--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And so their memories took on potential…" description: "\"“And so their memories took on potential, which is of course how our greatest nostalgias are born.”\" — Mohsin Hamid" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/mohsin-hamid-798_memories_and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential_285720.jpg" --- # And so their memories took on potential, which is of… ![“And so their memories took on potential, which is of course how our greatest nostalgias are born.” quote by Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/mohsin-hamid-798_memories_and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential_285720.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/mohsin-hamid-798_memories_and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential_285720.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/mohsin-hamid-798_memories_and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential_285720.jpg) > ““And so their memories took on potential, which is of course how our greatest nostalgias are born.”” [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nostalgia arises when memories gain potential, shaping our longing for the past. **In simple terms:** Memories become powerful and create longing. Key Takeaway Recognize and reflect on nostalgic feelings. Themes nostalgia memory longing Mood melancholic thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - therapy Key Concepts psychology temporal perception emotional memory Questions to Reflect On - What memories feel most potent now? - How does nostalgia influence your decisions? A Different Perspective Nostalgia may distort reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatest Nostalgias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatest-nostalgias-2760917/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memories Took](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories-took-1518595/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Nostalgia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgia/) [Nostalgias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgias-537482/) [Nostalgias Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nostalgias-born-2760916/) ## Related quotes > [“if they had but waited and watched their relationship would have flowered again, and so their memories took on potential, which is of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/if-they-had-but-waited-and-watched-their-relationship-would-have/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [Nostalgias were peeled from it long ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-justice/nostalgias-were-peeled-from-it-long-ago/) [Donald Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-justice/) > [We had our wheat. 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All the thoughts that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/i-lived-inscrutable-hours-a-succession-of-disconnected-moments-in-my/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“At first he told them that everything was just the same, that the pink snails were still in the house where he had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/at-first-he-told-them-that-everything-was-just-the-same-that-the-pink/) [Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“Recuerdo que algún día yo le hablé de mi río y una como tormenta se agitó en sus estrañas. No sé si fue mi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-de-burgos/recuerdo-que-alg-n-d-a-yo-le-habl-de-mi-r-o-y-una-como-tormenta-se/) [Julia de Burgos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-de-burgos/) > [There's a point when you're dating someone where you become aware of all the things you kind of thought you couldn't depart from. 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I will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catriona-ross/there-will-be-no-more-nostalgias-phil-decides-from-now-on-i-m-living/) [Catriona Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catriona-ross/) > [If the dominant political expression that we're seeing right now is of nostalgia and we know that nostalgia won't really work out, what happens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/if-the-dominant-political-expression-that-we-re-seeing-right-now-is/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [Perhaps a creature of so much ingenuity and deep memory is almost bound to grow alienated from his world, his fellows, and the objects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/perhaps-a-creature-of-so-much-ingenuity-and-deep-memory-is-almost/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“Let us not burthen our remembrance with A heaviness that's gone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/let-us-not-burthen-our-remembrance-with-a-heaviness-that-s-gone/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/not-very-long-ago-i-was-driving-with-my-husband-on-the-back-roads-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“I don't want to break my memories with you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arzum-uzun/i-don-t-want-to-break-my-memories-with-you/) [Arzum Uzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arzum-uzun/) ## More by Mohsin Hamid > [Pakistan now is like a horror film franchise. You know, it's 'Friday the 13th, Episode 63: The Terrorist from Pakistan.' And each time we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/pakistan-now-is-like-a-horror-film-franchise-you-know-it-s-friday-the/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“I met her eyes, and for the first time I perceived that there was something broken behind them, like a tiny crack in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-met-her-eyes-and-for-the-first-time-i-perceived-that-there-was/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“muscularity, made more pronounced by her gauntness, and the near-inanimate”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/muscularity-made-more-pronounced-by-her-gauntness-and-the-near/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“In this group, everyone was foreign, and so, in a sense, no one was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/in-this-group-everyone-was-foreign-and-so-in-a-sense-no-one-was/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“It seemed to me then - and to be honest, sir, seems to me still - that America was engaged only in posturing. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/it-seemed-to-me-then-and-to-be-honest-sir-seems-to-me-still-that/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [When the uncertain future becomes the past, the past in turn becomes uncertain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/when-the-uncertain-future-becomes-the-past-the-past-in-turn-becomes/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [When the machine of a human being is turned on, it seems to produce a protagonist, just as a television produces an image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/when-the-machine-of-a-human-being-is-turned-on-it-seems-to-produce-a/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I think fiction allows you to inhabit new domains and it's you, the reader living in that domain for a few days that results…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-think-fiction-allows-you-to-inhabit-new-domains-and-it-s-you-the/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“Often, during my stay in your country, such comparisons troubled me. In fact, they did more than trouble me: they made me resentful. Four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/often-during-my-stay-in-your-country-such-comparisons-troubled-me-in/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [Americans need to educate themselves, from elementary school onward, about what their country has done abroad. And they need to play a more active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/americans-need-to-educate-themselves-from-elementary-school-onward/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I'm not a representative of Pakistan; I'm just an example that Pakistanis are different from each other. I believe it in my fiction and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-m-not-a-representative-of-pakistan-i-m-just-an-example-that/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [“end of a couple is like a death, and the notion of death, of temporariness, can remind us of the value of things,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/end-of-a-couple-is-like-a-death-and-the-notion-of-death-of/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [NYC doesn't have a big sign saying "You must love diversity and the rights of all people." And that's not what makes you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/nyc-doesn-t-have-a-big-sign-saying-you-must-love-diversity-and-the/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) [Explore all 361 Mohsin Hamid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) ## More Memories quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I am told many children block out the memory of trauma. In fact, the healing process can only truly begin when we are willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phoebe-stone/i-am-told-many-children-block-out-the-memory-of-trauma-in-fact-the/) [Phoebe Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phoebe-stone/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [I have a memory like an elephant. I remember every elephant I've ever met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-caen/i-have-a-memory-like-an-elephant-i-remember-every-elephant-i-ve-ever/) [Herb Caen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-caen/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [My greatest memories as a kid were playing sports with my dad and watching sports with my dad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-teixeira/my-greatest-memories-as-a-kid-were-playing-sports-with-my-dad-and/) [Mark Teixeira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-teixeira/) > [A well-fashioned day - with a beginning and an end, a purpose and a content, a color and a character, a feel and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/a-well-fashioned-day-with-a-beginning-and-an-end-a-purpose-and-a/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [What keeps me motivated is not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chiarello/what-keeps-me-motivated-is-not-the-food-itself-but-all-the-bonds-and/) [Michael Chiarello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chiarello/) > [Our memory is a monster; you forget it - it does not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/our-memory-is-a-monster-you-forget-it-it-does-not/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [In the name of Jerusalem. 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I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) > [Children, Never look Back!" and this meant that we must never allow the future to be weighed down by memory . for children have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/children-never-look-back-and-this-meant-that-we-must-never-allow-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“ving self and others is an every second of every day of every week, of every month, of every year gift that should not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjo-jendayi/ving-self-and-others-is-an-every-second-of-every-day-of-every-week-of/) [Sanjo Jendayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjo-jendayi/) [Browse all 11,132 Memories quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And so their memories took on potential, which is of course how our greatest nostalgias are born.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mohsin Hamid" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential-which-is-of-course-how-our/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Memories" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential-which-is-of-course-how-our/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/mohsin-hamid-798_memories_and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential_285720.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/mohsin-hamid-798_memories_and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential_285720.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/mohsin-hamid-798_memories_and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential_285720.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And so their memories took on potential, which is of course how our greatest nostalgias are born.” — Mohsin Hamid", "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": "Mohsin Hamid", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And so their memories took on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential-which-is-of-course-how-our/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-so-their-memories-took-on-potential-which-is-of-course-how-our/#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 } } ] } ```