--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I sound contemptuous, but I am not. I am…" description: "\"I sound contemptuous, but I am not. I am interested--intrigued even--by the way time erases real lives, leaving only vague imprints. Blood and spirit f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/kate-morton-805_blood_i-sound-contemptuous-but-i-am-not-i-am-i_1208468.jpg" --- # I sound contemptuous, but I am not. I am… ![“I sound contemptuous, but I am not. I am interested--intrigued even--by the way time erases real lives, leaving only vague imprints. Blood and spirit fade away so that only names and dates remain.” quote by Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/kate-morton-805_blood_i-sound-contemptuous-but-i-am-not-i-am-i_1208468.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/kate-morton-805_blood_i-sound-contemptuous-but-i-am-not-i-am-i_1208468.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/kate-morton-805_blood_i-sound-contemptuous-but-i-am-not-i-am-i_1208468.jpg) > “I sound contemptuous, but I am not. I am interested--intrigued even--by the way time erases real lives, leaving only vague imprints. Blood and spirit fade away so that only names and dates remain.” [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author reflects on how time erases personal details, leaving only names and dates, highlighting the fleeting nature of life and memory. **In simple terms:** Time erases details, leaving only names and dates. Key Takeaway Cherish moments before they fade. Themes mortality memory time impermanence Mood nostalgic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - family histories - genealogy research - memorials - personal reflections Key Concepts impermanence historiography existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do we preserve personal stories? - What matters more: dates or experiences? A Different Perspective Even names and dates,; personal experiences and emotions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I've been for 10 years trying to make something out of my life as an actor. 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Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [You achieve stature only by being good enough to deserve it, by forcing even the contemptuous and indifferent to pay attention, and to acknowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/you-achieve-stature-only-by-being-good-enough-to-deserve-it-by/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [An uprising would punish only the country, and that is out of the question. But there is yet another approach, the most effectiveform of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/an-uprising-would-punish-only-the-country-and-that-is-out-of-the/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [To describe religions as mind viruses is sometimes interpreted as contemptuous or even hostile. It is both. I am often asked why I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/to-describe-religions-as-mind-viruses-is-sometimes-interpreted-as/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More by Kate Morton > [“Laurel wondered whether perhaps a person reached an age when so much was kept from them, so many details of life discussed and decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/laurel-wondered-whether-perhaps-a-person-reached-an-age-when-so-much/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“It hardly needs to be said: sooner or later secrets have a way of making themselves known.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-hardly-needs-to-be-said-sooner-or-later-secrets-have-a-way-of/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Give someone more time and they'll appear to have done more with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/give-someone-more-time-and-they-ll-appear-to-have-done-more-with-it/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“It suddenly seemed to Laurel that all the absences in her own life, every loss and sadness, every nightmare in the dark, every unexplained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-suddenly-seemed-to-laurel-that-all-the-absences-in-her-own-life/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Rejection is a cancer, Edie. 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She'd wondered what it must feel like to escape the rigid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/she-d-opened-the-front-cover-and-fallen-inside-the-wonderful/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [It's special, grandparents and grandchldren. So much simpler. Is it always so, I wonder? I think perhaps it is. While one's child takes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/it-s-special-grandparents-and-grandchldren-so-much-simpler-is-it/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“... and I thought -not for the first time- what a true and simple pleasure it was, to be inside and sated when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/and-i-thought-not-for-the-first-time-what-a-true-and-simple-pleasure/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [“Nell was like a witch. 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