--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We lose names of things. Then the things…" description: "\"“We lose names of things. Then the things they named.”\" — Marianne Boruch" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2f/marianne-boruch-59252_forgetting_we-lose-names-of-things-then-the-things_2958094.png" --- # We lose names of things. Then the things they named. ![“We lose names of things. Then the things they named.” quote by Marianne Boruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2f/marianne-boruch-59252_forgetting_we-lose-names-of-things-then-the-things_2958094.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2f/marianne-boruch-59252_forgetting_we-lose-names-of-things-then-the-things_2958094.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2f/marianne-boruch-59252_forgetting_we-lose-names-of-things-then-the-things_2958094.png) > ““We lose names of things. Then the things they named.”” [Marianne Boruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-boruch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When we forget names, we also lose the essence of what they represented. **In simple terms:** Forgetting names erases their meaning. Key Takeaway Preserve memory to retain significance. Themes memory language loss identity Mood melancholic thoughtful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - family histories - archival work - personal journaling - cultural preservation Key Concepts linguistics philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you keep important concepts alive? - What role does naming play in identity? A Different Perspective Names can survive through stories even if forgotten. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Forgetting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgetting/) [Lose Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lose-names-3293404/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Named](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/named/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Names Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names-things-292294/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Sad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sad/) [Things Named](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-named-1758825/) ## Related quotes > [Few things can not be named they are just there … unknown yet BIG PART of your life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nidhi-saini/few-things-can-not-be-named-they-are-just-there-unknown-yet-big-part/) [Nidhi Saini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nidhi-saini/) > [“People often lose their names. Names fall into holes or get eaten by wild animals. Sometimes they’re carried away by the wind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-granville/people-often-lose-their-names-names-fall-into-holes-or-get-eaten-by/) [Eliza Granville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-granville/) > [The world I'm interested in is the one where things are not named.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-graham/the-world-i-m-interested-in-is-the-one-where-things-are-not-named/) [Martha Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-graham/) > [Many things in the world have not been named; and many things, even if they have been named, have never been described.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/many-things-in-the-world-have-not-been-named-and-many-things-even-if/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Because I do not know the names of things, I do not express them. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-e-kennedy/because-i-do-not-know-the-names-of-things-i-do-not-express-them/) [Thomas E. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-e-kennedy/) > [If you do not know the names of things, the knowledge of them is lost, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-linnaeus/if-you-do-not-know-the-names-of-things-the-knowledge-of-them-is-lost/) [Carl Linnaeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-linnaeus/) > [Names and attributes must be accommodated to the essence of things, and not the essence to the names, since things come first and names…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/names-and-attributes-must-be-accommodated-to-the-essence-of-things/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And I'm convinced that knowing the names of things braces people up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/and-i-m-convinced-that-knowing-the-names-of-things-braces-people-up/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“knowing the names of things is a way to pay respect to the beauty of the world,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/knowing-the-names-of-things-is-a-way-to-pay-respect-to-the-beauty-of/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [“Are names more properly said to be the names of things, or of our ideas of things? The first is the expression in common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/are-names-more-properly-said-to-be-the-names-of-things-or-of-our/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [Some people think that if they change the names of things, the things themselves will have changed, too](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mckay/some-people-think-that-if-they-change-the-names-of-things-the-things/) [David McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mckay/) > [“It is a sad truth, but we have lost the faculty of giving lovely names to things. Names are everything. I never quarrel with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-a-sad-truth-but-we-have-lost-the-faculty-of-giving-lovely-names-2/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The names for things don't come first. Words stagger after, hopelessly trying to become the sensation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-names-for-things-don-t-come-first-words-stagger-after-hopelessly/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [The names are the first things to go, after the breath has gone, and the beating of the heart. We keep our memories longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-names-are-the-first-things-to-go-after-the-breath-has-gone-and/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Losing their names, these things underwent a process of uncreation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/losing-their-names-these-things-underwent-a-process-of-uncreation/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## More by Marianne Boruch > [“There’s smitten and there’s smite.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-boruch/there-s-smitten-and-there-s-smite/) [Marianne Boruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-boruch/) > [To walk into Bill Olsen's poems is to enter a mind so weirdly curious, you can't be released to sadness, not yet: it's just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-boruch/to-walk-into-bill-olsen-s-poems-is-to-enter-a-mind-so-weirdly-curious/) [Marianne Boruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-boruch/) > [A pencil in my hand, its secret life / is charcoal, the wood already burnt, / a sacrifice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-boruch/a-pencil-in-my-hand-its-secret-life-is-charcoal-the-wood-already/) [Marianne Boruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-boruch/) > [A poem is a box, a thing, to put other things in. For safe keeping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-boruch/a-poem-is-a-box-a-thing-to-put-other-things-in-for-safe-keeping/) [Marianne Boruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-boruch/) [Explore all 5 Marianne Boruch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-boruch/) ## More Forgetting quotes > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [The most painful thing in life is losing yourself in the process of valuing someone too much & forgetting that you are special too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-most-painful-thing-in-life-is-losing-yourself-in-the-process-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-focus-on-this-one-thing-forgetting-the-past-and-looking-forward-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [If you can't forgive and forget, pick only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-brault/if-you-can-t-forgive-and-forget-pick-only-one/) [Robert Brault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-brault/) > [Absolute is a game with only one player where Absolute forgets itself so it would have a reason to fulfill the motion while returning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/absolute-is-a-game-with-only-one-player-where-absolute-forgets-itself/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [“Several times that day, the name or thought of Papa had come up. And each time, Francie had felt a flash of tenderness instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-smith/several-times-that-day-the-name-or-thought-of-papa-had-come-up-and/) [Betty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-smith/) > [“It's my fault. I am forgetting too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/it-s-my-fault-i-am-forgetting-too-much/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Falling out of love is chiefly a matter of forgetting how charming someone is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/falling-out-of-love-is-chiefly-a-matter-of-forgetting-how-charming/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“She's sure, absolutely sure, that what she's waiting for will happen, just the way she wants it to; and I'm so uncertain, so fearful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/she-s-sure-absolutely-sure-that-what-she-s-waiting-for-will-happen/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [Im afraid of being forgotten. Because, it seems everyone I get close to, ends up forgetting me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arcine-arciniegas/im-afraid-of-being-forgotten-because-it-seems-everyone-i-get-close-to/) [Arcine Arciniegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arcine-arciniegas/) > [“Keeping histories is as much about knowing what needs forgetting as what ought to be remembered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-bobet/keeping-histories-is-as-much-about-knowing-what-needs-forgetting-as/) [Leah Bobet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-bobet/) > [“Forgetting is what nature does best. The universe is a huge forgetting machine. It erases information no matter how hard we try to hang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-ives-gilman/forgetting-is-what-nature-does-best-the-universe-is-a-huge-forgetting/) [Carolyn Ives Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-ives-gilman/) > [“Who was it said, ‘We forget because we must’? He was right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-montgomery/who-was-it-said-we-forget-because-we-must-he-was-right/) [L.M. Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-montgomery/) > [Moving on isnt forgetting the past, its learning from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/moving-on-isnt-forgetting-the-past-its-learning-from-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 1,010 Forgetting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgetting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We lose names of things. 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