--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: over the bowls of memory where every…" description: "\"“over the bowls of memory where every hollow holds a hallow”\" — James Joyce" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a5/james-joyce-281_hollow_over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hol_2815031.jpg" --- # over the bowls of memory where every hollow holds a hallow ![“over the bowls of memory where every hollow holds a hallow” quote by James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a5/james-joyce-281_hollow_over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hol_2815031.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a5/james-joyce-281_hollow_over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hol_2815031.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a5/james-joyce-281_hollow_over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hol_2815031.jpg) > ““over the bowls of memory where every hollow holds a hallow”” [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory is depicted as a series of empty vessels that paradoxically contain sacred emptiness, reflecting the paradox of recollection and loss. **In simple terms:** Memory holds empty yet sacred spaces. Key Takeaway Acknowledge the emptiness within memories. Themes memory loss paradox reflection Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - psychological analysis Key Concepts existentialism literary symbolism Questions to Reflect On - How do you experience emptiness in your own memories? - What does “hallow” suggest about the value of forgotten moments? A Different Perspective The metaphor may obscure concrete meaning for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bowls Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bowls-memory-3547867/) [Hallow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hallow-704739/) [Holds Hallow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holds-hallow-3547868/) [Hollow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hollow/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Hollow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-hollow-3547866/) ## Related quotes > [Just because I'm hallow doesnt mean I have no soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/panda-lover64/just-because-i-m-hallow-doesnt-mean-i-have-no-soul/) [Panda\_lover64](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/panda-lover64/) > [You could hollow out a big pumpkin and wear it on your head for the entire week of your birthday. This will allow you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade-puget/you-could-hollow-out-a-big-pumpkin-and-wear-it-on-your-head-for-the/) [Jade Puget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade-puget/) > [But the pop-up suburb has an incomplete feel to it like something that just wasn't right, wasn't quite real, almost like a movie set.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frasier/but-the-pop-up-suburb-has-an-incomplete-feel-to-it-like-something/) [Anne Frasier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frasier/) > [This is not the person I wanted to become: Hatred has carved a permanent place inside me, a hollow where things are so easily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/this-is-not-the-person-i-wanted-to-become-hatred-has-carved-a/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-are-the-hollow-men-we-are-the-stuffed-men-leaning-together/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [We are all busy. It's easy to find excuses for not reaching out to others, but I imagine they will sound as hollow to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/we-are-all-busy-it-s-easy-to-find-excuses-for-not-reaching-out-to/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [I wanted a line in a poem to be the hollow ney of the dervish orchestra whose plaintive wail is a call to God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-michaels/i-wanted-a-line-in-a-poem-to-be-the-hollow-ney-of-the-dervish/) [Anne Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-michaels/) > [It's like being possessed: like a psychic or a medium. I felt like a hollow temple filled with many spirits, each one passing through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/it-s-like-being-possessed-like-a-psychic-or-a-medium-i-felt-like-a/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [Hemingway sucks. If I set out to write that way, it would have been been hollow and lifeless because it wasn't me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/hemingway-sucks-if-i-set-out-to-write-that-way-it-would-have-been/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The very opposite of freedom is cliche, and nothing is less free, more inert with convention and hollow brutality, than a row of four-letter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-very-opposite-of-freedom-is-cliche-and-nothing-is-less-free-more/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Grief loves the hollow; all it wants is to hear its own echo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/grief-loves-the-hollow-all-it-wants-is-to-hear-its-own-echo/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [August, the summer's last messenger of misery, is a hollow actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/august-the-summer-s-last-messenger-of-misery-is-a-hollow-actor/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [Those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/those-who-cannot-work-with-their-hearts-achieve-but-a-hollow-half/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've buried six Guardian Angels who have been shot and killed in the line of duty. I was stalked myself, had a gunman go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-sliwa/i-ve-buried-six-guardian-angels-who-have-been-shot-and-killed-in-the/) [Curtis Sliwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-sliwa/) > [The hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-hollow-horn-plays-wasted-words-proves-to-warn-that-he-not-busy/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## More by James Joyce > [He found in the world without as actual what was in his world within as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/he-found-in-the-world-without-as-actual-what-was-in-his-world-within/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“Ah, poor dogsbody! Here lies poor dogsbody's body.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/ah-poor-dogsbody-here-lies-poor-dogsbody-s-body/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Shaw's works make me admire the magnificent tolerance and broadmindedness of the english.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/shaw-s-works-make-me-admire-the-magnificent-tolerance-and/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“Do you know what Ireland is?' asked Stephen with cold violence. 'Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/do-you-know-what-ireland-is-asked-stephen-with-cold-violence-ireland/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [The studious silence of the library ... Thought is the thought of thought. Tranquil brightness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/the-studious-silence-of-the-library-thought-is-the-thought-of-thought/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“two cronies drank to the memory of their past. An abyss of fortune or of temperament sundered him from them. His mind seemed older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/two-cronies-drank-to-the-memory-of-their-past-an-abyss-of-fortune-or/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [He passes, struck by the stare of truculent Wellington but in the convex mirror grin unstruck the bonham eyes and fatchuck cheekchops of Jollypoldy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/he-passes-struck-by-the-stare-of-truculent-wellington-but-in-the/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“-Qui vous a mis dans cette fichue position?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/qui-vous-a-mis-dans-cette-fichue-position/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [I hear the ruin of all space, shattered glass and toppled masonry, and time one livid final flame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/i-hear-the-ruin-of-all-space-shattered-glass-and-toppled-masonry-and/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Full many a flower is born to blush unseen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/full-many-a-flower-is-born-to-blush-unseen/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [In woman's womb word is made flesh but in the spirit of the maker all flesh that passes becomes the word that shall not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/in-woman-s-womb-word-is-made-flesh-but-in-the-spirit-of-the-maker-all/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Though people may read more into Ulysses than I ever intended, who is to say that they are wrong: do any of us know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/though-people-may-read-more-into-ulysses-than-i-ever-intended-who-is/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/history-stephen-said-is-a-nightmare-from-which-i-am-trying-to-awake/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [“It flows purling, widely flowing, floating foampool, flower unfurling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/it-flows-purling-widely-flowing-floating-foampool-flower-unfurling/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) [Explore all 707 James Joyce quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) ## More Hollow quotes > [The hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-hollow-horn-plays-wasted-words-proves-to-warn-that-he-not-busy/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I've buried six Guardian Angels who have been shot and killed in the line of duty. I was stalked myself, had a gunman go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-sliwa/i-ve-buried-six-guardian-angels-who-have-been-shot-and-killed-in-the/) [Curtis Sliwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-sliwa/) > [Those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/those-who-cannot-work-with-their-hearts-achieve-but-a-hollow-half/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [August, the summer's last messenger of misery, is a hollow actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/august-the-summer-s-last-messenger-of-misery-is-a-hollow-actor/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [Grief loves the hollow; all it wants is to hear its own echo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hisham-matar/grief-loves-the-hollow-all-it-wants-is-to-hear-its-own-echo/) [Hisham Matar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hisham-matar/) > [The very opposite of freedom is cliche, and nothing is less free, more inert with convention and hollow brutality, than a row of four-letter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-very-opposite-of-freedom-is-cliche-and-nothing-is-less-free-more/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Hemingway sucks. If I set out to write that way, it would have been been hollow and lifeless because it wasn't me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/hemingway-sucks-if-i-set-out-to-write-that-way-it-would-have-been/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [It's like being possessed: like a psychic or a medium. I felt like a hollow temple filled with many spirits, each one passing through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/it-s-like-being-possessed-like-a-psychic-or-a-medium-i-felt-like-a/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [I wanted a line in a poem to be the hollow ney of the dervish orchestra whose plaintive wail is a call to God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-michaels/i-wanted-a-line-in-a-poem-to-be-the-hollow-ney-of-the-dervish/) [Anne Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-michaels/) > [We are all busy. It's easy to find excuses for not reaching out to others, but I imagine they will sound as hollow to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/we-are-all-busy-it-s-easy-to-find-excuses-for-not-reaching-out-to/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/we-are-the-hollow-men-we-are-the-stuffed-men-leaning-together/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [This is not the person I wanted to become: Hatred has carved a permanent place inside me, a hollow where things are so easily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/this-is-not-the-person-i-wanted-to-become-hatred-has-carved-a/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [But the pop-up suburb has an incomplete feel to it like something that just wasn't right, wasn't quite real, almost like a movie set.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frasier/but-the-pop-up-suburb-has-an-incomplete-feel-to-it-like-something/) [Anne Frasier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frasier/) > [You could hollow out a big pumpkin and wear it on your head for the entire week of your birthday. This will allow you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade-puget/you-could-hollow-out-a-big-pumpkin-and-wear-it-on-your-head-for-the/) [Jade Puget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade-puget/) > [I'm obsessed with hula-hooping. I do it for 20 minutes a day. I don't use the old-fashioned hollow plastic kind we had when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-zeta-jones/i-m-obsessed-with-hula-hooping-i-do-it-for-20-minutes-a-day-i-don-t/) [Catherine Zeta-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-zeta-jones/) [Browse all 354 Hollow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hollow/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“over the bowls of memory where every hollow holds a hallow”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Joyce" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hollow-holds-a-hallow/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hollow" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hollow-holds-a-hallow/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a5/james-joyce-281_hollow_over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hol_2815031.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a5/james-joyce-281_hollow_over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hol_2815031.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a5/james-joyce-281_hollow_over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hol_2815031.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“over the bowls of memory where every hollow holds a hallow” — James Joyce", "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": "James Joyce", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“over the bowls of memory where...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hollow-holds-a-hallow/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/over-the-bowls-of-memory-where-every-hollow-holds-a-hallow/#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 } } ] } ```