--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is so little to remember of anyone…" description: "\"There is so little to remember of anyone - an anecdote, a conversation at a table. But every memory is turned over and over again, every word, however ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/marilynne-robinson-602_anecdotes_there-is-so-little-to-remember-of-anyone_1966263.jpg" --- # There is so little to remember of anyone - an anecdote, a… ![“There is so little to remember of anyone - an anecdote, a conversation at a table. But every memory is turned over and over again, every word, however chance, written in the heart in the hope that memory will fulfill itself, and become flesh, and that the wanderers will find a way home, and the…” quote by Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/marilynne-robinson-602_anecdotes_there-is-so-little-to-remember-of-anyone_1966263.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/marilynne-robinson-602_anecdotes_there-is-so-little-to-remember-of-anyone_1966263.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/marilynne-robinson-602_anecdotes_there-is-so-little-to-remember-of-anyone_1966263.jpg) > “There is so little to remember of anyone - an anecdote, a conversation at a table. But every memory is turned over and over again, every word, however chance, written in the heart in the hope that memory will fulfill itself, and become flesh, and that the wanderers will find a way home, and the perished, whose lack we always feel, will step through the door finally and stroke our hair with dreaming habitual fondness not having meant to keep us waiting long.” [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memories are fragile fragments that we replay, hoping they become tangible and connect us to the departed. **In simple terms:** We replay memories hoping they become real. Key Takeaway Cherish and share memories to honor those gone. Themes memory loss connection hope Mood melancholic hopeful Type philosophical emotional When to use this quote - family gatherings - writing memoirs - commemoration rituals Key Concepts nostalgia transcendence grief Questions to Reflect On - What memory brings you comfort? - How do you keep the past alive? A Different Perspective Memory can be idealized, not fully accurate. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anecdotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anecdotes/) [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Conversation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conversation/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Fondness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fondness/) [Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hair/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Wanderers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanderers/) ## Related quotes > [“But every memory is turned over and over again, every word, however chance, written in the heart in the hope that memory will fulfill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-every-memory-is-turned-over-and-over-again-every-word-however/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“It is...difficult to describe someone, since memories are by their nature fragmented, isolated, and arbitrary as glimpses one has at night through lighted windows.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/it-is-difficult-to-describe-someone-since-memories-are-by-their/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“My Second Chance is still being written." - Brad Maddox”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarrah-anders/my-second-chance-is-still-being-written-brad-maddox/) [Tarrah Anders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarrah-anders/) > [I grew up with very little. I remember vividly using buckets of water to shower.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dania-ramirez/i-grew-up-with-very-little-i-remember-vividly-using-buckets-of-water/) [Dania Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dania-ramirez/) > [In fact the total amount that a physicist knows is very little. He has only to remember the rules to get him from one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/in-fact-the-total-amount-that-a-physicist-knows-is-very-little-he-has/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [“I wonder how much- or how little- they remember. I am somehow convinced that they don't remember any of it, because they don't need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-wonder-how-much-or-how-little-they-remember-i-am-somehow-convinced/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Of my infancy I can speak little, only I do remember that in the fourth year of my age I had the measles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lilly/of-my-infancy-i-can-speak-little-only-i-do-remember-that-in-the/) [William Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lilly/) > [“A word of warning here. The events as you remember them will never be the same in your memory once you have turned them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-barrington/a-word-of-warning-here-the-events-as-you-remember-them-will-never-be/) [Judith Barrington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-barrington/) > [“Those who did remember probably shrugged off the chill of her memory, turned their heads down to the sports page or up toward the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/those-who-did-remember-probably-shrugged-off-the-chill-of-her-memory/) [Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/) > [“Rick's memory turned to fantasy as his mind took a different path than what reality had already turned into history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-cothern/rick-s-memory-turned-to-fantasy-as-his-mind-took-a-different-path/) [Brenda Cothern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-cothern/) > [“Maybe in this nation of the flesh, Distance will hold us together, as I try to remember her bent low to the bleeding heart’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-gloria/maybe-in-this-nation-of-the-flesh-distance-will-hold-us-together-as-i/) Eugene Gloria > [I hope that the memory of our friendship will be everlasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/i-hope-that-the-memory-of-our-friendship-will-be-everlasting/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Hope and Memory have one daughter and her name is Art, and she has built her dwelling far from the desperate field where men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/hope-and-memory-have-one-daughter-and-her-name-is-art-and-she-has/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I only hope that this memory I hold so dear and close to my heart will one day stop haunting the depths of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-hope-that-this-memory-i-hold-so-dear-and-close-to-my-heart/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My hope is that the memory of death and disgrace will be so intense that the people of the United States will be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/my-hope-is-that-the-memory-of-death-and-disgrace-will-be-so-intense/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ## More by Marilynne Robinson > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [For our purposes as human beings, the mind is the center of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/for-our-purposes-as-human-beings-the-mind-is-the-center-of-everything/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“I think sometimes there might be an advantage in making people aware how worn and stale these old transgressions are. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/faith-for-her-was-habit-and-family-loyalty-a-reverence-for-the-bible/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Prayer is a discipline in truthfulness, in honesty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/prayer-is-a-discipline-in-truthfulness-in-honesty/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.’ There are pleasures to be found where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/the-full-soul-loatheth-an-honeycomb-but-to-the-hungry-soul-every/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [I sometimes am discouraged by what seems to be a sort of conventional disparagement of humankind. 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So I am right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/now-that-i-look-back-it-seems-to-me-that-in-all-that-deep-darkness-a/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“My grandfather once told her if you couldn't read with cold feet, there wouldn't be a literate soul in the state of Maine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/my-grandfather-once-told-her-if-you-couldn-t-read-with-cold-feet/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [“Cranky old Leviticus gave us—gave Christ—not only “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” but also the rather forgotten “Thou shalt love the stranger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/cranky-old-leviticus-gave-us-gave-christ-not-only-thou-shalt-love-thy/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Explore all 450 Marilynne Robinson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) ## More Anecdotes quotes > [“There was a skill to organizing your life into neatly bundled anecdotes, and he lacked it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-sakey/there-was-a-skill-to-organizing-your-life-into-neatly-bundled/) [Marcus Sakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-sakey/) > [Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-rothko/art-to-me-is-an-anecdote-of-the-spirit/) [Mark Rothko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-rothko/) > [There comes a point where certain things are becoming my Achilles heel; you know when you start repeating yourself and saying the same anecdotes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-elson/there-comes-a-point-where-certain-things-are-becoming-my-achilles/) [Karen Elson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-elson/) > [Why should I ever get fed up talking about my father? He was a brilliant, colorful man who left us with thousands of memories.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-huston/why-should-i-ever-get-fed-up-talking-about-my-father-he-was-a/) [Danny Huston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-huston/) > [If you would stick to the concrete, and put your discoveries in the form of entertaining anecdotes about your adventures with women, your conversation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-you-would-stick-to-the-concrete-and-put-your-discoveries-in-the/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Painters were also attorneys, happy storytellers of anecdote, psychologists, botanists, zoologists, archaeologists, engineers, but there were no creative painters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazimir-malevich/painters-were-also-attorneys-happy-storytellers-of-anecdote/) [Kazimir Malevich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazimir-malevich/) > [Art isn't anecdote. It's the consciousness we bring to bear in our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/art-isn-t-anecdote-it-s-the-consciousness-we-bring-to-bear-in-our/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [Something about the possession of a book - an object that can contain infinite fables, words of wisdom, chronicles of times gone by, humorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/something-about-the-possession-of-a-book-an-object-that-can-contain/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [Men grind and grind in the mill of a truism, and nothing comes out but what was put in. 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