--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Memory extends as far as our self-interest." description: "\"“Memory extends as far as our self-interest.”\" — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_memory_memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-intere_2615295.jpg" --- # Memory extends as far as our self-interest. ![“Memory extends as far as our self-interest.” quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_memory_memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-intere_2615295.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_memory_memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-intere_2615295.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_memory_memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-intere_2615295.jpg) > ““Memory extends as far as our self-interest.”” [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People remember events that align with their personal goals and desires. **In simple terms:** Memory favors self‑interest. Key Takeaway Recognize bias in recollection. Themes psychology memory self‑interest Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal decision making - marketing - historical analysis Key Concepts cognitive bias motivational memory Questions to Reflect On - How does self‑interest shape your recollections? - Can you identify a memory that was altered by personal gain? A Different Perspective Memory can be distorted by ego, leading to selective recall. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Extends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extends-845778/) [Extends Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extends-far-2062067/) [Far Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far-self-1042103/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Extends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-extends-2062066/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [We are as near to heaven as we are far from self, and far from the love of a sinful world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-rutherford/we-are-as-near-to-heaven-as-we-are-far-from-self-and-far-from-the/) [Samuel Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-rutherford/) > [Beijing's imperial reach extends far and wide, from Taiwan and Xinjiang to the South China Sea and beyond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-wong/beijing-s-imperial-reach-extends-far-and-wide-from-taiwan-and/) [Joshua Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-wong/) > [As far as your self-control goes, as far goes your freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/as-far-as-your-self-control-goes-as-far-goes-your-freedom/) [Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/) > [“the reality we belong to, the reality we long to know, extends far beyond human beings interacting with one another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-j-palmer/the-reality-we-belong-to-the-reality-we-long-to-know-extends-far/) [Parker J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-j-palmer/) > [Mexico extends beyond its borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicente-fox/mexico-extends-beyond-its-borders/) [Vicente Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicente-fox/) > [“Solitude only extends to this side of the clouds”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-young-jr/solitude-only-extends-to-this-side-of-the-clouds/) [Samuel R. Young Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-young-jr/) > [Whatever increases, decreases, limits or extends the body's power of action, increases decreases, limits, or extends the mind's power of action. And whatever increases,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/whatever-increases-decreases-limits-or-extends-the-body-s-power-of/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [“...life is not just from within, it extends all around you, whether you wish it to or not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-tsukiyama/life-is-not-just-from-within-it-extends-all-around-you-whether-you/) [Gail Tsukiyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-tsukiyama/) > [One extends one's limits only by exceeding them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/one-extends-one-s-limits-only-by-exceeding-them/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [“I can't be bound by a past self I don't remember.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-beth-durst/i-can-t-be-bound-by-a-past-self-i-don-t-remember/) [Sarah Beth Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-beth-durst/) > [Once upon a time. Ah forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-ah-forget-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [“Maybe there is something when it all ends. Maybe there is memory, memory of the person you loved, when you lived. Maybe this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-ellison/maybe-there-is-something-when-it-all-ends-maybe-there-is-memory/) [Kate Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-ellison/) > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) ## More by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I never believed in trying to do anything. Whatever I set out to do I found I had already accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-never-believed-in-trying-to-do-anything-whatever-i-set-out-to-do-i/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [All lyrical work must, as a whole, be perfectly intelligible, but in some particulars a little unintelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-lyrical-work-must-as-a-whole-be-perfectly-intelligible-but-in/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [We know accurately only when we know little, with knowledge doubt increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-know-accurately-only-when-we-know-little-with-knowledge-doubt/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-is-easier-to-perceive-error-than-to-find-truth-for-the-former-lies/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [There is no patriotic art and no patriotic science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/there-is-no-patriotic-art-and-no-patriotic-science/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The connoisseur of art must be able to appreciate what is simply beautiful, but the common run of people is satisfied with ornament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-connoisseur-of-art-must-be-able-to-appreciate-what-is-simply/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Let us not dream that reason can ever be popular. Passions, emotions, may be made popular; but reason remains ever the property of an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/let-us-not-dream-that-reason-can-ever-be-popular-passions-emotions/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Our foibles are really what make us lovable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/our-foibles-are-really-what-make-us-lovable/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/instruction-does-much-but-encouragement-everything/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Giving is the business of the rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/giving-is-the-business-of-the-rich/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Just begin and the mind grows heated; continue, and the task will be completed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/just-begin-and-the-mind-grows-heated-continue-and-the-task-will-be/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I look upon all four Gospels as thoroughly genuine, for there shines forth from them the reflected splendor of a sublimity proceeding from Jesus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/i-look-upon-all-four-gospels-as-thoroughly-genuine-for-there-shines/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Whatever we may say against collections, which present authors in a disjointed form, they nevertheless bring about many excellent results. We are not always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/whatever-we-may-say-against-collections-which-present-authors-in-a/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) [Explore all 2,052 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## More Memory quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [“Maybe there is something when it all ends. Maybe there is memory, memory of the person you loved, when you lived. Maybe this is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-ellison/maybe-there-is-something-when-it-all-ends-maybe-there-is-memory/) [Kate Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-ellison/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/) [Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/) > [Once upon a time. Ah forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/once-upon-a-time-ah-forget-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. In fact, the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/i-am-told-many-children-block-out-the-memory-of-trauma-in-fact-the/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [“The whole town rushed outside to celebrate this crowded minute when the time of suffering had ended and the time of forgetting had not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-whole-town-rushed-outside-to-celebrate-this-crowded-minute-when/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I've ever met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-caen/i-have-a-memory-like-an-elephant-i-remember-every-elephant-i-ve-ever/) [Herb Caen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-caen/) > [Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/your-memory-is-a-monster-you-forget-it-doesn-t-it-simply-files-things/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [My first Olympics memory was watching Haile Gebrselassie in Sydney 2000. His sprint finish to defend his title really moved me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-farah/my-first-olympics-memory-was-watching-haile-gebrselassie-in-sydney/) [Mo Farah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-farah/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [My greatest memories as a kid were playing sports with my dad and watching sports with my dad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-teixeira/my-greatest-memories-as-a-kid-were-playing-sports-with-my-dad-and/) [Mark Teixeira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-teixeira/) > [What’s the use of remembering anything? If it was unpleasant it was unpleasant and if it was pleasant it’s over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-dundy/what-s-the-use-of-remembering-anything-if-it-was-unpleasant-it-was/) [Elaine Dundy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-dundy/) > [Always remember a little thing can change everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/always-remember-a-little-thing-can-change-everything/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If God knows me I will never forget him](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trunxbeats/if-god-knows-me-i-will-never-forget-him/) [Trunxbeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trunxbeats/) [Browse all 12,248 Memory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Memory extends as far as our self-interest.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-interest/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Memory" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-interest/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_memory_memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-intere_2615295.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_memory_memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-intere_2615295.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/651/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe-36_memory_memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-intere_2615295.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Memory extends as far as our self-interest.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe", "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": "Johann Wolfgang von Goethe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Memory extends as far as our...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-interest/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/memory-extends-as-far-as-our-self-interest/#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 } } ] } ```