--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Their length could not be measured in…" description: "\"“Their length could not be measured in years, just as an ocean could not explain the distance we have traveled, just as the dead can never be counted.”..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_length-measured_their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-ye_729117.png" --- # Their length could not be measured in years, just as an… ![“Their length could not be measured in years, just as an ocean could not explain the distance we have traveled, just as the dead can never be counted.” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_length-measured_their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-ye_729117.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_length-measured_their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-ye_729117.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_length-measured_their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-ye_729117.png) > ““Their length could not be measured in years, just as an ocean could not explain the distance we have traveled, just as the dead can never be counted.”” [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Uses metaphors of time and ocean to convey the immeasurable scope of loss and memory. **In simple terms:** Loss is vast and uncountable. Key Takeaway Acknowledge the depth of grief. Themes grief memory scale Mood somber introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - family mourning - historical trauma - personal reflection Key Concepts metaphor existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do we measure personal loss? - What helps us navigate endless grief? A Different Perspective May romanticize suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dead Counted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-counted-5715718/) [Explain Distance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explain-distance-4910118/) [Length Measured](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/length-measured-864978/) [Measured Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measured-years-974642/) [Ocean Explain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean-explain-4910117/) ## Related quotes > [“An ocean could not explain the distance we have traveled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/an-ocean-could-not-explain-the-distance-we-have-traveled/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I walked into a bakery seven years later and there he was. He had dogs at his feet and a bird in a cage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-walked-into-a-bakery-seven-years-later-and-there-he-was-he-had-dogs/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [For a while" is a phrase whose length can't be measured.At least by the person who's waiting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/for-a-while-is-a-phrase-whose-length-can-t-be-measured-at-least-by/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [To find the length of an object, we have to perform certain physical operations. The concept of length is therefore fixed when the operations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-williams-bridgman/to-find-the-length-of-an-object-we-have-to-perform-certain-physical/) [Percy Williams Bridgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-williams-bridgman/) > [“But just as important, a careful accounting of days allows the isolated to note that another year of hardship has been endured; survived; bested.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amor-towles/but-just-as-important-a-careful-accounting-of-days-allows-the/) [Amor Towles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amor-towles/) > [“My life will be measured in years; his will be measured in memories. I'm determined that whatever time we have together will never fade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-london/my-life-will-be-measured-in-years-his-will-be-measured-in-memories-i/) [J.A. London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-london/) > [Life isn't measured in years; it's measured in the people we've touched.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-isn-t-measured-in-years-it-s-measured-in-the-people-we-ve-touched/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Our life is made up of time. Our days are measured in hours, our pay measured by those hours, our knowledge is measured by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/our-life-is-made-up-of-time-our-days-are-measured-in-hours-our-pay/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [Everyone can live to be 100. Count the months; count the days; count the minutes; count the seconds. Not every good thing is measured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ash-sweeney/everyone-can-live-to-be-100-count-the-months-count-the-days-count-the/) [Ash Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ash-sweeney/) > [Age is not measured by years. Nature does not equally distribute energy. Some people are born old and tired while others are going strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-thompson/age-is-not-measured-by-years-nature-does-not-equally-distribute/) [Dorothy Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-thompson/) > [Our lives are not just measured in years. They are measured in the lives we touch around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-hutcherson/our-lives-are-not-just-measured-in-years-they-are-measured-in-the/) [Josh Hutcherson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-hutcherson/) > [Time is not measured by the years that pass by, instead by the things you do, feel or accomplish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/time-is-not-measured-by-the-years-that-pass-by-instead-by-the-things/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [Our success as a nation is not measured by how many years we have governed or how many wars we have won. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-morgan/our-success-as-a-nation-is-not-measured-by-how-many-years-we-have/) [Matthew Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-morgan/) ## More by Jonathan Safran Foer > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“One day I wandered away from her and hid. I liked the way it felt to have someone look for me, to hear my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/one-day-i-wandered-away-from-her-and-hid-i-liked-the-way-it-felt-to/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [If nothing matters, there's nothing to save.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/if-nothing-matters-there-s-nothing-to-save/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“The appearance was misleading- human dreams; rubbish heaps abundant yet ephemeral sudden and splendid, only to wilt and perish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-appearance-was-misleading-human-dreams-rubbish-heaps-abundant-yet/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“the entirety of human society and moral progress represents an explicit transcendence of what’s “natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-entirety-of-human-society-and-moral-progress-represents-an/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Food is not so much a symbol of freedom as the first requirement of freedom. We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. In all of my reading and conversations, I’ve yet to find a credible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/rationally-factory-farming-is-so-obviously-wrong-in-so-many-ways-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-because-you-re-an-atheist-that-doesn-t-mean-you-wouldn-t-love/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Do you think I'm wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) [Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## More Length Measured quotes > [To find the length of an object, we have to perform certain physical operations. The concept of length is therefore fixed when the operations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-williams-bridgman/to-find-the-length-of-an-object-we-have-to-perform-certain-physical/) [Percy Williams Bridgman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-williams-bridgman/) > [For a while" is a phrase whose length can't be measured.At least by the person who's waiting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/for-a-while-is-a-phrase-whose-length-can-t-be-measured-at-least-by/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Browse all 3 Length Measured quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/length-measured-864978/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Their length could not be measured in years, just as an ocean could not explain the distance we have traveled, just as the dead can never be counted.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Safran Foer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-years-just-as-an-ocean-could/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Length Measured" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-years-just-as-an-ocean-could/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_length-measured_their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-ye_729117.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_length-measured_their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-ye_729117.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08c/jonathan-safran-foer-136_length-measured_their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-ye_729117.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Their length could not be measured in years, just as an ocean could not explain the distance we have…” — Jonathan Safran Foer", "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": "Jonathan Safran Foer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Their length could not be measured...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-years-just-as-an-ocean-could/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/their-length-could-not-be-measured-in-years-just-as-an-ocean-could/#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 } } ] } ```