--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But what is memory if not the language of…" description: "\"But what is memory if not the language of feeling, a dictionary of faces and days and smells which repeat themselves like the verbs and adjectives in a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/julio-cort-zar-698_adjectives_but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-o_113302.png" --- # But what is memory if not the language of feeling, a… ![“But what is memory if not the language of feeling, a dictionary of faces and days and smells which repeat themselves like the verbs and adjectives in a speech, sneaking in behind the thing itself,into the pure present, making us sad or teaching us vicariously...” quote by Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/julio-cort-zar-698_adjectives_but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-o_113302.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/julio-cort-zar-698_adjectives_but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-o_113302.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/julio-cort-zar-698_adjectives_but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-o_113302.png) > “But what is memory if not the language of feeling, a dictionary of faces and days and smells which repeat themselves like the verbs and adjectives in a speech, sneaking in behind the thing itself,into the pure present, making us sad or teaching us vicariously...” [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory stores sensory impressions as a language of feeling, resurfacing in the present to evoke emotion or indirect insight. **In simple terms:** Memory is an emotional language of past sensations. Key Takeaway Memory links feeling to present experience. Themes memory sensation emotion subjectivity Mood nostalgic reflective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - revisiting a hometown - listening to an old song - smelling a familiar perfume Key Concepts episodic recollection Practical Applications - use sensory cues to trigger recall - journal to preserve emotional details Questions to Reflect On - Why do certain smells evoke stronger memories than visual cues? - Can we train memory to be more factual and less emotional? A Different Perspective Memory can be unreliable; feelings may distort factual accuracy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adjectives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adjectives/) [Adjectives Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adjectives-speech-1339257/) [Behinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Dictionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictionary/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling/) [Feeling Dictionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feeling-dictionary-1339256/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Language Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-feeling-697516/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-language-389503/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) [Speech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speech/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Verbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/verbs/) ## Related quotes > [Poetry is the memory of language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-roubaud/poetry-is-the-memory-of-language/) [Jacques Roubaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-roubaud/) > [My language is a feel-thinking language, feeling and thinking at once, that is why it is a celebration of life, and at once it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/my-language-is-a-feel-thinking-language-feeling-and-thinking-at-once/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [I spend my days kneeling in the muck of language, feeling around for gooey verbs, nouns, and modifiers that I can squash together to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/i-spend-my-days-kneeling-in-the-muck-of-language-feeling-around-for/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [For better or for worse, music is the language of memory. It is also the language of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/for-better-or-for-worse-music-is-the-language-of-memory-it-is-also/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [When language fails, violence becomes a language; I never had that feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/when-language-fails-violence-becomes-a-language-i-never-had-that/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [The words emerge from her body without her realizing it, as if she were being visited by the memory of a language long forsaken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/the-words-emerge-from-her-body-without-her-realizing-it-as-if-she/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [In the history of the concept of number has been adjective (three cows, three monads) and noun (three, pure and simple), and now ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-mazur/in-the-history-of-the-concept-of-number-has-been-adjective-three-cows/) [Barry Mazur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-mazur/) > [Whatever you want to say, there is only one word to express it, only one verb to give it movement, only one adjective to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-maupassant/whatever-you-want-to-say-there-is-only-one-word-to-express-it-only/) [Guy de Maupassant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-maupassant/) > [Probably the best way to describe my writing style is to refer you to "purple prose", which was a tag given to the early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-johnson/probably-the-best-way-to-describe-my-writing-style-is-to-refer-you-to/) [Tom Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-johnson/) > [Destroy the Museums. Crack syntax. Sabotage the adjective. Leave nothing but the verb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/filippo-tommaso-marinetti/destroy-the-museums-crack-syntax-sabotage-the-adjective-leave-nothing/) [Filippo Tommaso Marinetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/filippo-tommaso-marinetti/) > [I am still studying verbs and the mystery of how they connect nouns. I am more suspicious of adjectives than at any other time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/i-am-still-studying-verbs-and-the-mystery-of-how-they-connect-nouns-i/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [The beginning of sense, not to say wisdom, is to realize that 'doing an action,' as used in philosophy, is a highly abstract expression--it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-austin/the-beginning-of-sense-not-to-say-wisdom-is-to-realize-that-doing-an/) [J. L. Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-l-austin/) > [Stronger together is, I think, a preposition and a comparative adjective, but it's not really an action verb or what it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-shields/stronger-together-is-i-think-a-preposition-and-a-comparative/) [Mark Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-shields/) > [If you can remember all the accessories that go with your best outfit, the contents of your purse, the starting lineup of the New…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/if-you-can-remember-all-the-accessories-that-go-with-your-best-outfit/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [I think the best way to put it is that newspictures are the noun and the verb; our kind of photography is the adjective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-stryker/i-think-the-best-way-to-put-it-is-that-newspictures-are-the-noun-and/) [Roy Stryker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-stryker/) ## More by Julio Cortazar > [“Umblam fara sa ne cautam, dar stiind ca umblam ca sa ne gasim.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/umblam-fara-sa-ne-cautam-dar-stiind-ca-umblam-ca-sa-ne-gasim/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“También hay ríos metafísicos, Horacio. Vos te vas a tirar a uno de esos ríos.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/tambi-n-hay-r-os-metaf-sicos-horacio-vos-te-vas-a-tirar-a-uno-de-esos/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“Thus they went along, Punch and Judy, attracting each other and repelling, as love must do if it is not to end up as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/thus-they-went-along-punch-and-judy-attracting-each-other-and/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“Me daba asco pensar así, una vez más estar pensando todo lo que a los otros les bastaba sentir.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/me-daba-asco-pensar-as-una-vez-m-s-estar-pensando-todo-lo-que-a-los/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“Y allá en el fondo está la muerte si no corremos y llegamos antes y comprendemos que ya no importa.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/y-all-en-el-fondo-est-la-muerte-si-no-corremos-y-llegamos-antes-y/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“Kada otvorim vrata i pojavim se na stepeništu, znaću da dole počinje ulica. Ali ne kalup, unapred prihvaćen, niti dobro poznate kuće, ni onaj…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/kada-otvorim-vrata-i-pojavim-se-na-stepeni-tu-zna-u-da-dole-po-inje/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“As soon as he began to amalate the noeme, the clemise began to smother her and they fell into hydromuries, into savage ambonies, into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/as-soon-as-he-began-to-amalate-the-noeme-the-clemise-began-to-smother/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [ The best literature is always a take \[in the musical sense\]; there is an implicit risk in its execution, a margin of danger that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/the-best-literature-is-always-a-take-in-the-musical-sense-there-is-an/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [What good is a writer if he can't destroy literature? And us... what good are we if we don't help as much as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/what-good-is-a-writer-if-he-can-t-destroy-literature-and-us-what-good/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [I raised the camera, pretended to study a focus which did not include them, and waited and watched closely, sure that I would finally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/i-raised-the-camera-pretended-to-study-a-focus-which-did-not-include/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“That's how it is, Rocamadour: in Paris we're like fungus, we grow on the railings of staircases, in dark rooms with greasy smells, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/that-s-how-it-is-rocamadour-in-paris-we-re-like-fungus-we-grow-on-the/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“No puede ser que estemos aquí para no poder ser.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/no-puede-ser-que-estemos-aqu-para-no-poder-ser/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [The more a book is like an opium pipe, the more the Chinaman reader is satisfied with it and tends to discuss the quality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/the-more-a-book-is-like-an-opium-pipe-the-more-the-chinaman-reader-is/) [Julio Cortazar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“In the twentieth century nothing can better cure the anthropocentrism that is the author of all our ills than to cast ourselves into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/in-the-twentieth-century-nothing-can-better-cure-the-anthropocentrism/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) > [“Amor mío, no te quiero por vos ni por mí ni por los dos juntos, no te quiero porque la sangre me llame a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/amor-m-o-no-te-quiero-por-vos-ni-por-m-ni-por-los-dos-juntos-no-te/) [Julio Cortázar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) [Explore all 159 Julio Cortazar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/) ## More Adjectives quotes > [To write or even speak English is not a science but an art. There are no reliable words… Whoever writes English is involved in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/to-write-or-even-speak-english-is-not-a-science-but-an-art-there-are/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Avoid the ecstatic adjectives that occupy such disproportionate space in every critic's quiver - words like "enthralling" and "luminous."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-zinsser/avoid-the-ecstatic-adjectives-that-occupy-such-disproportionate-space/) [William Zinsser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-zinsser/) > [In the history of the concept of number has been adjective (three cows, three monads) and noun (three, pure and simple), and now ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-mazur/in-the-history-of-the-concept-of-number-has-been-adjective-three-cows/) [Barry Mazur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-mazur/) > [In my opinion, using different kinds of epithets and adjectives in connection with the word democracy is a sign of mere hypocrisy, to put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/in-my-opinion-using-different-kinds-of-epithets-and-adjectives-in/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [Eschew all those beastly adjectives...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/eschew-all-those-beastly-adjectives/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [I will give you my definition of a nation, and you can add the adjective 'Jewish.' A Nation is, in my mind, an historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-herzl/i-will-give-you-my-definition-of-a-nation-and-you-can-add-the/) [Theodor Herzl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-herzl/) > [The mind that thought of light, heavy, grey, yellow, still, swift, also conceived of magic that would make heavy things light and able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien-2/the-mind-that-thought-of-light-heavy-grey-yellow-still-swift-also/) [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien-2/) > [Whatever you want to say, there is only one word to express it, only one verb to give it movement, only one adjective to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-maupassant/whatever-you-want-to-say-there-is-only-one-word-to-express-it-only/) [Guy de Maupassant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-maupassant/) > [I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English―it is the modern way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-notice-that-you-use-plain-simple-language-short-words-and-brief/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Purity of action guided Janis's behavior. If she was going to be good, she was very, very good. If she was going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-joplin/purity-of-action-guided-janis-s-behavior-if-she-was-going-to-be-good/) [Laura Joplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-joplin/) > [I have been called 'Bongshell' the day I stepped into showbiz. So, any adjective coming my way, I take it positively. Sometimes it's also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bipasha-basu/i-have-been-called-bongshell-the-day-i-stepped-into-showbiz-so-any/) [Bipasha Basu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bipasha-basu/) > [I like that 'Mad Men' is now an adjective I use to describe clothing when I'm shopping: 'I like this top. It's very 'Mad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-brie/i-like-that-mad-men-is-now-an-adjective-i-use-to-describe-clothing/) [Alison Brie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-brie/) > [anything being perceived as being superior takes the noun. And everything that isn't, that's judged to be inferior, requires an adjective. So there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/anything-being-perceived-as-being-superior-takes-the-noun-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The only sort of descriptive adjective or catch phrase for my music would be 'eclectic.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/the-only-sort-of-descriptive-adjective-or-catch-phrase-for-my-music/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [“Know the adjectives that define you and pay no heed to the verbs that defy you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vidya-kumar/know-the-adjectives-that-define-you-and-pay-no-heed-to-the-verbs-that/) [Vidya Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vidya-kumar/) [Browse all 239 Adjectives quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adjectives/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But what is memory if not the language of feeling, a dictionary of faces and days and smells which repeat themselves like the verbs and adjectives in a speech, sneaking in behind the thing itself,into the pure present, making us sad or teaching us vicariously...", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julio Cortazar" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-of-feeling-a-dictionary-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adjectives" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-of-feeling-a-dictionary-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/julio-cort-zar-698_adjectives_but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-o_113302.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/julio-cort-zar-698_adjectives_but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-o_113302.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/333/julio-cort-zar-698_adjectives_but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-o_113302.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But what is memory if not the language of feeling, a dictionary of faces and days and smells which repeat…” — Julio Cortazar", "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": "Julio Cortazar", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julio-cort-zar/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But what is memory if not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-of-feeling-a-dictionary-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julio-cort-zar/but-what-is-memory-if-not-the-language-of-feeling-a-dictionary-of/#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 } } ] } ```