--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My father collected turtles when he was…" description: "\"My father collected turtles when he was young. My parent's wedding album, there's two pictures of them getting married and the rest are just pictures o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa6/hanya-yanagihara-4245_animal_my-father-collected-turtles-when-he-was_433446.jpg" --- # My father collected turtles when he was young. My parent's… ![“My father collected turtles when he was young. My parent's wedding album, there's two pictures of them getting married and the rest are just pictures of turtles. I remember they had Galapagos tortoises that they had somehow imported illegally and a bunch of other turtles too. I like the animals…” quote by Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa6/hanya-yanagihara-4245_animal_my-father-collected-turtles-when-he-was_433446.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa6/hanya-yanagihara-4245_animal_my-father-collected-turtles-when-he-was_433446.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa6/hanya-yanagihara-4245_animal_my-father-collected-turtles-when-he-was_433446.jpg) > “My father collected turtles when he was young. My parent's wedding album, there's two pictures of them getting married and the rest are just pictures of turtles. I remember they had Galapagos tortoises that they had somehow imported illegally and a bunch of other turtles too. I like the animals themselves. They're so self-possessed and self-contained and there's something wise and mysterious about them. I also like that they are prehistoric animals.” [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) ## 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 reflects on childhood memories of turtles, seeing them as symbols of wisdom, mystery, and ancient continuity. **In simple terms:** Turtles represent timeless wisdom and mystery. Key Takeaway Appreciate the quiet strength of ancient beings. Themes nostalgia nature wisdom memory prehistory Mood reflective melancholic Type personal observational When to use this quote - family storytelling - museum curation - environmental education - personal reflection Key Concepts symbolism anthropomorphism conservation Questions to Reflect On - How do personal memories shape our view of nature? - What responsibilities arise from admiring endangered species? A Different Perspective The anecdote may romanticize illegal wildlife trade. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Collected Turtles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collected-turtles-3815262/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Getting married](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-married/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Married](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/married/) [Mysterious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysterious/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Pictures Turtles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pictures-turtles-3815261/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Tortoises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tortoises/) [Turtles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turtles/) [Turtles Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turtles-like-3815263/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [The predicament of a person in a restaurant who is unable to determine his or her designated restroom (e.g., turtles and tortoises).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-hall/the-predicament-of-a-person-in-a-restaurant-who-is-unable-to/) [Rich Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-hall/) > [Old people who live too long come to resemble turtles. As though time turned in a curve, and down they go to the reptiles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-winslow-johnson/old-people-who-live-too-long-come-to-resemble-turtles-as-though-time/) [Josephine Winslow Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-winslow-johnson/) > [So a lorry-load of tortoises crashed into a train-load of terrapins, I thought "That's a turtle disaster".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-cooper/so-a-lorry-load-of-tortoises-crashed-into-a-train-load-of-terrapins-i/) [Tommy Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-cooper/) > [The master was an old Turtle--we used to call him Tortoise--' Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?' Alice asked. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/the-master-was-an-old-turtle-we-used-to-call-him-tortoise-why-did-you/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [Om rubed his head. This wasn't god-like thinking. It seemed simpler when you were up here. 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The tortoise has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/so-zeno-is-most-famous-for-his-tortoise-paradox-let-us-imagine-that/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Remember, slow and steady wins the race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ieyasu-tokugawa/remember-slow-and-steady-wins-the-race/) [Ieyasu Tokugawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ieyasu-tokugawa/) > [Now, if the principle of toleration were once admitted into classical education - if it were admitted that the great object is to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/now-if-the-principle-of-toleration-were-once-admitted-into-classical/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [We wait for the tortoises to come. We wait for that lady who walks them. That’s how art works. It’s never a jackrabbit, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-conroy/we-wait-for-the-tortoises-to-come-we-wait-for-that-lady-who-walks/) [Pat Conroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-conroy/) > [We debase the richness of both nature and our own minds if we view the great pageant of our intellectual history as a compendium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/we-debase-the-richness-of-both-nature-and-our-own-minds-if-we-view/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Winds flap the sail, tortoise and snake are silent, a great plan looms. A bridge will fly over this moat dug by heaven and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/winds-flap-the-sail-tortoise-and-snake-are-silent-a-great-plan-looms/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [A tortoise is, I suppose, a Jewish pet. It knows its place. Out on the lawn. It doesn't bark. It doesn't tear the Dralon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-lipman/a-tortoise-is-i-suppose-a-jewish-pet-it-knows-its-place-out-on-the/) [Maureen Lipman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-lipman/) ## More by Hanya Yanagihara > [“People who don’t love math always accuse mathematicians of trying to make math complicated,” Dr. Li had said. “But anyone who does love math…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/people-who-don-t-love-math-always-accuse-mathematicians-of-trying-to/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“At night, as beneath him his parents completed their routines, the banging of the old pipes as they washed their faces and the sudden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/at-night-as-beneath-him-his-parents-completed-their-routines-the/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [To be a scientist you have to be willing to live with uncertainty for a long time. 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Contracts are not fair,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/but-fairness-is-not-the-only-or-even-the-most-important-consideration/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“I would hold him in my arms and wait to cross the street and would think how absurd it was that my child, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/i-would-hold-him-in-my-arms-and-wait-to-cross-the-street-and-would/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“The easiest explanations are often the right ones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/the-easiest-explanations-are-often-the-right-ones/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“my father said the whole world seemed made of sound and nothing else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/my-father-said-the-whole-world-seemed-made-of-sound-and-nothing-else/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“He cleaned so he wouldn't cut himself, because he was cutting himself so much that even he knew how crazy, how destructive he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/he-cleaned-so-he-wouldn-t-cut-himself-because-he-was-cutting-himself/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“There was something scary and anxiety-inducing about being in a space where nothing seemed to be forbidden to him, where everything was offered to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/there-was-something-scary-and-anxiety-inducing-about-being-in-a-space/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [The big characters who occupy science, especially modern science, are all "off" in fundamental ways. I don't think that genius goes hand in hand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/the-big-characters-who-occupy-science-especially-modern-science-are/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“Sometimes I would have to take my glasses off simply so the world would smudge and recede for a moment and cease to seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/sometimes-i-would-have-to-take-my-glasses-off-simply-so-the-world/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [I credit my parents for many things that had never seemed remarkable when I was growing up, and one of those things is how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/i-credit-my-parents-for-many-things-that-had-never-seemed-remarkable/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [I have one friend to whom I've told more than I've ever told anyone, and yet there are significant territories I have and will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/i-have-one-friend-to-whom-i-ve-told-more-than-i-ve-ever-told-anyone/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) > [“If you keep trying to find everything, you’ll wind up with nothing. AMY:”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanya-yanagihara/if-you-keep-trying-to-find-everything-you-ll-wind-up-with-nothing-amy/) [Hanya Yanagihara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) [Explore all 94 Hanya Yanagihara quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanya-yanagihara/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. 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He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? 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It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My father collected turtles when he was young. My parent's wedding album, there's two pictures of them getting married and the rest are just pictures of turtles. I remember they had Galapagos tortoises that they had somehow imported illegally and a bunch of other turtles too. I like the animals themselves. They're so self-possessed and self-contained and there's something wise and mysterious about them. 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