--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Who was it said that memory is what we…" description: "\"“Who was it said that memory is what we thought we’d forgotten?”\" — Julian Barnes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bf/julian-barnes-522_forgotten_who-was-it-said-that-memory-is-what-we-t_2424863.png" --- # Who was it said that memory is what we thought we’d… ![“Who was it said that memory is what we thought we’d forgotten?” quote by Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bf/julian-barnes-522_forgotten_who-was-it-said-that-memory-is-what-we-t_2424863.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bf/julian-barnes-522_forgotten_who-was-it-said-that-memory-is-what-we-t_2424863.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7bf/julian-barnes-522_forgotten_who-was-it-said-that-memory-is-what-we-t_2424863.png) > ““Who was it said that memory is what we thought we’d forgotten?”” [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory is unreliable; what we think we’ve forgotten may still influence us. **In simple terms:** Forgotten memories linger. Key Takeaway Question the completeness of your recollections. Themes memory perception self‑awareness Mood introspective curious Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal reflection - therapy - historical research - creative writing Key Concepts cognitive bias philosophy of mind Questions to Reflect On - What memories might you be overlooking? - How does this shape your identity? A Different Perspective Memory can be distorted, not just hidden. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-thought-459789/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Said Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said-memory-1253161/) [Thought Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-forgotten-1574014/) ## Related quotes > [We live with such easy assumptions, don't we? For instance, that memory equals events plus time. But it's all much odder than this. Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/we-live-with-such-easy-assumptions-don-t-we-for-instance-that-memory/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Who was it said that memory is what we thought we'd forgotten? And it ought to be obvious to us that time doesn't act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/who-was-it-said-that-memory-is-what-we-thought-we-d-forgotten-and-it/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [So many things I had thought forgotten Return to my mind with stranger pain: Like letters that arrive addressed to someone Who left the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/so-many-things-i-had-thought-forgotten-return-to-my-mind-with/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“So many things I had thought forgotten Return to my mind with stranger pain: Like letters that arrive addressed to someone Who left the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-larkin/so-many-things-i-had-thought-forgotten-return-to-my-mind-with-2/) [Philip Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-larkin/) > [“After everything is said and done, a memory remains a treacherous thing…How long does one cling on to the people they’ve lost? How long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanza-javed/after-everything-is-said-and-done-a-memory-remains-a-treacherous/) [Kanza Javed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanza-javed/) > [“There, there, best to bring it all up,' she said. My memory was in shreds. Imagine a photograph cut into narrow strips then jumbled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-jamieson/there-there-best-to-bring-it-all-up-she-said-my-memory-was-in-shreds/) [Alice Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-jamieson/) > [“Judy, I read that you said your first memory was music. Music that fills up a home. And one day, suddenly the music could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ava-dellaira/judy-i-read-that-you-said-your-first-memory-was-music-music-that/) [Ava Dellaira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ava-dellaira/) > [She said I bet you dont remember me And I said only every other memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-mcgraw/she-said-i-bet-you-dont-remember-me-and-i-said-only-every-other-memory/) [Tim McGraw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-mcgraw/) > [“There’s a poem about onions,” she said. “It’s about how memory is like an onion—it makes you cry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/there-s-a-poem-about-onions-she-said-it-s-about-how-memory-is-like-an/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [No,' he said, 'memory's a poor thing to have. It's your own real hair and mouth and arms and eyes and hands I want.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/no-he-said-memory-s-a-poor-thing-to-have-it-s-your-own-real-hair-and/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I went with my love all over Damascus, he said. The memory is tied to the place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/new-york-times/i-went-with-my-love-all-over-damascus-he-said-the-memory-is-tied-to/) [New York Times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/new-york-times/) > [“Without memory, he thought, man would be invincible”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-van-booy/without-memory-he-thought-man-would-be-invincible/) [Simon Van Booy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-van-booy/) > [“Our mind is nothing but accumulated thoughts-good or evil recorded from the day the child is born. For memory or thought to work, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/our-mind-is-nothing-but-accumulated-thoughts-good-or-evil-recorded/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It is really extraordinarily interesting to watch the operation of one’s own thinking, just to observe how one thinks, where that reaction we call…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/it-is-really-extraordinarily-interesting-to-watch-the-operation-of/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“The dead are silent, and objects, when they hold impressions, are quiet until you reach through them. But the touch of living is loud.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-schwab/the-dead-are-silent-and-objects-when-they-hold-impressions-are-quiet/) [Victoria Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-schwab/) ## More by Julian Barnes > [“You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed. People may not notice at the time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/you-put-together-two-things-that-have-not-been-put-together-before/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“I settled into a contented routine of working, spending my free time with Veronica and, back in my student room, wanking explosively to fantasies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/i-settled-into-a-contented-routine-of-working-spending-my-free-time/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [The greatest patriotism is to tell your country when it is behaving dishonorably, foolishly, viciously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/the-greatest-patriotism-is-to-tell-your-country-when-it-is-behaving/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“There is only good vodka and very good vodka—there is no such thing as bad vodka.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/there-is-only-good-vodka-and-very-good-vodka-there-is-no-such-thing/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Alice Munro can move characters through time in a way that no other writer can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/alice-munro-can-move-characters-through-time-in-a-way-that-no-other/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [How rarely do our emotions meet the object they seem to deserve? How hopelessly we signal; how dark the sky; how big the waves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/how-rarely-do-our-emotions-meet-the-object-they-seem-to-deserve-how/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [You put together two people who have not been put together before. Sometimes it is like that first attempt to harness a hydrogen balloon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/you-put-together-two-people-who-have-not-been-put-together-before/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Also, when you are young, you think you can predict the likely pains and bleaknesses that age might bring. You imagine yourself being lonely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/also-when-you-are-young-you-think-you-can-predict-the-likely-pains/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Why slum it where people were burdened by yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that? By history? Here, on the Island,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/why-slum-it-where-people-were-burdened-by-yesterday-and-the-day/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“In those years before mobile phones, email and Skype, travelers depended on the rudimentary communications system known as the postcard. Other methods--the long-distance phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/in-those-years-before-mobile-phones-email-and-skype-travelers/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“My train was late, slowed by the usual Sunday engineering work. I got home in the early evening. I remember that I had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/my-train-was-late-slowed-by-the-usual-sunday-engineering-work-i-got/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [In life, every ending is just the start of another story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/in-life-every-ending-is-just-the-start-of-another-story/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“Indeed, isn’t the whole business of ascribing responsibility kind of a cop-out? We want to blame an individual so that everyone else is exculpated.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/indeed-isn-t-the-whole-business-of-ascribing-responsibility-kind-of-a/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [Some of the freckles I once loved are now closer to liver spots. But it’s still the eyes we look at, isn’t it? That’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/some-of-the-freckles-i-once-loved-are-now-closer-to-liver-spots-but/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [“And what percentage of people take up the option to die off?’ She looked at me, her glance telling me to be calm. ‘Oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/and-what-percentage-of-people-take-up-the-option-to-die-off-she/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) [Explore all 454 Julian Barnes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) ## More Forgotten quotes > [While the 1963 Birmingham church bombing is the most historic, there also was a series of church burnings in the 1990s. Recognition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthea-butler/while-the-1963-birmingham-church-bombing-is-the-most-historic-there/) [Anthea Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthea-butler/) > [Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogden-stiers/family-means-no-one-gets-left-behind-or-forgotten/) [David Ogden Stiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogden-stiers/) > [I was just going to say something, but I forgot when I started looking at you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-just-going-to-say-something-but-i-forgot-when-i-started-looking/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Black women's intersectional experiences of racism and sexism have been a central but forgotten dynamic in the unfolding of feminist and antiracist agendas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberle-williams-crenshaw/black-women-s-intersectional-experiences-of-racism-and-sexism-have/) [Kimberle Williams Crenshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberle-williams-crenshaw/) > [I mean, sitcoms shouldn't be doing 'Saturday Night Live.' You can't just do bit after bit after bit. You have to string it together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-dewitt/i-mean-sitcoms-shouldn-t-be-doing-saturday-night-live-you-can-t-just/) [Joyce DeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-dewitt/) > [People paid money for tickets to see us and be entertained by us, and we've never forgotten that. Anything after that was a bonus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-young/people-paid-money-for-tickets-to-see-us-and-be-entertained-by-us-and/) [Malcolm Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-young/) > [“Forgotten hero was never the real hero, real hero can not be forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/forgotten-hero-was-never-the-real-hero-real-hero-can-not-be-forgotten/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [We began as mineral. We emerged into plant life, and into the animal state, and then into being human, and always we have forgotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/we-began-as-mineral-we-emerged-into-plant-life-and-into-the-animal/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [It's the frames which make some things important and some things forgotten. It's all only frames from which the content rises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-babitz/it-s-the-frames-which-make-some-things-important-and-some-things/) [Eve Babitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-babitz/) > [Our public officials have forgotten that they are ultimately accountable to the people who put them in office, that the information they keep in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ono/our-public-officials-have-forgotten-that-they-are-ultimately/) [Yoko Ono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ono/) > [I have never forgotten a picture that I ever made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-bourke-white/i-have-never-forgotten-a-picture-that-i-ever-made/) [Margaret Bourke-White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-bourke-white/) > [I had forgotten that talking to you is like trying to pet a cactus." Saiman said dryly. "Thank you for reminding me." 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