--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But sometimes what we call 'memory' and…" description: "\"But sometimes what we call 'memory' and what we call 'imagination' are not so easily distinguished.\" — Leslie Marmon Silko" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fb/leslie-marmon-silko-14967_distinguished_but-sometimes-what-we-call-memory-and-wh_2245578.png" --- # But sometimes what we call 'memory' and what we call… ![“But sometimes what we call 'memory' and what we call 'imagination' are not so easily distinguished.” quote by Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fb/leslie-marmon-silko-14967_distinguished_but-sometimes-what-we-call-memory-and-wh_2245578.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fb/leslie-marmon-silko-14967_distinguished_but-sometimes-what-we-call-memory-and-wh_2245578.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fb/leslie-marmon-silko-14967_distinguished_but-sometimes-what-we-call-memory-and-wh_2245578.png) > “But sometimes what we call 'memory' and what we call 'imagination' are not so easily distinguished.” [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory and imagination overlap, making it hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. **In simple terms:** Memory and imagination are hard to separate. Key Takeaway Recognize the fluidity between recalling and creating. Themes creativity perception identity Mood reflective curious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - artistic inspiration - personal reflection Key Concepts cognitive psychology subjective experience Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate a remembered event from a imagined one? - When does imagination enhance versus hinder understanding? A Different Perspective Imagination can distort factual recall, leading to false memories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ## Related quotes > [There are moments when a man's imagination, so easily subdued to what it lives in, suddenly rises above its daily level and surveys the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-are-moments-when-a-man-s-imagination-so-easily-subdued-to-what/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [One of the things he'd always loved about Clary was how easily caught up in her imagination she was, how easily she could wall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/one-of-the-things-he-d-always-loved-about-clary-was-how-easily-caught/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/the-thing-about-a-story-is-that-you-dream-it-as-you-tell-it-hoping/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [“Memory and imagination allow us to enter the womb of creation, devise the lens through which we translate our surroundings, and create the spectrum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/memory-and-imagination-allow-us-to-enter-the-womb-of-creation-devise/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [“When a man goes back to look at the house of his childhood, it has always shrunk: There is no instance of such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/when-a-man-goes-back-to-look-at-the-house-of-his-childhood-it-has/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I think cinema is the memory and the imagination of the country. Take the memory and imagination out of an individual, and he stops…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippe-falardeau/i-think-cinema-is-the-memory-and-the-imagination-of-the-country-take/) [Philippe Falardeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippe-falardeau/) > [I sometimes think that so much of our life takes place inside our heads - in memory or imagination or interpretation or speculation -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/i-sometimes-think-that-so-much-of-our-life-takes-place-inside-our/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [“We cross from memory into imagination with only a vague awareness of change.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-van-booy/we-cross-from-memory-into-imagination-with-only-a-vague-awareness-of/) [Simon Van Booy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-van-booy/) > [“They way one does research into nonexistent history is to tell the story and find out what happened. I believe this isn't very different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/they-way-one-does-research-into-nonexistent-history-is-to-tell-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [An idea is our visual reaction to something seen - in real life, in our memory, in our imagination, in our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-held/an-idea-is-our-visual-reaction-to-something-seen-in-real-life-in-our/) [Anna Held](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-held/) > [“Dreams are to beautify our life. I don know either they all or some of them will come true or even they will only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reham-gamal/dreams-are-to-beautify-our-life-i-don-know-either-they-all-or-some-of/) Reham Gamal > [“Storytelling gives form to the metal dialogue of the mind and in doing so, reveals our self-fiction. Memory and imagination fills part of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/storytelling-gives-form-to-the-metal-dialogue-of-the-mind-and-in/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [“Memory is imagination in reverse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-evans/memory-is-imagination-in-reverse/) [Stephen Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-evans/) > [Memory is imagination pinned down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/memory-is-imagination-pinned-down/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The only moment ever available to you is the present moment. Everything else is memory or imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-jacobson/the-only-moment-ever-available-to-you-is-the-present-moment/) [Leonard Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-jacobson/) ## More by Leslie Marmon Silko > [To be able to make up stories has been a great gift to me from my ancestors and from the storytellers who were so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/to-be-able-to-make-up-stories-has-been-a-great-gift-to-me-from-my/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [“rip the tongue from the darkness shake the earth with your breathing and explode gray ice dreams of eternity”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/rip-the-tongue-from-the-darkness-shake-the-earth-with-your-breathing/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [He made a story for all of them, a story to give them strength. The words of the story poured out of his mouth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/he-made-a-story-for-all-of-them-a-story-to-give-them-strength-the/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [The truth of course was otherwise, but Lecha had never felt she owed anyone the truth, unless it was truth about their own lives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/the-truth-of-course-was-otherwise-but-lecha-had-never-felt-she-owed/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [“He could get no rest as long as the memories were tangled with the present”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/he-could-get-no-rest-as-long-as-the-memories-were-tangled-with-the/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [The story was the important thing and little changes here and there were really part of the story. There were even stories about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/the-story-was-the-important-thing-and-little-changes-here-and-there/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [You don't have anything if you don't have the stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/you-don-t-have-anything-if-you-don-t-have-the-stories/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [Being alive was all right then: he had not breathed like that for a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/being-alive-was-all-right-then-he-had-not-breathed-like-that-for-a/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [I don't make outlines or plans because whenever I do, they turn out to be useless. 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The night is our comfort with her coolness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/night-heavenly-delicious-sweet-night-of-the-desert-that-calls-all-of/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [Writing cant change the world overnight, but writing may have an enormous effect over time, over the long haul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/writing-cant-change-the-world-overnight-but-writing-may-have-an/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [Things which don't shift and grow are dead things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-marmon-silko/things-which-don-t-shift-and-grow-are-dead-things/) [Leslie Marmon Silko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-marmon-silko/) > [“I will tell you something about stories. They aren't just entertainment. They are all we have to fight off illness and death. 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