--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Memories beautify life, but the capacity…" description: "\"Memories beautify life, but the capacity to forget makes it bearable.\" — Honore de Balzac" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/honor-de-balzac-197_bearable_memories-beautify-life-but-the-capacity_3098193.png" --- # Memories beautify life, but the capacity to forget makes… ![“Memories beautify life, but the capacity to forget makes it bearable.” quote by Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/honor-de-balzac-197_bearable_memories-beautify-life-but-the-capacity_3098193.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/honor-de-balzac-197_bearable_memories-beautify-life-but-the-capacity_3098193.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/honor-de-balzac-197_bearable_memories-beautify-life-but-the-capacity_3098193.png) > “Memories beautify life, but the capacity to forget makes it bearable.” [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Remembering adds richness, but forgetting eases pain, balancing memory and relief. **In simple terms:** Memories enrich, forgetting relieves. Key Takeaway Balance remembering with letting go. Themes memory pain balance human experience Mood nostalgic thoughtful Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - grief counseling - personal growth - creative writing - therapy Key Concepts psychology philosophy literature Questions to Reflect On - What memories do you cherish versus release? - How does forgetting aid healing? A Different Perspective Forgetting can erase valuable lessons. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ## Related quotes > [“One's capacity to forget absolutely is immense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/one-s-capacity-to-forget-absolutely-is-immense/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Beautify your breath - beautify your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-ray/beautify-your-breath-beautify-your-life/) [Amit Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-ray/) > [To beautify life is to give it an object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-marti/to-beautify-life-is-to-give-it-an-object/) [Jose Marti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-marti/) > [“Dreams are to beautify our life. I don know either they all or some of them will come true or even they will only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reham-gamal/dreams-are-to-beautify-our-life-i-don-know-either-they-all-or-some-of/) Reham Gamal > [Stupidity assumes two forms, it speaks or is silent. Mute stupidity is bearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/stupidity-assumes-two-forms-it-speaks-or-is-silent-mute-stupidity-is/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The doctors may be mapping out the war games, but it is the nurses who make the conflict bearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/the-doctors-may-be-mapping-out-the-war-games-but-it-is-the-nurses-who/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet-2/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [You can’t change the tale so that you turned left one day instead of right, or didn’t make the mistake that might have saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-caldwell/you-can-t-change-the-tale-so-that-you-turned-left-one-day-instead-of/) [Gail Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-caldwell/) > [Divorce is my generation's coming of age ceremony - a ritual scarring that makes anything that happens afterward seem bearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/divorce-is-my-generation-s-coming-of-age-ceremony-a-ritual-scarring/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [For me, friendship has always been the most accessible of relationships - certainly far more so than romantic love. 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She’ll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-will-it-ever-be-bearable-priestess-his-voice-was-rough-he-sounded/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/perhapsthemost-sublimeinsights-ofthejewishprophets-and-the-christian/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) ## More by Honore de Balzac > [“Oh, my friend, when you love, love a woman whom you are sure that you can love always. Never forsake a woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/oh-my-friend-when-you-love-love-a-woman-whom-you-are-sure-that-you/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“You have broken the ice, though you have not even scratched its glossy surface: you have placed your hand upon the croup of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/you-have-broken-the-ice-though-you-have-not-even-scratched-its-glossy/) [Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [In a world of hunchbacks, a fine figure becomes a monstrosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/in-a-world-of-hunchbacks-a-fine-figure-becomes-a-monstrosity/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [It is quite right what they say: the three most beautiful sights in the world are a ship in full sail, a galloping horse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/it-is-quite-right-what-they-say-the-three-most-beautiful-sights-in/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [My writing table has seen all my wretchedness, knows all my plans, has overheard all my thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/my-writing-table-has-seen-all-my-wretchedness-knows-all-my-plans-has/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Foppery, being the chronic condition of women, is not so much noticed as it is when it breaks out on the person of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/foppery-being-the-chronic-condition-of-women-is-not-so-much-noticed/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A married woman is a slave you must know how to seat upon a throne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-married-woman-is-a-slave-you-must-know-how-to-seat-upon-a-throne/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Rich men are resolved to be astonished at nothing. When they see a masterpiece, they must needs at one glance recognize some flaw to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/rich-men-are-resolved-to-be-astonished-at-nothing-when-they-see-a/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [I am a galley slave to pen and ink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/i-am-a-galley-slave-to-pen-and-ink/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [White and shining virgin of all human virtues, ark of the covenant between earth and heaven, tender and strong companion partaking of the lion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/white-and-shining-virgin-of-all-human-virtues-ark-of-the-covenant/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All men can bear a familiar, definite misfortune better than the cruel alternations of a fate which, from one moment to another, brings excessive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-men-can-bear-a-familiar-definite-misfortune-better-than-the-cruel/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The mind, too, has its regimen. It needs gymnastics, just like the body does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/the-mind-too-has-its-regimen-it-needs-gymnastics-just-like-the-body/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [Hatred like love feeds on the merest trifles. Everything adds to it. Just as the being we love can do no wrong, so the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/hatred-like-love-feeds-on-the-merest-trifles-everything-adds-to-it/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [All human power is a compound of time and patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/all-human-power-is-a-compound-of-time-and-patience/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) [Explore all 793 Honore de Balzac quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) ## More Bearable quotes > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. 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She’ll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-will-it-ever-be-bearable-priestess-his-voice-was-rough-he-sounded/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Intense, unexpected suffering passes more quickly than suffering that is apparently bearable; the latter goes on for years and, without our noticing, eats away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/intense-unexpected-suffering-passes-more-quickly-than-suffering-that/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“shared pain is more bearable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/shared-pain-is-more-bearable/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [For me, friendship has always been the most accessible of relationships - certainly far more so than romantic love. Friendship, I learned, provided a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sullivan/for-me-friendship-has-always-been-the-most-accessible-of/) [Andrew Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sullivan/) > [Divorce is my generation's coming of age ceremony - a ritual scarring that makes anything that happens afterward seem bearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/divorce-is-my-generation-s-coming-of-age-ceremony-a-ritual-scarring/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [You can’t change the tale so that you turned left one day instead of right, or didn’t make the mistake that might have saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-caldwell/you-can-t-change-the-tale-so-that-you-turned-left-one-day-instead-of/) [Gail Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-caldwell/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet-2/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [The doctors may be mapping out the war games, but it is the nurses who make the conflict bearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/the-doctors-may-be-mapping-out-the-war-games-but-it-is-the-nurses-who/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Prayer can come in only when fasting has done its work. It can make fasting easy and bearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/prayer-can-come-in-only-when-fasting-has-done-its-work-it-can-make/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Well, it seems like a miracle to be able to look forward-to-to see all the minutes in front of one come hopping along with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/well-it-seems-like-a-miracle-to-be-able-to-look-forward-to-to-see-all/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [When pain is unbearable it destroys us; when it does not it is bearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/when-pain-is-unbearable-it-destroys-us-when-it-does-not-it-is-bearable/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [If Jesus gives us a task or assigns us to a difficult season, every ounce of our experience is meant for our instruction and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/if-jesus-gives-us-a-task-or-assigns-us-to-a-difficult-season-every/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [The arts are not a way to make a living. 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