---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can pull a goat off into the field…"
description: "\"“You can pull a goat off into the field, but a memory you can only haul into the sun and hope it desiccates. Dries to something crumbled and odorless.”..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/peter-heller-3324_goat_you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-b_1053473.png"
---

#  You can pull a goat off into the field, but a memory you…

![“You can pull a goat off into the field, but a memory you can only haul into the sun and hope it desiccates. Dries to something crumbled and odorless.” quote by Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/peter-heller-3324_goat_you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-b_1053473.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/peter-heller-3324_goat_you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-b_1053473.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/peter-heller-3324_goat_you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-b_1053473.png)

> ““You can pull a goat off into the field, but a memory you can only haul into the sun and hope it desiccates. Dries to something crumbled and odorless.””

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Memories fade like a goat left in the sun, eventually turning to dust.

**In simple terms:** Memories decay over time.

Key Takeaway

Preserve important memories before they fade.

Themes

memory impermanence loss

Mood

nostalgic somber

Type

literary reflective

When to use this quote

- grief counseling
- personal journaling
- historical archiving
- family storytelling

Key Concepts

psychology nostalgia

Questions to Reflect On

- What memories do you cherish and why?
- How can you safeguard valuable recollections?

A Different Perspective

Memories may be unreliable, so relying on them can be risky.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

## Related quotes

> [“swallow a whole goat, but they cannot hear, whereas”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/swallow-a-whole-goat-but-they-cannot-hear-whereas/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The goat, for us, is an image that's stuck in our heads since we were kids, coming from Iowa people are like 'Beware the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-goat-for-us-is-an-image-that-s-stuck-in-our-heads-since-we-were/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The Coogan Law had to come and it just happens that I was the goat for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-coogan/the-coogan-law-had-to-come-and-it-just-happens-that-i-was-the-goat/)

[Jackie Coogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-coogan/)

> [The Warrior of the Light never forgets the old saying: The good little goat doesn't bleat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-warrior-of-the-light-never-forgets-the-old-saying-the-good-little/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [“Home is where you tie up your goat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-where-you-tie-up-your-goat/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“Earl "The Goat" Manigault was probably the greatest basketball player of all time, but Michael Jordan is universally regarded as the best ever. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/earl-the-goat-manigault-was-probably-the-greatest-basketball-player/)

[Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/)

> [In sports, every day you can be the hero or the goat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-stults/in-sports-every-day-you-can-be-the-hero-or-the-goat/)

[Geoff Stults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-stults/)

> [I don't mind sitting behind Tom Brady. That is the GOAT himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamar-jackson/i-don-t-mind-sitting-behind-tom-brady-that-is-the-goat-himself/)

[Lamar Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamar-jackson/)

> [The goat's business is none of the sheep's concern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/the-goat-s-business-is-none-of-the-sheep-s-concern/)

[Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/)

> [Rappers only shine light on things that are relevant, and if it's referencing an athlete, that means they're the GOAT, like Tom Brady.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sony-michel/rappers-only-shine-light-on-things-that-are-relevant-and-if-it-s/)

[Sony Michel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sony-michel/)

> [You can lose. Michael Jordan lost, but that doesn't mean he wasn't the GOAT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-butler/you-can-lose-michael-jordan-lost-but-that-doesn-t-mean-he-wasn-t-the/)

[Jimmy Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-butler/)

> [“Holy fucking goat scrotums!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-monroe/holy-fucking-goat-scrotums/)

[Max Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-monroe/)

> [You eat a lot of goat stomach when you're in North Africa. You eat whatever's put in front of you. I am a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronan-farrow/you-eat-a-lot-of-goat-stomach-when-you-re-in-north-africa-you-eat/)

[Ronan Farrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronan-farrow/)

> [I love collard greens and sweet potatoes. But like, traveling, I'm always just looking for that thing where you feel like there's love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neneh-cherry/i-love-collard-greens-and-sweet-potatoes-but-like-traveling-i-m/)

[Neneh Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neneh-cherry/)

> [Love is not love, without a violin playing goat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-roberts/love-is-not-love-without-a-violin-playing-goat/)

[Julia Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-roberts/)

## More by Peter Heller

> [“It occurred to me that the death of his grazing land hurt him more, incomparably more than the death of the human race. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/it-occurred-to-me-that-the-death-of-his-grazing-land-hurt-him-more/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [Kook means the clueless beginner who paddles his surf board out to the other surfers in the lineup and starts chattering away like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/kook-means-the-clueless-beginner-who-paddles-his-surf-board-out-to/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [“We have traveled. Now you will be the path I will walk I will walk Over you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/we-have-traveled-now-you-will-be-the-path-i-will-walk-i-will-walk/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [“Well, I think that’s sort of like Eve biting the apple. You were talking about Genesis. I think it’s like that, the crow is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/well-i-think-that-s-sort-of-like-eve-biting-the-apple-you-were/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [I like the drinking-out-of-the-fire-hose approach - you're getting way more than you can handle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/i-like-the-drinking-out-of-the-fire-hose-approach-you-re-getting-way/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [“Because that's what it turned into: in front of a fine painting a viewer stopped looking and started watching, watching is more specific, watching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/because-that-s-what-it-turned-into-in-front-of-a-fine-painting-a/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [“The pleasure almost split me like a baking stuffed tomato. Like my heart swelled and my skin got thinner and thinner in the heat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/the-pleasure-almost-split-me-like-a-baking-stuffed-tomato-like-my/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [Wanted to write fiction since I was 11, since I first read 'In Our Time' by Hemingway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/wanted-to-write-fiction-since-i-was-11-since-i-first-read-in-our-time/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [“She collapsed. I stepped forward and caught her. I thought of two trees nearly unrooted and leaning against each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/she-collapsed-i-stepped-forward-and-caught-her-i-thought-of-two-trees/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [All my journalism, all my books are first person, and it's all memoir. Even when I'm writing about the oil spill in the Gulf,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/all-my-journalism-all-my-books-are-first-person-and-it-s-all-memoir/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [“we can proceed in our lives just as easily from love to love as from loss to loss. A good thing to remember in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/we-can-proceed-in-our-lives-just-as-easily-from-love-to-love-as-from/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [“It's early spring, some late or early hour with Orion toppling backward onto the serrated edge of the mountains and not crying out but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/it-s-early-spring-some-late-or-early-hour-with-orion-toppling/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [“I once had a book on the stars but now I don't. My memory serves but not stellar, ha. So I made up constellations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/i-once-had-a-book-on-the-stars-but-now-i-don-t-my-memory-serves-but/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [Species are going extinct because of habitat loss and warming. I feel deeply responsible and think about it every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/species-are-going-extinct-because-of-habitat-loss-and-warming-i-feel/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

> [“I think there should be tribunals for social cruelty as there are for physical assault. Calculated cuts in the first degree. Snobicide or its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/i-think-there-should-be-tribunals-for-social-cruelty-as-there-are-for/)

[Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

[Explore all 130 Peter Heller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/)

## More Goat quotes

> [“swallow a whole goat, but they cannot hear, whereas”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/swallow-a-whole-goat-but-they-cannot-hear-whereas/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I love collard greens and sweet potatoes. But like, traveling, I'm always just looking for that thing where you feel like there's love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neneh-cherry/i-love-collard-greens-and-sweet-potatoes-but-like-traveling-i-m/)

[Neneh Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neneh-cherry/)

> [You eat a lot of goat stomach when you're in North Africa. You eat whatever's put in front of you. I am a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronan-farrow/you-eat-a-lot-of-goat-stomach-when-you-re-in-north-africa-you-eat/)

[Ronan Farrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronan-farrow/)

> [“Holy fucking goat scrotums!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-monroe/holy-fucking-goat-scrotums/)

[Max Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-monroe/)

> [You can lose. Michael Jordan lost, but that doesn't mean he wasn't the GOAT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-butler/you-can-lose-michael-jordan-lost-but-that-doesn-t-mean-he-wasn-t-the/)

[Jimmy Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-butler/)

> [Rappers only shine light on things that are relevant, and if it's referencing an athlete, that means they're the GOAT, like Tom Brady.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sony-michel/rappers-only-shine-light-on-things-that-are-relevant-and-if-it-s/)

[Sony Michel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sony-michel/)

> [The goat's business is none of the sheep's concern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-ferber/the-goat-s-business-is-none-of-the-sheep-s-concern/)

[Edna Ferber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-ferber/)

> [I don't mind sitting behind Tom Brady. That is the GOAT himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamar-jackson/i-don-t-mind-sitting-behind-tom-brady-that-is-the-goat-himself/)

[Lamar Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamar-jackson/)

> [In sports, every day you can be the hero or the goat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoff-stults/in-sports-every-day-you-can-be-the-hero-or-the-goat/)

[Geoff Stults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoff-stults/)

> [“Earl "The Goat" Manigault was probably the greatest basketball player of all time, but Michael Jordan is universally regarded as the best ever. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/earl-the-goat-manigault-was-probably-the-greatest-basketball-player/)

[Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/)

> [“Home is where you tie up your goat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-where-you-tie-up-your-goat/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The Warrior of the Light never forgets the old saying: The good little goat doesn't bleat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-warrior-of-the-light-never-forgets-the-old-saying-the-good-little/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [The Coogan Law had to come and it just happens that I was the goat for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-coogan/the-coogan-law-had-to-come-and-it-just-happens-that-i-was-the-goat/)

[Jackie Coogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-coogan/)

> [The goat, for us, is an image that's stuck in our heads since we were kids, coming from Iowa people are like 'Beware the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-goat-for-us-is-an-image-that-s-stuck-in-our-heads-since-we-were/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Love is not love, without a violin playing goat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-roberts/love-is-not-love-without-a-violin-playing-goat/)

[Julia Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-roberts/)

Browse all 108 Goat quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“You can pull a goat off into the field, but a memory you can only haul into the sun and hope it desiccates. Dries to something crumbled and odorless.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Peter Heller"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-but-a-memory-you-can-only-haul/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Goat"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-but-a-memory-you-can-only-haul/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/peter-heller-3324_goat_you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-b_1053473.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/peter-heller-3324_goat_you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-b_1053473.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/918/peter-heller-3324_goat_you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-b_1053473.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“You can pull a goat off into the field, but a memory you can only haul into the sun and hope it desiccates…” — Peter Heller",
                "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": "Peter Heller",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“You can pull a goat off...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-but-a-memory-you-can-only-haul/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/you-can-pull-a-goat-off-into-the-field-but-a-memory-you-can-only-haul/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
