--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never exchanged a word with the…" description: "\"“I never exchanged a word with the Colonel. He has no significance at all in what happened during my stay in Oxgodby. As far as I’m concerned he might ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/j-l-carr-39640_forgotten_i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colone_2652825.png" --- # I never exchanged a word with the Colonel. He has no… ![“I never exchanged a word with the Colonel. He has no significance at all in what happened during my stay in Oxgodby. As far as I’m concerned he might just as well have gone round the corner and died. But that goes for most of us, doesn’t it? We look blankly at each other. Here I am, here you are…” quote by J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/j-l-carr-39640_forgotten_i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colone_2652825.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/j-l-carr-39640_forgotten_i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colone_2652825.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/j-l-carr-39640_forgotten_i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colone_2652825.png) > ““I never exchanged a word with the Colonel. He has no significance at all in what happened during my stay in Oxgodby. As far as I’m concerned he might just as well have gone round the corner and died. But that goes for most of us, doesn’t it? We look blankly at each other. Here I am, here you are. What are we doing here? What do you suppose it’s all about? Let’s dream on. Yes, that’s my Dad and Mum over there on the piano top. My eldest boy is on the mantelpiece. That cushion cover was embroidered by my cousin Sarah only a month before she passed on. I go to work at eight and come home at five-thirty. When I retire they’ll give me a clock – with my name engraved on the back. Now you know all about me. Go away: I’ve forgotten you already.”” [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on the absurdity and emptiness of daily routine, the fleeting nature of relationships, and the longing for meaning amidst mundane existence. **In simple terms:** Life feels empty and routine, questioning purpose. Key Takeaway Seek deeper connections beyond routine. Themes existentialism routine meaninglessness Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - office life - family gatherings - retirement planning - grief processing Key Concepts absurdity memory family work death Questions to Reflect On - What small rituals give your day meaning? - How do you confront the feeling of emptiness? A Different Perspective The narrator’s tone may exaggerate nihilism, overlooking moments of genuine joy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Colonel Significance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colonel-significance-2363616/) [Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) [Just Gone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just-gone-274090/) [Ve Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ve-forgotten-236170/) [Word Colonel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-colonel-2363617/) ## Related quotes > [“But that goes for most of us, doesn't it? We look blankly at each other. Here I am, here you are. What are we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/but-that-goes-for-most-of-us-doesn-t-it-we-look-blankly-at-each-other/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) > [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/) > [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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianna-floyd/) > [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/) ## More by J.L. Carr > [“During any prolonged activity one tends to forget original intentions. But I believe that, when making a start on A Month in the Country,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/during-any-prolonged-activity-one-tends-to-forget-original-intentions/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) > [“I’m an apple expert. Apples are the only exam I could ever hope to pass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/i-m-an-apple-expert-apples-are-the-only-exam-i-could-ever-hope-to-pass/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) > [“Ah, those days...for many years afterwards their happiness haunted me. Sometimes, listening to music, I drift back and nothing has changed. The long end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/ah-those-days-for-many-years-afterwards-their-happiness-haunted-me/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) > [“But that goes for most of us, doesn't it? We look blankly at each other. Here I am, here you are. What are we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/but-that-goes-for-most-of-us-doesn-t-it-we-look-blankly-at-each-other/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) > [“Then he fetched a camera and photographed it from all sides. ‘For publication!’ he explained. ‘Against the day when I need a job at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/then-he-fetched-a-camera-and-photographed-it-from-all-sides-for/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) > [“There was so much time that marvelous summer. Day after day, mist rose from the meadow as the sky lightened and hedges, barns and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/there-was-so-much-time-that-marvelous-summer-day-after-day-mist-rose/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) > [“We can ask and ask but we can't have again what once seemed ours for ever - the way things looked, that church alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/we-can-ask-and-ask-but-we-can-t-have-again-what-once-seemed-ours-for/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) > [“If I’d stayed there, would I always have been happy? No, I suppose not. People move away, grow older, die, and the bright belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/if-i-d-stayed-there-would-i-always-have-been-happy-no-i-suppose-not/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) > [“The trees had stripped down to their black bones and had heaped leaves in drifts against hedges and walls. Children played amongst them, tossing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/the-trees-had-stripped-down-to-their-black-bones-and-had-heaped/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) > [“By the end of the second day a very fine head was revealed. Yes, a very fine head indeed, sharp beard, drooped mustache, heavy-lidded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/by-the-end-of-the-second-day-a-very-fine-head-was-revealed-yes-a-very/) [J.L. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) [Explore all 11 J.L. Carr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/) ## 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 ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I never exchanged a word with the Colonel. He has no significance at all in what happened during my stay in Oxgodby. As far as I’m concerned he might just as well have gone round the corner and died. But that goes for most of us, doesn’t it? We look blankly at each other. Here I am, here you are. What are we doing here? What do you suppose it’s all about? Let’s dream on. Yes, that’s my Dad and Mum over there on the piano top. My eldest boy is on the mantelpiece. That cushion cover was embroidered by my cousin Sarah only a month before she passed on. I go to work at eight and come home at five-thirty. When I retire they’ll give me a clock – with my name engraved on the back. Now you know all about me. Go away: I’ve forgotten you already.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J.L. Carr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colonel-he-has-no-significance-at/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Forgotten" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colonel-he-has-no-significance-at/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/j-l-carr-39640_forgotten_i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colone_2652825.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/j-l-carr-39640_forgotten_i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colone_2652825.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d41/j-l-carr-39640_forgotten_i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colone_2652825.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I never exchanged a word with the Colonel. He has no significance at all in what happened during my stay in…” — J.L. Carr", "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": "J.L. Carr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-carr/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I never exchanged a word with...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colonel-he-has-no-significance-at/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/i-never-exchanged-a-word-with-the-colonel-he-has-no-significance-at/#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 } } ] } ```