--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our life is just as long or short as our…" description: "\"“Our life is just as long or short as our remembering: as rich as our imagining, as vibrant as our feeling, and as profound as our thinking.”\" — Neel B..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f7/neel-burton-16027_cognition_our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our_1127243.jpg" --- # Our life is just as long or short as our remembering: as… ![“Our life is just as long or short as our remembering: as rich as our imagining, as vibrant as our feeling, and as profound as our thinking.” quote by Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f7/neel-burton-16027_cognition_our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our_1127243.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f7/neel-burton-16027_cognition_our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our_1127243.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f7/neel-burton-16027_cognition_our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our_1127243.jpg) > ““Our life is just as long or short as our remembering: as rich as our imagining, as vibrant as our feeling, and as profound as our thinking.”” [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s length is measured by the depth of memory, imagination, feeling, and thought rather than years. **In simple terms:** Life’s depth, not years, defines its richness. Key Takeaway Cultivate memory, imagination, feeling, and thought. Themes memory imagination emotion thought meaning Mood reflective inspirational thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - teaching - personal growth - relationships - creative projects Key Concepts philosophy psychology human experience Questions to Reflect On - How can you expand each dimension daily? - Which dimension feels weakest now? A Different Perspective Neglecting any of these aspects can lead to a shallow existence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cognition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cognition/) [Emotions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotions/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagining Vibrant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagining-vibrant-3079357/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Profound Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound-thinking-579785/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering/) [Rich Imagining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich-imagining-3079356/) [Short Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-remembering-3079355/) ## Related quotes > [All seemingly profound thinking which passes for realism, because it conveniently does away with all troublesome principles, has agreat attraction for the adolescent mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/all-seemingly-profound-thinking-which-passes-for-realism-because-it/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) > [Faculty Psychology is getting to be respectable again after centuries of hanging around with phrenologists and other dubious types. By faculty psychology I mean,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-fodor/faculty-psychology-is-getting-to-be-respectable-again-after-centuries/) [Jerry Fodor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-fodor/) > [“The moment you establish a line of communication between two points, you subtly change both. That is also true for the way the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-amerland/the-moment-you-establish-a-line-of-communication-between-two-points/) [David Amerland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-amerland/) > [The emergence of a unified cognitive moment relies on the coordination of scattered mosaics of functionally specialized brain regions. Here we review the mechanisms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francisco-varela/the-emergence-of-a-unified-cognitive-moment-relies-on-the/) [Francisco Varela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francisco-varela/) > [I worry that the level of interrupt, the sort of overwhelming rapidity of information — and especially of stressful information — is in fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schmidt/i-worry-that-the-level-of-interrupt-the-sort-of-overwhelming-rapidity/) [Eric Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schmidt/) > [“In order to build a truly wise society devoid of any kind of existential crisis, it is imperative that the individuals foster a healthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/in-order-to-build-a-truly-wise-society-devoid-of-any-kind-of/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The arts make vivid the fact that words do not, in their literal form or number, exhaust what we can know. The limits of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-w-eisner/the-arts-make-vivid-the-fact-that-words-do-not-in-their-literal-form/) [Elliot W. Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-w-eisner/) > [Faith is the commitment of one's consciousness to beliefs for which one has no sensory evidence or rational proof. When man rejects reason as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/faith-is-the-commitment-of-one-s-consciousness-to-beliefs-for-which/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [In the early days the Cubism' method of grasping an object was to go round and round it. The Futurists declared that one had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gino-severini/in-the-early-days-the-cubism-method-of-grasping-an-object-was-to-go/) [Gino Severini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gino-severini/) > [ “\[Mood allocates\] investments of time, effort, resources, and risk taking to maximize Darwinian fitness in situations of varying propitiousness. High and low moods adjust… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randolph-m-nesse/mood-allocates-investments-of-time-effort-resources-and-risk-taking/) [Randolph M. Nesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randolph-m-nesse/) > [“Reality is not a thought experiment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-amerland/reality-is-not-a-thought-experiment/) [David Amerland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-amerland/) > [“The obvious cure for the tragic shortcomings of human intuition in a high-tech world is education. And this offers priorities for educational policy: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-obvious-cure-for-the-tragic-shortcomings-of-human-intuition-in-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“In order to decide, judge; in order to judge, reason; in order to reason, decide (what to reason about).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-johnson-laird/in-order-to-decide-judge-in-order-to-judge-reason-in-order-to-reason/) [Philip Johnson-Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-johnson-laird/) > [“The brain works in a holistic, cooperative way that makes our basest desire or most abject fear as expressive of who we are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-amerland/the-brain-works-in-a-holistic-cooperative-way-that-makes-our-basest/) [David Amerland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-amerland/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) ## More by Neel Burton > [“Loneliness is the manifestation of the conflict between our desire for meaning and the absence of objective meaning from the universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/loneliness-is-the-manifestation-of-the-conflict-between-our-desire/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [“Just as Prometheus delivered stolen fire to man, so Eve, and the serpent, delivered man into self-consciousness, setting him up, were it not for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/just-as-prometheus-delivered-stolen-fire-to-man-so-eve-and-the/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [“Just as we use speech and gestures to communicate, so we use touch. Words can say, ‘I love you’, but touch can also say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/just-as-we-use-speech-and-gestures-to-communicate-so-we-use-touch/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [Depression: the healthy suspicion that modern life has no meaning and that modern society is absurd and alienating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/depression-the-healthy-suspicion-that-modern-life-has-no-meaning-and/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [“Ultimately, loneliness is not the experience of lacking but the experience of living. It is part and parcel of the human condition, and, unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/ultimately-loneliness-is-not-the-experience-of-lacking-but-the/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [Man first creates the universe in his image, and then turns round to say that God created man in his image... As Voltaire quipped,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/man-first-creates-the-universe-in-his-image-and-then-turns-round-to/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [“Philosophy is a bitter medicine with many fearsome side effects, but if you are able to stomach it, it can cure your soul of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/philosophy-is-a-bitter-medicine-with-many-fearsome-side-effects-but/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [“In refining their senses and aesthetic judgement, blind tasters become much more conscious of the richness not only of wine but also of other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/in-refining-their-senses-and-aesthetic-judgement-blind-tasters-become/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [Self-deception is a defining part of our human nature. By recognizing its various forms in ourselves and reflecting upon them, we may be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/self-deception-is-a-defining-part-of-our-human-nature-by-recognizing/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [“Wonder begets culture, which begets yet more wonder, and the end of wonder is wisdom, which is the state of perpetual wonder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/wonder-begets-culture-which-begets-yet-more-wonder-and-the-end-of/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [There are essentially three types of people: those who love life more than they fear it, those who fear life more than they love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/there-are-essentially-three-types-of-people-those-who-love-life-more/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [“Although selfhood depends causally upon the existence of the brain, it amounts to something far more than the brain. This something is vague and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/although-selfhood-depends-causally-upon-the-existence-of-the-brain-it/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [“I can't believe I spent 13 years at school and never got taught cooking, gardening, conversation, massage, Latin, or philosophy. What were they thinking?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/i-can-t-believe-i-spent-13-years-at-school-and-never-got-taught/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [“If you’ve found something in life that's better than sleeping, you’re already a huge success.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/if-you-ve-found-something-in-life-that-s-better-than-sleeping-you-re/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) > [A man shrinks or expands into the degree and nature of his ambition. Ambition needs to be cultivated and refined, and yet has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/a-man-shrinks-or-expands-into-the-degree-and-nature-of-his-ambition/) [Neel Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) [Explore all 41 Neel Burton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/) ## More Cognition quotes > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [“The brain works in a holistic, cooperative way that makes our basest desire or most abject fear as expressive of who we are as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-amerland/the-brain-works-in-a-holistic-cooperative-way-that-makes-our-basest/) [David Amerland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-amerland/) > [“In order to decide, judge; in order to judge, reason; in order to reason, decide (what to reason about).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-johnson-laird/in-order-to-decide-judge-in-order-to-judge-reason-in-order-to-reason/) [Philip Johnson-Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-johnson-laird/) > [“The obvious cure for the tragic shortcomings of human intuition in a high-tech world is education. And this offers priorities for educational policy: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-obvious-cure-for-the-tragic-shortcomings-of-human-intuition-in-a/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“Reality is not a thought experiment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-amerland/reality-is-not-a-thought-experiment/) [David Amerland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-amerland/) > [ “\[Mood allocates\] investments of time, effort, resources, and risk taking to maximize Darwinian fitness in situations of varying propitiousness. High and low moods adjust… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randolph-m-nesse/mood-allocates-investments-of-time-effort-resources-and-risk-taking/) [Randolph M. Nesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randolph-m-nesse/) > [In the early days the Cubism' method of grasping an object was to go round and round it. The Futurists declared that one had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gino-severini/in-the-early-days-the-cubism-method-of-grasping-an-object-was-to-go/) [Gino Severini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gino-severini/) > [Faith is the commitment of one's consciousness to beliefs for which one has no sensory evidence or rational proof. When man rejects reason as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/faith-is-the-commitment-of-one-s-consciousness-to-beliefs-for-which/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [The arts make vivid the fact that words do not, in their literal form or number, exhaust what we can know. The limits of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliot-w-eisner/the-arts-make-vivid-the-fact-that-words-do-not-in-their-literal-form/) [Elliot W. Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliot-w-eisner/) > [“In order to build a truly wise society devoid of any kind of existential crisis, it is imperative that the individuals foster a healthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/in-order-to-build-a-truly-wise-society-devoid-of-any-kind-of/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [I worry that the level of interrupt, the sort of overwhelming rapidity of information — and especially of stressful information — is in fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schmidt/i-worry-that-the-level-of-interrupt-the-sort-of-overwhelming-rapidity/) [Eric Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schmidt/) > [The emergence of a unified cognitive moment relies on the coordination of scattered mosaics of functionally specialized brain regions. 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By faculty psychology I mean,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-fodor/faculty-psychology-is-getting-to-be-respectable-again-after-centuries/) [Jerry Fodor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-fodor/) > [Relativism is neither a method of fighting, nor a method of creating, for both of these are uncompromising and at times even ruthless; rather,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-capek/relativism-is-neither-a-method-of-fighting-nor-a-method-of-creating/) [Karel Capek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-capek/) [Browse all 139 Cognition quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cognition/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Our life is just as long or short as our remembering: as rich as our imagining, as vibrant as our feeling, and as profound as our thinking.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Neel Burton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our-remembering-as-rich-as-our/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cognition" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our-remembering-as-rich-as-our/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f7/neel-burton-16027_cognition_our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our_1127243.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f7/neel-burton-16027_cognition_our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our_1127243.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f7/neel-burton-16027_cognition_our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our_1127243.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our life is just as long or short as our remembering: as rich as our imagining, as vibrant as our feeling…” — Neel Burton", "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": "Neel Burton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-burton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Our life is just as long...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our-remembering-as-rich-as-our/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-burton/our-life-is-just-as-long-or-short-as-our-remembering-as-rich-as-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 } } ] } ```