--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: some memories, too, might better be…" description: "\"“some memories, too, might better be forgotten. didn't Obasan once say, \"it is better to forget\"? what purpose is served by hauling forth the jar of in..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/084/joy-kogawa-41034_memory_some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgot_378409.jpg" --- # some memories, too, might better be forgotten. didn't… ![“some memories, too, might better be forgotten. didn't Obasan once say, "it is better to forget"? what purpose is served by hauling forth the jar of inedible food? if it is not seen, it does not horrify. what is past recall is past pain.” quote by Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/084/joy-kogawa-41034_memory_some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgot_378409.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/084/joy-kogawa-41034_memory_some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgot_378409.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/084/joy-kogawa-41034_memory_some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgot_378409.jpg) > ““some memories, too, might better be forgotten. didn't Obasan once say, "it is better to forget"? what purpose is served by hauling forth the jar of inedible food? if it is not seen, it does not horrify. what is past recall is past pain.”” [Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Some memories are so painful that forgetting them can be a protective act; confronting them may revive trauma rather than heal. **In simple terms:** Forgetting painful memories can protect us from pain. Key Takeaway Allow yourself to let go of harmful recollections. Themes memory trauma healing Mood somber reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - historical reflection - family discussions - personal journaling - cultural education Key Concepts psychology cultural repression Questions to Reflect On - What memories do you choose to forget and why? - How might confronting them change your present? A Different Perspective Suppressing memory can prevent processing and integration, leading to unresolved issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Past pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-pain/) ## Related quotes > [“Some things are better off forgotten We bury them in places that we really only visit by ourselves Oh you were a version like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stone-sour-anna/some-things-are-better-off-forgotten-we-bury-them-in-places-that-we/) Stone Sour - Anna > [“Some of our old ways are better forgotten, but not all of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nnedi-okorafor/some-of-our-old-ways-are-better-forgotten-but-not-all-of-them/) [Nnedi Okorafor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nnedi-okorafor/) > [Sometimes things are better off forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-elkeles/sometimes-things-are-better-off-forgotten/) [Simone Elkeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-elkeles/) > [The things we remember best are those better forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/the-things-we-remember-best-are-those-better-forgotten/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [The feeling of being used...I guess it's better then being forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-l-trejo/the-feeling-of-being-used-i-guess-it-s-better-then-being-forgotten/) Joan L Trejo > [What I have got from my childhood aren't toys, but memories. And happy memories are better than any toy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/river-phoenix/what-i-have-got-from-my-childhood-aren-t-toys-but-memories-and-happy/) [River Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/river-phoenix/) > [“It struck me as poignant that my long relationship with my beloved grandparents could be embodied in a few small objects. But the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/it-struck-me-as-poignant-that-my-long-relationship-with-my-beloved/) [Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/) > [The only real treasure is in your head. Memories are better than diamonds and nobody can steal them from you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodman-philbrick/the-only-real-treasure-is-in-your-head-memories-are-better-than/) [Rodman Philbrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodman-philbrick/) > [Let her be with her memories. Better that than be aware of this reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosie-thomas/let-her-be-with-her-memories-better-that-than-be-aware-of-this-reality/) [Rosie Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosie-thomas/) > [All I got with me now are just the memories that made me a better man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sirivi-hanson/all-i-got-with-me-now-are-just-the-memories-that-made-me-a-better-man/) [Sirivi Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sirivi-hanson/) > [“But memories got left behind while you kept walking on; every time you had to retrace your steps further to return to your memories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalene-matthee/but-memories-got-left-behind-while-you-kept-walking-on-every-time-you/) Dalene Matthee > [“There are memories I am better off without. Things better lost forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-watson/there-are-memories-i-am-better-off-without-things-better-lost-forever/) [S.J. Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-watson/) > [There are memories I a better off without. Things better lost forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-watson/there-are-memories-i-a-better-off-without-things-better-lost-forever/) [S.J. Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-watson/) > [“Balance is Impossible; Memories are Better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marci-fair/balance-is-impossible-memories-are-better/) Marci Fair > [“...even terrible memories are better than weird gaps or the hollowness of your feelings not making sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/even-terrible-memories-are-better-than-weird-gaps-or-the-hollowness/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) ## More by Joy Kogawa > [“From my years of teaching I know it's the children who say nothing who are in trouble more than the ones who complain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/from-my-years-of-teaching-i-know-it-s-the-children-who-say-nothing/) [Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) > [“I hate to admit it," she said, "but for all we hear about the States, Canada's capacity for racism seems even worse." "Worse?" "The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/i-hate-to-admit-it-she-said-but-for-all-we-hear-about-the-states/) [Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) > [Language to me is a tool a very clumsy tool. And words are garden tools with which to till the soil of one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/language-to-me-is-a-tool-a-very-clumsy-tool-and-words-are-garden/) [Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) > [“we're a "lower order of people" in one breath we are damned for being "unassailable" and the next there is fear that we'll assimilate.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/we-re-a-lower-order-of-people-in-one-breath-we-are-damned-for-being/) [Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) > [“Some people," Aunt Emily answered sharply, "are so busy seeing all sides of every issue that they neutralize concern and prevent necessary action. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/some-people-aunt-emily-answered-sharply-are-so-busy-seeing-all-sides/) [Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) > [Fiction, on the other hand, is like swamp fire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/fiction-on-the-other-hand-is-like-swamp-fire/) [Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) > [“In a time like this, let us trust in God even more. To trust when life is easy is no trust.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/in-a-time-like-this-let-us-trust-in-god-even-more-to-trust-when-life/) [Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) > [People who talk a lot about their victimization make me uncomfortable. It's as if they use their suffering as weapons or badges of some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/people-who-talk-a-lot-about-their-victimization-make-me-uncomfortable/) [Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) > [Poetry is a kind of gasp, and there it is, a spark on the page. Fiction, on the other hand, is like swamp fire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/poetry-is-a-kind-of-gasp-and-there-it-is-a-spark-on-the-page-fiction/) [Joy Kogawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) [Explore all 10 Joy Kogawa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/) ## 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 [Browse all 12,248 Memory quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“some memories, too, might better be forgotten. didn't Obasan once say, \"it is better to forget\"? what purpose is served by hauling forth the jar of inedible food? if it is not seen, it does not horrify. what is past recall is past pain.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joy Kogawa" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgotten-didn-t-obasan-once-say-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Memory" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgotten-didn-t-obasan-once-say-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/084/joy-kogawa-41034_memory_some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgot_378409.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/084/joy-kogawa-41034_memory_some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgot_378409.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/084/joy-kogawa-41034_memory_some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgot_378409.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“some memories, too, might better be forgotten. didn't Obasan once say, \"it is better to forget\"? what…” — Joy Kogawa", "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": "Joy Kogawa", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-kogawa/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“some memories, too, might better be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgotten-didn-t-obasan-once-say-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-kogawa/some-memories-too-might-better-be-forgotten-didn-t-obasan-once-say-it/#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 } } ] } ```