pain. But never forget the past lessons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/let-go-of-the-pain-but-never-forget-the-past-lessons/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I smoke to get rid of the pain, to forget where my life went wrong. Then I wake to find nothing has changed,and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-smoke-to-get-rid-of-the-pain-to-forget-where-my-life-went-wrong/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He doesn't fix me, doesn't heal me. He just makes life worthwhile. He helps me remember to breathe, shows me how to smile again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasinda-wilder/he-doesn-t-fix-me-doesn-t-heal-me-he-just-makes-life-worthwhile-he/) [Jasinda Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasinda-wilder/) ## More Bottled water quotes > [“But there’s more. When I was on my way to the event today, Carolyn texted me and told me that Steve and Eve got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-morrisx/but-there-s-more-when-i-was-on-my-way-to-the-event-today-carolyn/) [Linda Morrisx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-morrisx/) > [“New Rule: You don't have to put the cap back on the bottled water after every sip. It's water, not a genie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/new-rule-you-don-t-have-to-put-the-cap-back-on-the-bottled-water/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [Drink lots of water, and nap. I've made some really big messes along the way, whether on the academic side or on the media…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-harris-perry/drink-lots-of-water-and-nap-i-ve-made-some-really-big-messes-along/) [Melissa Harris-Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-harris-perry/) > [The marketers can compete with free; it just has to be better. Look at bottled water if you don't believe me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-potter/the-marketers-can-compete-with-free-it-just-has-to-be-better-look-at/) [Jonathan Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-potter/) > [“In the summer of 2002, Biden was pushing his RAVE Act, an absurdly broad law that would have made venue and club owners liable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radley-balko/in-the-summer-of-2002-biden-was-pushing-his-rave-act-an-absurdly/) [Radley Balko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radley-balko/) > [I like that Brita makes tap water taste good, so you don't need to spend money or waste plastic with bottled water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-curry/i-like-that-brita-makes-tap-water-taste-good-so-you-don-t-need-to/) [Stephen Curry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-curry/) > [“Bottled water is not better than tap water. As you can tell, I’m quite passionate about water being your beverage of choice. So let’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-besser/bottled-water-is-not-better-than-tap-water-as-you-can-tell-i-m-quite/) [Richard Besser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-besser/) > [They got rid of bottled water. We got thermoses that say 'Grey's Anatomy Season 4' with our names on it. Cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-smith/they-got-rid-of-bottled-water-we-got-thermoses-that-say-grey-s/) [Brooke Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-smith/) > [Public service announcement: In case of a terrorist attack, bottled water and duct tape are not going to do a damn thing. So do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/public-service-announcement-in-case-of-a-terrorist-attack-bottled/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [“You in the mood for a movie tonight?" Kate asked him a couple days later. 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Pour it into a reusable water bottle, and always have fresh water on the go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashlan-gorse-cousteau/forget-bottled-water-tap-water-is-just-as-good-pour-it-into-a/) [Ashlan Gorse Cousteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashlan-gorse-cousteau/) > [I actually believe 'Sustainability ', as a concept, is one of the arteries leading to the heart of so many of our cultural transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-boyd/i-actually-believe-sustainability-as-a-concept-is-one-of-the-arteries/) [Brandon Boyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-boyd/) > [“In much of the rest of the world, rich people live in gated communities and drink bottled water. That's increasingly the case in Los…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/in-much-of-the-rest-of-the-world-rich-people-live-in-gated/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [I remember as kid drinking out of the garden hose, now I pay for bottled water..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jreyes/i-remember-as-kid-drinking-out-of-the-garden-hose-now-i-pay-for/) [JREYES](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jreyes/) [Browse all 59 Bottled water quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bottled-water/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Remembering is my only job and it's hard work. We are natural-born amnesiacs, hardwired to let go of the past, to release ourselves from history; the only way to withstand our pain is to forget our pain. We may think we don't forget, but we do. Time wears down the rough edges of our memory, sure as a stone on the river bank is smoothed by the rushing current. And like the eroding stone, the memory fades so gradually we don't even feel it. We don't notice. Eighteen years fly by, whoosh, and we don't even realize that not long ago, we didn't all drink bottled water, the Soviet Union loomed as a threat, smoking was commonplace in restaurants, and Bono was just a rockstar. What I want... all I want... is not to forget. But it's an uphill battle. 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