--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Never can that be told, for those who saw…" description: "\"“Never can that be told, for those who saw and lived through it have lost the gift of words and those who are dead can tell no tales. Those were things..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/ivo-andri-2481_forgotten_never-can-that-be-told-for-those-who-saw_2653064.png" --- # Never can that be told, for those who saw and lived… ![“Never can that be told, for those who saw and lived through it have lost the gift of words and those who are dead can tell no tales. Those were things which are not told, but forgotten. Fore where they not forgotten, how could they ever be repeated?” quote by Ivo Andrić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/ivo-andri-2481_forgotten_never-can-that-be-told-for-those-who-saw_2653064.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/ivo-andri-2481_forgotten_never-can-that-be-told-for-those-who-saw_2653064.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/ivo-andri-2481_forgotten_never-can-that-be-told-for-those-who-saw_2653064.png) > ““Never can that be told, for those who saw and lived through it have lost the gift of words and those who are dead can tell no tales. Those were things which are not told, but forgotten. Fore where they not forgotten, how could they ever be repeated?”” [Ivo Andrić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivo-andri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Traumatic experiences become unspeakable; silence preserves memory but also erases it, making repetition impossible. **In simple terms:** Some horrors are unspeakable, lost in silence. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of language for trauma. Themes memory silence trauma history storytelling Mood somber thoughtful Type literary historical When to use this quote - war testimonies - family histories - cultural preservation - education Key Concepts psychology of trauma historical memory Questions to Reflect On - What stories remain untold? - How can we honor memory without repeating pain? A Different Perspective Silence can erase lessons; speaking may re‑traumatize. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) [Forgotten Repeated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten-repeated-2366221/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Things Told](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-told-603496/) [Told](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/told/) [Told Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/told-forgotten-2366220/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“Before all the little mean things she told me gathered and gathered and lodged like grit in a skinned knee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/before-all-the-little-mean-things-she-told-me-gathered-and-gathered/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“With Ethan everything was fast, intense… combustive. From the beginning, he told me things. He told me that he wanted me. 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The more of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-schwab/four-years-of-service-and-the-archive-is-still-so-full-of-secrets/) [Victoria Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-schwab/) > [“All we are doing is telling each other things that can only be told by the rubbing together of two imperfect lumps of flesh.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-we-are-doing-is-telling-each-other-things-that-can-only-be-told/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Via Joseph Campbell: My friend Heinrich Zimmer of years ago used to say, "The best things can't be told," because they transcend thought. "The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-zimmer/via-joseph-campbell-my-friend-heinrich-zimmer-of-years-ago-used-to/) [Heinrich Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-zimmer/) > [There can be a lot of longevity in the repetition of things being told again and again in a variety of ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-dicamillo/there-can-be-a-lot-of-longevity-in-the-repetition-of-things-being/) [Kate DiCamillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-dicamillo/) > [Men who do things without being told draw the most wages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-dangerfield/men-who-do-things-without-being-told-draw-the-most-wages/) [Rodney Dangerfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-dangerfield/) > [Bitter things are told by true people because people who fake wont say it¦..they keep pretending to be very nice friend who always tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/bitter-things-are-told-by-true-people-because-people-who-fake-wont/) [Senoraroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senoraroy/) > [“I’d thrown my worst at him, and like he’d promised, nothing had changed. He hadn’t looked at me in disgust or with pity, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-kennedy/i-d-thrown-my-worst-at-him-and-like-he-d-promised-nothing-had-changed/) [Sloane Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-kennedy/) ## More by Ivo Andrić > [“Teško je zamisliti varoš sa manje novca i slabijim izvorima zarade a sa većom žeđi za novcem, sa manje volje za radom i veštine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivo-andri/te-ko-je-zamisliti-varo-sa-manje-novca-i-slabijim-izvorima-zarade-a/) [Ivo Andrić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivo-andri/) > [“U mraku vidim kako ti oči sjaju, a kad nam se lica dotaknu i tvoj dah ukrsti sa mojim, ja osetim sve godine naše…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivo-andri/u-mraku-vidim-kako-ti-o-i-sjaju-a-kad-nam-se-lica-dotaknu-i-tvoj-dah/) [Ivo Andrić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivo-andri/) > [“Neka ti nije žao rad samoće i šutnje što je oko tebe. 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Kud su padale moje teznje, koliko posrtao, koliko bludio u mislima i grijesio u zivotu! - Kako da vam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivo-andri/kud-sam-ja-sve-lutao-kud-su-padale-moje-teznje-koliko-posrtao-koliko/) [Ivo Andrić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivo-andri/) [Explore all 145 Ivo Andrić quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivo-andri/) ## More Forgotten quotes > [While the 1963 Birmingham church bombing is the most historic, there also was a series of church burnings in the 1990s. 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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 ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Never can that be told, for those who saw and lived through it have lost the gift of words and those who are dead can tell no tales. Those were things which are not told, but forgotten. 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