--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I’m working on expanding subjective time…" description: "\"“I’m working on expanding subjective time so that it feels like I live longer,” Ed had mumbled to me on the sidewalk outside the Con Ed headquarters, a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/joshua-foer-4147_remembering_i-m-working-on-expanding-subjective-time_3220682.png" --- # I’m working on expanding subjective time so that it feels… ![“I’m working on expanding subjective time so that it feels like I live longer,” Ed had mumbled to me on the sidewalk outside the Con Ed headquarters, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. “The idea is to avoid that feeling you have when you get to the end of the year and feel like, where the hell…” quote by Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/joshua-foer-4147_remembering_i-m-working-on-expanding-subjective-time_3220682.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/joshua-foer-4147_remembering_i-m-working-on-expanding-subjective-time_3220682.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/joshua-foer-4147_remembering_i-m-working-on-expanding-subjective-time_3220682.png) > ““I’m working on expanding subjective time so that it feels like I live longer,” Ed had mumbled to me on the sidewalk outside the Con Ed headquarters, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. “The idea is to avoid that feeling you have when you get to the end of the year and feel like, where the hell did that go?” “And how are you going to do that?” I asked. “By remembering more. By providing my life with more chronological landmarks. By making myself more aware of time’s passage.”” [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Expanding subjective time involves creating more landmarks and memories, making years feel longer. **In simple terms:** Create more memories to feel time stretch. Key Takeaway Mark moments, enrich life. Themes memory time perception mindfulness Mood reflective optimistic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily journaling - travel experiences - learning new skills - celebrating milestones Key Concepts chronological landmarks personal narrative Questions to Reflect On - What landmarks define your year? - How can you embed more meaning daily? A Different Perspective Memories can also distort perception of time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [End Of The Year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-the-year/) [Expanding Subjective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expanding-subjective-6053953/) [Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering/) [Subjective Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjective-time-1975068/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-feels-604522/) [Time Passage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-passage-1138917/) ## Related quotes > [I know this much: that there is objective time, but also subjective time, the kind you wear on the inside of your wrist, next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-know-this-much-that-there-is-objective-time-but-also-subjective-2/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [I think women assess time passage much better than men - because of their biological clocks - and they are much more realistic about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-boyle/i-think-women-assess-time-passage-much-better-than-men-because-of/) [Danny Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-boyle/) > [I have always been very obsessed with time. Time's passage makes us all very vulnerable and because we all experience it in our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-always-been-very-obsessed-with-time-time-s-passage-makes-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I know this much: that there is objective time, but also subjective time, the kind you wear on the inside of your wrist, next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-know-this-much-that-there-is-objective-time-but-also-subjective/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Time's passage through the memory is like molten glass that can be opaque or crystalize at any given moment at will: a thousand days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-naylor/time-s-passage-through-the-memory-is-like-molten-glass-that-can-be-2/) [Gloria Naylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-naylor/) > [“If time and the passage of events are the same, then time moves barely at all. If time and events are not the same,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/if-time-and-the-passage-of-events-are-the-same-then-time-moves-barely/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“Perhaps there are many "nows" of varying duration, depending on just what it is we are doing. We must face up to the fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-davies/perhaps-there-are-many-nows-of-varying-duration-depending-on-just/) [Paul Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-davies/) > [“The time-deniers say: forty's nothing, at fifty you're in your prime, sixty's the new forty, and so on. I know this much: that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/the-time-deniers-say-forty-s-nothing-at-fifty-you-re-in-your-prime/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Time's passage through the memory is like molten glass that can be opaque or crystallize at any given moment at will: a thousand days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-naylor/time-s-passage-through-the-memory-is-like-molten-glass-that-can-be/) [Gloria Naylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-naylor/) > [Subjective time flows forward, the phenomenal self is embedded into this flow, an inner history unfolds. That it is why it is not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-metzinger/subjective-time-flows-forward-the-phenomenal-self-is-embedded-into/) [Thomas Metzinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-metzinger/) > [“Perhaps, as Borges concludes in his story, it is forgetting, not remembering, that is the essence of what makes us human.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/perhaps-as-borges-concludes-in-his-story-it-is-forgetting-not/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“But we kind of know that turning life into a desperate race for more stuff is only going to shorten it. Not in years,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/but-we-kind-of-know-that-turning-life-into-a-desperate-race-for-more/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [I'm just looking at whatever moment I'm at, trying to tell a story that at that time feels like it needs to be told,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-wein/i-m-just-looking-at-whatever-moment-i-m-at-trying-to-tell-a-story/) [Daryl Wein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-wein/) > [“Our time together feels like a storm, like a wild wind and rain, like something too big to handle but too powerful to escape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/our-time-together-feels-like-a-storm-like-a-wild-wind-and-rain-like/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [“He's holding onto me, but this time it feels like he's holding onto me because his earth has shifted off its axis, and I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/he-s-holding-onto-me-but-this-time-it-feels-like-he-s-holding-onto-me/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) ## More by Joshua Foer > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“I don’t think I’m an exceptionally bad reader. I suspect that many people, maybe even most, are like me. We read and read and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/i-don-t-think-i-m-an-exceptionally-bad-reader-i-suspect-that-many/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [Life seems to speed up as we get older because life gets less memorable as we get older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/life-seems-to-speed-up-as-we-get-older-because-life-gets-less/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“We can only think about roughly seven things at a time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/we-can-only-think-about-roughly-seven-things-at-a-time/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [With our blogs and tweets, digital cameras, and unlimited-gigabyte e-mail archives, participation in the online culture now means creating a trail of always present,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/with-our-blogs-and-tweets-digital-cameras-and-unlimited-gigabyte-e/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [How much are we willing to lose from our already short lives by losing ourselves in our Blackberries, our iPhones, by not paying attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/how-much-are-we-willing-to-lose-from-our-already-short-lives-by/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“I Came away from the U.S. Memory Championship eager to find out how Ed and Lukas did it. Were these just extraordinary individuals, pridigies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/i-came-away-from-the-u-s-memory-championship-eager-to-find-out-how-ed/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [The 'OK Plateau' is that place we all get to where we just stop getting better at something. Take typing, for example. You might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/the-ok-plateau-is-that-place-we-all-get-to-where-we-just-stop-getting/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“One book, printed in the Heart’s own wax / Is worth a thousand in the stacks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/one-book-printed-in-the-heart-s-own-wax-is-worth-a-thousand-in-the-2/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [Languages are something of a mess. They evolve over centuries through an unplanned, democratic process that leaves them teeming with irregularities, quirks, and words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/languages-are-something-of-a-mess-they-evolve-over-centuries-through/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [Invented languages have often been created in tandem with entire invented universes, and most conlangers come to their craft by way of fantasy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/invented-languages-have-often-been-created-in-tandem-with-entire/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“Perhaps, as Borges concludes in his story, it is forgetting, not remembering, that is the essence of what makes us human.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/perhaps-as-borges-concludes-in-his-story-it-is-forgetting-not/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [Someday in the distant cyborg future, when our internal and external memories fully merge, we may come to possess infinite knowledge. But that's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/someday-in-the-distant-cyborg-future-when-our-internal-and-external/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [What makes things memorable is that they are meaningful, significant, colorful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/what-makes-things-memorable-is-that-they-are-meaningful-significant/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“As the historian Jocelyn Penny Small pointed out, GODISNOWHERE comes out a lot differently when rendered as GOD IS NOW HERE versus GOD IS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/as-the-historian-jocelyn-penny-small-pointed-out-godisnowhere-comes/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) [Explore all 114 Joshua Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) ## More Remembering quotes > [“The days may last forever, but the years pass by in a blink; the secret to survival is actually remembering to take a deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-smokler/the-days-may-last-forever-but-the-years-pass-by-in-a-blink-the-secret/) [Jill Smokler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-smokler/) > [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/) > [“Even though every piece of today feels small. I’ll do today, glancing up and remembering a race is completed the same way this book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennie-allen/even-though-every-piece-of-today-feels-small-i-ll-do-today-glancing/) [Jennie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennie-allen/) > [For those of us who try to keep remembering, Try to do our better than our best. Think of all the children in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zooey-deschanel/for-those-of-us-who-try-to-keep-remembering-try-to-do-our-better-than/) [Zooey Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zooey-deschanel/) > [“A memory that costs you something," he said aloud, almost to himself. "One that hurts to remember. That makes you regret what you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daria-lavelle/a-memory-that-costs-you-something-he-said-aloud-almost-to-himself-one/) [Daria Lavelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daria-lavelle/) > [“Put that thing down, girl. Don't you know it steals part of your soul, that little mechanical masterpiece you hold so frivolously? Don't you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-noelle-long/put-that-thing-down-girl-don-t-you-know-it-steals-part-of-your-soul/) [Shannon Noelle Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-noelle-long/) > [I just remember, all I'm doing is remembering when I was a kid I remember that they used to put out there in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/i-just-remember-all-i-m-doing-is-remembering-when-i-was-a-kid-i/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [“reading a book, or remembering something I heard on the radio last week, or admiring the flowers on the table, I am doing”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-durham/reading-a-book-or-remembering-something-i-heard-on-the-radio-last/) [Geoffrey Durham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-durham/) > [There are a hundred places where I fear To go, --so with his memory they brim! And entering with relief some quiet place Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/there-are-a-hundred-places-where-i-fear-to-go-so-with-his-memory-they/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Memory that yearns to join the centre, a limb remembering the body from which it has been severed, like those bamboo thighs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/memory-that-yearns-to-join-the-centre-a-limb-remembering-the-body/) [Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/) > [Mathematics is the surest way to immortality. If you make a big discovery in mathematics, you will be remembered after everyone else will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-erdos/mathematics-is-the-surest-way-to-immortality-if-you-make-a-big/) [Paul Erdos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-erdos/) > [What folly made young people, even those in middle age, think they were immortal? How much better, their lives, if they could remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/what-folly-made-young-people-even-those-in-middle-age-think-they-were/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [“You wouldn't think you can forget but sometimes you can—for a moment or two. I've never been able to decide if I think that’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/you-wouldn-t-think-you-can-forget-but-sometimes-you-can-for-a-moment/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [Remembering you is easy, I do it every day. But there is an ache within my heart that will never go away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/remembering-you-is-easy-i-do-it-every-day-but-there-is-an-ache-within/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Today marks the first anniversary of me remembering when your anniversary is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/today-marks-the-first-anniversary-of-me-remembering-when-your/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 1,007 Remembering quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I’m working on expanding subjective time so that it feels like I live longer,” Ed had mumbled to me on the sidewalk outside the Con Ed headquarters, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. “The idea is to avoid that feeling you have when you get to the end of the year and feel like, where the hell did that go?” “And how are you going to do that?” I asked. “By remembering more. 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