--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The myriad past, it enters us and…" description: "\"The myriad past, it enters us and disappears. Except that within it, somewhere, like diamonds, exist the fragments that refuse to be consumed. Sifting ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/james-salter-2584_collecting_the-myriad-past-it-enters-us-and-disappe_1124263.jpg" --- # The myriad past, it enters us and disappears. Except that… ![“The myriad past, it enters us and disappears. Except that within it, somewhere, like diamonds, exist the fragments that refuse to be consumed. Sifting through, if one dares, and collecting them, one discovers the true design.” quote by James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/james-salter-2584_collecting_the-myriad-past-it-enters-us-and-disappe_1124263.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/james-salter-2584_collecting_the-myriad-past-it-enters-us-and-disappe_1124263.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3cf/james-salter-2584_collecting_the-myriad-past-it-enters-us-and-disappe_1124263.jpg) > “The myriad past, it enters us and disappears. Except that within it, somewhere, like diamonds, exist the fragments that refuse to be consumed. Sifting through, if one dares, and collecting them, one discovers the true design.” [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s fleeting moments leave lasting fragments that, when examined, reveal deeper purpose. **In simple terms:** Brief moments hold lasting meaning. Key Takeaway Seek and cherish meaningful fragments. Themes memory meaning impermanence Mood nostalgic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - grief processing - historical analysis Key Concepts existentialism fragmentation Questions to Reflect On - What fragments of your past shape your present? - How can you honor fleeting moments? A Different Perspective Fragmentation can obscure the whole picture, making synthesis difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Collecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collecting/) [Consumed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumed/) [Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dare/) [Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) [Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diamond/) [Diamonds Exist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diamonds-exist-3057745/) [Disappear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappear/) [Exist Fragments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exist-fragments-3057744/) [Fragments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragments/) [Fragments Refuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fragments-refuse-3057746/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Myriad Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myriad-past-661486/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Refuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refuse/) [Sifting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sifting/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Certain things I remember exactly as they were. 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I might have choked on a fish or a frog or a...a...a turtle!" "It is wisest to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/i-drank-some-of-that-lake-i-might-have-choked-on-a-fish-or-a-frog-or/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Make all good men your well-wishers, and then, in the years' steady sifting, Some of them turn into friends. Friends are the sunshine of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hay/make-all-good-men-your-well-wishers-and-then-in-the-years-steady/) [John Hay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hay/) > [The farmer after sacrificing pleasure, taste, freedom, thought, love, to his work, turns out often a bankrupt, like the merchant.This result might well seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-farmer-after-sacrificing-pleasure-taste-freedom-thought-love-to/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [From my spirit's gray defeat, From my pulse's flagging beat, From my hopes that turned to sand Sifting through my close-clenched hand, From my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-teasdale/from-my-spirit-s-gray-defeat-from-my-pulse-s-flagging-beat-from-my/) [Sara Teasdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-teasdale/) > [“Every sifting comes by divine command and permission. Satan must ask leave before he can lay a finger upon Job. Nay, more, in some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-h-spurgeon/every-sifting-comes-by-divine-command-and-permission-satan-must-ask/) [Charles H. Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-h-spurgeon/) ## More by James Salter > [It seems to me that literature is giving way a little bit to the immediacy of other diversions, other forms of entertainment. What will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/it-seems-to-me-that-literature-is-giving-way-a-little-bit-to-the/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) > [Women fall in love when they get to know you. Men are just the opposite. 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You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/sometimes-i-write-with-a-particular-person-in-mind-i-think-it-s-fair/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) > [Lots of scripts are written and not made, even scripts that people want to make.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/lots-of-scripts-are-written-and-not-made-even-scripts-that-people/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) > [I'd given up everything to be a writer, and if I didn't then go on to do that - to write - then I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/i-d-given-up-everything-to-be-a-writer-and-if-i-didn-t-then-go-on-to/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) > [“One should not believe too easily in a life which can easily vanish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/one-should-not-believe-too-easily-in-a-life-which-can-easily-vanish/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) > [“Life is separated by scars, like the rings in the inside of a tree.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/life-is-separated-by-scars-like-the-rings-in-the-inside-of-a-tree/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) > [“Dean is still asleep. His clothes are strewn about. The shutters are closed. He never dreams. He’s like a dead musician, like a spent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/dean-is-still-asleep-his-clothes-are-strewn-about-the-shutters-are/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) > [The dreams are the skeleton of all reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/the-dreams-are-the-skeleton-of-all-reality/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) > [There came a time when I felt I was not going to be satisfied with life unless I could write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-salter/there-came-a-time-when-i-felt-i-was-not-going-to-be-satisfied-with/) [James Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) [Explore all 156 James Salter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-salter/) ## More Collecting quotes > [I've always been interested in photographs, collecting them not systematically but randomly. They get lost, then turn up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-photographs-collecting-them-not/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Taking photos is a form of collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/taking-photos-is-a-form-of-collecting/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [If you're feeling fancy free, come wander through the world with me, and any place we chance to be, will be a rendezvous. Two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mancini/if-you-re-feeling-fancy-free-come-wander-through-the-world-with-me/) [Henry Mancini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mancini/) > [I found so-called great art too pompous, too stiff. 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You spent a night in my bed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loretta-chase/i-don-t-know-who-had-the-training-of-you-he-continued-doggedly-but/) [Loretta Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loretta-chase/) > [...You can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/you-can-go-your-whole-life-collecting-days-and-none-will-outweigh-the/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Instead of collecting things and staying in one space, I want to collect experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kesh/instead-of-collecting-things-and-staying-in-one-space-i-want-to/) [Kesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kesh/) > [I started collecting couture when I was about 10 or 11 years old, and the very first piece I bought was a Balenciaga suit from 1962.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamish-bowles/i-started-collecting-couture-when-i-was-about-10-or-11-years-old-and/) [Hamish Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamish-bowles/) > [I imagine the wave of water colliding with the rock and spilling over the tile floor, collecting around my shoes. 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Would my company be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinod-khosla/if-i-collected-all-the-diamonds-in-the-world-i-d-have-no-income-but-i/) [Vinod Khosla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinod-khosla/) [Browse all 493 Collecting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collecting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The myriad past, it enters us and disappears. Except that within it, somewhere, like diamonds, exist the fragments that refuse to be consumed. 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