--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Oedipus did not remember the thongs that…" description: "\"“Oedipus did not remember the thongs that bound his feet; nevertheless the marks they left testified to that doom toward which his feet were leading hi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc7/james-baldwin-995_darkness_oedipus-did-not-remember-the-thongs-that_797871.jpg" --- # Oedipus did not remember the thongs that bound his feet… ![“Oedipus did not remember the thongs that bound his feet; nevertheless the marks they left testified to that doom toward which his feet were leading him. The man does not remember the hand that struck him, the darkness that frightened him, as a child; nevertheless, the hand and the darkness remain…” quote by James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc7/james-baldwin-995_darkness_oedipus-did-not-remember-the-thongs-that_797871.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc7/james-baldwin-995_darkness_oedipus-did-not-remember-the-thongs-that_797871.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc7/james-baldwin-995_darkness_oedipus-did-not-remember-the-thongs-that_797871.jpg) > ““Oedipus did not remember the thongs that bound his feet; nevertheless the marks they left testified to that doom toward which his feet were leading him. The man does not remember the hand that struck him, the darkness that frightened him, as a child; nevertheless, the hand and the darkness remain with him, indivisible from himself forever, part of the passion that drives him wherever he thinks to take flight.”” [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote explores how past traumas imprint on us, shaping identity and destiny even when we cannot recall the events themselves. **In simple terms:** Past wounds shape us even if forgotten. Key Takeaway Acknowledge hidden influences on your path. Themes identity memory trauma destiny self-awareness Mood reflective introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal reflection - creative writing - relationship counseling Key Concepts psychology existentialism unconscious influence Questions to Reflect On - What hidden experiences are driving your current choices? - How can you become aware of unseen influences? A Different Perspective Ignoring unconscious wounds can lead to repeated patterns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Oedipus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oedipus/) ## Related quotes > [“The man does not remember the hand that struck him, the darkness that frightened him, as a child; nevertheless, the hand and darkness remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/the-man-does-not-remember-the-hand-that-struck-him-the-darkness-that/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“But her greatest assets were her bound feet, called in Chinese "three-inch golden lilies" (san-tsun-gin-lian). This meant she walked "like a tender young willow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jung-chang/but-her-greatest-assets-were-her-bound-feet-called-in-chinese-three/) [Jung Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jung-chang/) > [“Bound feet symbolize torture of women for men’s pleasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-friedman/bound-feet-symbolize-torture-of-women-for-men-s-pleasure/) [S.J. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-friedman/) > [And often it would be a woman who was in her 70s or 80s who would win the beauty contest, because bound feet never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/and-often-it-would-be-a-woman-who-was-in-her-70s-or-80s-who-would-win/) [Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/) > [And one of the interesting things about bound feet is that they never age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/and-one-of-the-interesting-things-about-bound-feet-is-that-they-never/) [Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/) > [Foot-binding is said to have been inspired by a tenth-century court dancer named Yao Niang who bound her feet into the shape of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-foreman/foot-binding-is-said-to-have-been-inspired-by-a-tenth-century-court/) [Amanda Foreman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-foreman/) > [The population question is the real riddle of the sphinx, to which no political Oedipus has as yet found the answer. In view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-population-question-is-the-real-riddle-of-the-sphinx-to-which-no/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [“...What was wrong between Diana and me was that she was too much a mother to me, and as I had had one mother,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/what-was-wrong-between-diana-and-me-was-that-she-was-too-much-a/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [I like violence because I like looking at it and I like understanding emotional and physical violence and how they work with one another...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-peirce/i-like-violence-because-i-like-looking-at-it-and-i-like-understanding/) [Kimberly Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-peirce/) > [“It struck me that my backside was my best asset and that keeping it hidden would be like Oedipus pulling out his eyes so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-thurlow/it-struck-me-that-my-backside-was-my-best-asset-and-that-keeping-it/) [Chloe Thurlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-thurlow/) > [How terrible is wisdom, when it brings no profit to the man that's wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/how-terrible-is-wisdom-when-it-brings-no-profit-to-the-man-that-s-wise/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [My husband, who's the greatest actor in the world, can do anything. Look at what he did in The Critic and Oedipus. In every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivien-leigh/my-husband-who-s-the-greatest-actor-in-the-world-can-do-anything-look/) [Vivien Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivien-leigh/) > [I was not interested in doing the plot of OEDIPUS in blackface. I did wonder, what would these people have been like if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-dove/i-was-not-interested-in-doing-the-plot-of-oedipus-in-blackface-i-did/) [Rita Dove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-dove/) > [“OEDIPUS: O, O, O, they will all come, all come out clearly! Light of the sun, let me look upon you no more after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/oedipus-o-o-o-they-will-all-come-all-come-out-clearly-light-of-the/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [The two greatest plays ever written were Hamlet and Oedipus Rex, and they're both about father-son relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/the-two-greatest-plays-ever-written-were-hamlet-and-oedipus-rex-and/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) ## More by James Baldwin > [“In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-any-case-white-people-who-had-robbed-black-people-of-their-liberty/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“The South is very beautiful but its beauty makes one sad because the lives that people live, and have lived here, are so ugly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/the-south-is-very-beautiful-but-its-beauty-makes-one-sad-because-the/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“All cultures have, furthermore, an economic, social, and political base, and no culture can continue to live if its political destiny is not in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/all-cultures-have-furthermore-an-economic-social-and-political-base/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“I remembered that life in that room seemed to be occuring beneath the sea, time flowed past indiffrently above us, hours and days had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/i-remembered-that-life-in-that-room-seemed-to-be-occuring-beneath-the/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“No. It would help if I were able to feel guilty.But the end of innocence is also the end of guilt”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/no-it-would-help-if-i-were-able-to-feel-guilty-but-the-end-of/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“Perhaps now, though, he had hit bottom. 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Or for that matter...what kind of love affairs?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/what-kind-of-friendship-have-you-had-or-for-that-matter-what-kind-of/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“For these are all our children, we will all profit by or pay for what they become.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/for-these-are-all-our-children-we-will-all-profit-by-or-pay-for-what/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“Every society is really governed by hidden laws, by unspoken but profound assumptions on the part of the people, and ours is no exception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/every-society-is-really-governed-by-hidden-laws-by-unspoken-but/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“In those days my mother was given to the exasperating and mysterious habit of having babies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-those-days-my-mother-was-given-to-the-exasperating-and-mysterious/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“He was suggesting that all Negroes were held in a state of supreme tension between the difficult, dangerous relationship in which they stood to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/he-was-suggesting-that-all-negroes-were-held-in-a-state-of-supreme/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“In the beginning—and neither can this be overstated—a Negro just cannot believe that white people are treating him as they do; he does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-the-beginning-and-neither-can-this-be-overstated-a-negro-just/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“If the world wasn't so full of dead folks maybe those of us that's trying to live wouldn't have to suffer so bad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/if-the-world-wasn-t-so-full-of-dead-folks-maybe-those-of-us-that-s/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“I am very much concerned that American Negroes achieve their freedom here in the United States. But I am also concerned for their dignity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/i-am-very-much-concerned-that-american-negroes-achieve-their-freedom/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“The paradox—and a fearful paradox it is—is that the American Negro can have no future anywhere, on any continent, as long as he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/the-paradox-and-a-fearful-paradox-it-is-is-that-the-american-negro/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) [Explore all 312 James Baldwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? 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Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) Nicole Gentile [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Oedipus did not remember the thongs that bound his feet; nevertheless the marks they left testified to that doom toward which his feet were leading him. 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