--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You'll understand when you've forgotten…" description: "\"You'll understand when you've forgotten what you understood before\" — Italo Calvino" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/italo-calvino-402_forgotten_you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten_2484810.jpg" --- # You'll understand when you've forgotten what you… ![“You'll understand when you've forgotten what you understood before” quote by Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/italo-calvino-402_forgotten_you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten_2484810.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/italo-calvino-402_forgotten_you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten_2484810.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/italo-calvino-402_forgotten_you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten_2484810.jpg) > “You'll understand when you've forgotten what you understood before” [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding comes after forgetting previous knowledge, allowing fresh perspectives to emerge. **In simple terms:** Forget to understand anew. Key Takeaway Embrace forgetting to gain new insight. Themes learning memory perspective growth Mood curious reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - creative problem solving - personal reflection Key Concepts epistemology cognitive reset Questions to Reflect On - What have you forgotten that helped you see differently? - How can intentional forgetting aid learning? A Different Perspective Forgetting can erase useful knowledge. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) ## Related quotes > [Few have abilities so much needed by the rest of the world as to be caressed on their own terms; and he that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/few-have-abilities-so-much-needed-by-the-rest-of-the-world-as-to-be/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [We've been speaking English as a second language so long that we've forgotten it as our first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-ve-been-speaking-english-as-a-second-language-so-long-that-we-ve/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [People do everything for me, and I've forgotten how.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-zeta-jones/people-do-everything-for-me-and-i-ve-forgotten-how/) [Catherine Zeta-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-zeta-jones/) > [“Not wonderful that you've forgotten, mind you. Wonderful that you have so much to discover.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/not-wonderful-that-you-ve-forgotten-mind-you-wonderful-that-you-have/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [I thought, I might not look my best, I've forgotten half the words to my songs and I'm suffering from post-traumatic stress, but I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-almond/i-thought-i-might-not-look-my-best-i-ve-forgotten-half-the-words-to/) [Marc Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-almond/) > [“Lost things never like to be found until they've been forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-j-mellow/lost-things-never-like-to-be-found-until-they-ve-been-forgotten/) E.J. Mellow > [It occurred to me at some point that what really links us to the past is memory, and there's so much we've forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-cameron/it-occurred-to-me-at-some-point-that-what-really-links-us-to-the-past/) [Sharon Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-cameron/) > [You all say the same thing. When something bad happens, everyone tells you to forget about it. But, I don't think you can forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fuyumi-soryo/you-all-say-the-same-thing-when-something-bad-happens-everyone-tells/) [Fuyumi Soryo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fuyumi-soryo/) > [“You're so busy running here and there that you've forgotten that the goal of life is learning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-verge-higgins/you-re-so-busy-running-here-and-there-that-you-ve-forgotten-that-the/) [Lisa Verge Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-verge-higgins/) > [Don't ask me about my career - I've forgotten most of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-dalton/don-t-ask-me-about-my-career-i-ve-forgotten-most-of-it/) [Timothy Dalton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-dalton/) > [All that I've learned, I've forgotten. The little that I still know, I've guessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-that-i-ve-learned-i-ve-forgotten-the-little-that-i-still-know-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I've forgotten to remember”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/autumn-doughton/i-ve-forgotten-to-remember/) [Autumn Doughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/autumn-doughton/) > [I've forgotten who I had lunch with earlier, and even more important, where.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-easton-ellis/i-ve-forgotten-who-i-had-lunch-with-earlier-and-even-more-important/) [Bret Easton Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-easton-ellis/) > [“If you feel like you've been forgotten, your wrong. The only way you can be forgotten is if you want to be, and sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianna-floyd/if-you-feel-like-you-ve-been-forgotten-your-wrong-the-only-way-you/) Arianna Floyd > [I've forgotten most of what I've read and, frankly, it never seemed very important to me or to the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/i-ve-forgotten-most-of-what-i-ve-read-and-frankly-it-never-seemed/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) ## More by Italo Calvino > [“(one would say yes, if not every day, at least fairly regularly), whether only for yourself or also for others (often only for yourself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/one-would-say-yes-if-not-every-day-at-least-fairly-regularly-whether/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The Great Khan tried to concentrate on the game: but now it was the game’s reason that eluded him. The end of every game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-great-khan-tried-to-concentrate-on-the-game-but-now-it-was-the/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Or else you can say, like the camel driver who took me there: "I arrived here in my first youth, one morning, many people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/or-else-you-can-say-like-the-camel-driver-who-took-me-there-i-arrived/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The naked man had lost hope now; he would never be able to return to the earth's surface;he would never leave the bottom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-naked-man-had-lost-hope-now-he-would-never-be-able-to-return-to/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“The art of writing tales consists in an ability to draw the rest of life from the little one has understood of it; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-art-of-writing-tales-consists-in-an-ability-to-draw-the-rest-of/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“I ask you to come down to earth," said the Baron in a calm, rather faint voice, "and to take up the duties of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/i-ask-you-to-come-down-to-earth-said-the-baron-in-a-calm-rather-faint/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [The unconscious is the ocean of the unsayable, of what has been expelled from the land of language, removed as a result of ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-unconscious-is-the-ocean-of-the-unsayable-of-what-has-been/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“... KUBLAI: We have proved that if we were here, we would not be. POLO: And here, in fact, we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/kublai-we-have-proved-that-if-we-were-here-we-would-not-be-polo-and/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“And yet, in Raissa, at every moment there is a child in a window who laughs seeing a dog that has jumped on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/and-yet-in-raissa-at-every-moment-there-is-a-child-in-a-window-who/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Ludmilla, now you are being read. Your body is being subjected to a systematic reading, through channels of tactile information, visual, olfactory, and not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/ludmilla-now-you-are-being-read-your-body-is-being-subjected-to-a/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Once the process of falsification is set in motion, it won't stop. We're in a country where everything that can be falsified has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/once-the-process-of-falsification-is-set-in-motion-it-won-t-stop-we/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Your case gives me new hope," I said to him. "With me, more and more often I happen to pick up a novel that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/your-case-gives-me-new-hope-i-said-to-him-with-me-more-and-more-often/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [We could say, then, that man is an instrument the world employs to renew its own image constantly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/we-could-say-then-that-man-is-an-instrument-the-world-employs-to/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [“Perhaps it is this story that is a bridge over the void, and as it advances it flings forward news and sensations and emotions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/perhaps-it-is-this-story-that-is-a-bridge-over-the-void-and-as-it/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [Yet, even now, ever time (often) that I find that I don't understand something, then instinctively, I'm filled with the hope that perhaps this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/yet-even-now-ever-time-often-that-i-find-that-i-don-t-understand/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) [Explore all 468 Italo Calvino quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) ## More Forgotten quotes > [While the 1963 Birmingham church bombing is the most historic, there also was a series of church burnings in the 1990s. Recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/while-the-1963-birmingham-church-bombing-is-the-most-historic-there/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogden-stiers/family-means-no-one-gets-left-behind-or-forgotten/) [David Ogden Stiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogden-stiers/) > [I was just going to say something, but I forgot when I started looking at you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-just-going-to-say-something-but-i-forgot-when-i-started-looking/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Black women's intersectional experiences of racism and sexism have been a central but forgotten dynamic in the unfolding of feminist and antiracist agendas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberle-williams-crenshaw/black-women-s-intersectional-experiences-of-racism-and-sexism-have/) [Kimberle Williams Crenshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberle-williams-crenshaw/) > [I mean, sitcoms shouldn't be doing 'Saturday Night Live.' You can't just do bit after bit after bit. You have to string it together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-dewitt/i-mean-sitcoms-shouldn-t-be-doing-saturday-night-live-you-can-t-just/) [Joyce DeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-dewitt/) > [People paid money for tickets to see us and be entertained by us, and we've never forgotten that. Anything after that was a bonus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-young/people-paid-money-for-tickets-to-see-us-and-be-entertained-by-us-and/) [Malcolm Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-young/) > [“Forgotten hero was never the real hero, real hero can not be forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/forgotten-hero-was-never-the-real-hero-real-hero-can-not-be-forgotten/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [We began as mineral. We emerged into plant life, and into the animal state, and then into being human, and always we have forgotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/we-began-as-mineral-we-emerged-into-plant-life-and-into-the-animal/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [It's the frames which make some things important and some things forgotten. It's all only frames from which the content rises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-babitz/it-s-the-frames-which-make-some-things-important-and-some-things/) [Eve Babitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-babitz/) > [Our public officials have forgotten that they are ultimately accountable to the people who put them in office, that the information they keep in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ono/our-public-officials-have-forgotten-that-they-are-ultimately/) [Yoko Ono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ono/) > [I have never forgotten a picture that I ever made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-bourke-white/i-have-never-forgotten-a-picture-that-i-ever-made/) [Margaret Bourke-White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-bourke-white/) > [I had forgotten that talking to you is like trying to pet a cactus." Saiman said dryly. "Thank you for reminding me." "Always happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/i-had-forgotten-that-talking-to-you-is-like-trying-to-pet-a-cactus/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [Im afraid of being forgotten. Because, it seems everyone I get close to, ends up forgetting me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arcine-arciniegas/im-afraid-of-being-forgotten-because-it-seems-everyone-i-get-close-to/) [Arcine Arciniegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arcine-arciniegas/) > [A lover asked his beloved, Do you love yourself more than you love me? Beloved replied, I have died to myself and I live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-lover-asked-his-beloved-do-you-love-yourself-more-than-you-love-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I had forgotten how wonderful it is to stand on a bridge and catch the scent of rain in the air. I had forgotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-steinbach/i-had-forgotten-how-wonderful-it-is-to-stand-on-a-bridge-and-catch/) [Alice Steinbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-steinbach/) Browse all 2,870 Forgotten quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You'll understand when you've forgotten what you understood before", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Italo Calvino" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten-what-you-understood-before/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Forgotten" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten-what-you-understood-before/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/italo-calvino-402_forgotten_you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten_2484810.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/italo-calvino-402_forgotten_you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten_2484810.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/italo-calvino-402_forgotten_you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten_2484810.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You'll understand when you've forgotten what you understood before” — Italo Calvino", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Italo Calvino", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You'll understand when you've forgotten what...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten-what-you-understood-before/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/you-ll-understand-when-you-ve-forgotten-what-you-understood-before/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```