--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our culture is an edifice built of…" description: "\"Our culture is an edifice built of externalized memories.\" — Joshua Foer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/joshua-foer-4147_culture_our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-exter_915049.png" --- # Our culture is an edifice built of externalized memories. ![“Our culture is an edifice built of externalized memories.” quote by Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/joshua-foer-4147_culture_our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-exter_915049.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/joshua-foer-4147_culture_our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-exter_915049.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/joshua-foer-4147_culture_our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-exter_915049.png) > “Our culture is an edifice built of externalized memories.” [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. Culture is constructed from collective memories that are externalized and shared, shaping societal identity. **In simple terms:** Culture is built on shared memories. Key Takeaway Preserve and share memories to strengthen community. Themes memory culture identity Mood nostalgic thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - family traditions - national holidays - museum exhibits - digital archives Key Concepts collective memory social construction heritage Questions to Reflect On - Which memories define your community? - How can forgotten stories be revived? A Different Perspective Memory can be selective; narratives may exclude groups. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ## Related quotes > [“So why bother investing in one’s memory in an age of externalized memories? The best answer I can give is the one I received…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/so-why-bother-investing-in-one-s-memory-in-an-age-of-externalized/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“In a sense, the elaborate system of externalized memory we’ve created is a way of fending off mortality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/in-a-sense-the-elaborate-system-of-externalized-memory-we-ve-created/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“Our culture is an edifice built of external memories, a way of fending off mortality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-foer/our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-external-memories-a-way-of-fending/) Jonathan Foer > [“I have externalized the chaotic events of the day, and now I can return to my normal stasis.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-park/i-have-externalized-the-chaotic-events-of-the-day-and-now-i-can/) [Jessica Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-park/) > [“Culture is religion externalized.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/culture-is-religion-externalized/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The more externalized we are, the more sensations and distractions there must be, and this gives rise to a mind that is never quiet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/the-more-externalized-we-are-the-more-sensations-and-distractions/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [When God's Word is deliberately internalized, it will be authentically externalized because it's no longer what we do - it's part of who we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/when-god-s-word-is-deliberately-internalized-it-will-be-authentically/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [Children, Never look Back!" and this meant that we must never allow the future to be weighed down by memory . for children have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/children-never-look-back-and-this-meant-that-we-must-never-allow-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Our memory is a monster; you forget it - it does not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/our-memory-is-a-monster-you-forget-it-it-does-not/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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 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 Culture quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. 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And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [I think it's useful to experience other types of dance and other cultures, and the life of a classical dancer these days is certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-bull/i-think-it-s-useful-to-experience-other-types-of-dance-and-other/) [Deborah Bull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-bull/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. 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My literature has a universal concern: I want to bring people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/it-is-not-my-intention-to-explain-turkey-its-culture-and-its-problems/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [I don't think the distinction between high and low culture exists anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-scott/i-don-t-think-the-distinction-between-high-and-low-culture-exists/) [Jeremy Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-scott/) > [You get below the Mason-Dixon line and you have some of the best music, culture, the two races, the literature, and it's so rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-duvall/you-get-below-the-mason-dixon-line-and-you-have-some-of-the-best/) [Robert Duvall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-duvall/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [“Being grounded in your lifelong culture and your personal perspective, you are comfortable with the way you see things and may believe it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/being-grounded-in-your-lifelong-culture-and-your-personal-perspective/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) [Browse all 15,940 Culture quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our culture is an edifice built of externalized memories.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joshua Foer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-externalized-memories/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Culture" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-externalized-memories/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/joshua-foer-4147_culture_our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-exter_915049.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/joshua-foer-4147_culture_our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-exter_915049.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/joshua-foer-4147_culture_our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-exter_915049.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our culture is an edifice built of externalized memories.” — Joshua 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": "Joshua Foer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Our culture is an edifice built...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-externalized-memories/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/our-culture-is-an-edifice-built-of-externalized-memories/#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 } } ] } ```