--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The erection of a monument is…" description: "\"The erection of a monument is superfluous, our memory will endure if our lives have deserved it.\" — Pliny the Younger" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/pliny-the-younger-15981_endure_the-erection-of-a-monument-is-superfluou_2575615.jpg" --- # The erection of a monument is superfluous, our memory will… ![“The erection of a monument is superfluous, our memory will endure if our lives have deserved it.” quote by Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/pliny-the-younger-15981_endure_the-erection-of-a-monument-is-superfluou_2575615.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/pliny-the-younger-15981_endure_the-erection-of-a-monument-is-superfluou_2575615.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f2/pliny-the-younger-15981_endure_the-erection-of-a-monument-is-superfluou_2575615.jpg) > “The erection of a monument is superfluous, our memory will endure if our lives have deserved it.” [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Monuments are unnecessary; lasting memory comes from worthy deeds, not stone. **In simple terms:** Memory lives through deeds, not monuments. Key Takeaway Live a life worth remembering. Themes legacy memory humility Mood reflective thoughtful Type historical philosophical When to use this quote - public memorials - personal achievements - historical preservation - civic pride Key Concepts philosophy historical perspective Questions to Reflect On - What actions would you like to be remembered for? - How do societies decide which deeds merit remembrance? A Different Perspective Monuments can still inspire and educate; they are not always superfluous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Endure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endure/) [Erection Monument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/erection-monument-1732247/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Endure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-endure-1732248/) [Monument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monument/) [Monument Superfluous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monument-superfluous-1732246/) [Our lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-lives/) [Our memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-memories/) [Recollection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recollection/) [Superfluous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superfluous/) [Superfluous Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superfluous-memory-1732249/) ## Related quotes > [Love and memory last and will so endure till the game is called because of darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-fowler/love-and-memory-last-and-will-so-endure-till-the-game-is-called/) [Gene Fowler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-fowler/) > [Many a poem is marred by a superfluous word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/many-a-poem-is-marred-by-a-superfluous-word/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [All sorts of articles and letters appear in the papers about women. Profound questions are raised concerning them. Should they smoke? Should they work?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/all-sorts-of-articles-and-letters-appear-in-the-papers-about-women/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) > [We can hardly expect the nation-state to make itself superfluous, at least not overnight. 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First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) > [It is for the superfluous we sweat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/it-is-for-the-superfluous-we-sweat/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) ## More by Pliny the Younger > [It is difficult to retain what you may have learned unless you should practice it. -Difficile est tenere quae acceperis nisi exerceas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/it-is-difficult-to-retain-what-you-may-have-learned-unless-you-should/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [Perhaps you will ask whether I can raise these three millions without difficulty. Well, nearly all my capital is invested in land, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/perhaps-you-will-ask-whether-i-can-raise-these-three-millions-without/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [Too much polishing weakens rather than improves a work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/too-much-polishing-weakens-rather-than-improves-a-work/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [Never do a thing concerning the rectitude of which you are in doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/never-do-a-thing-concerning-the-rectitude-of-which-you-are-in-doubt/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [They enhance the value of their favors by the words with which they are accompanied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/they-enhance-the-value-of-their-favors-by-the-words-with-which-they/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [Everyone must be given something he can grasp and recognize as his own idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/everyone-must-be-given-something-he-can-grasp-and-recognize-as-his/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [There is no book so bad that it is not profitable in some part. -Nullus est liber tam malus ut non aliqua parte prosit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/there-is-no-book-so-bad-that-it-is-not-profitable-in-some-part-nullus/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [Objects which are usually the motives of our travels by land and by sea are often overlooked and neglected if they lie under our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/objects-which-are-usually-the-motives-of-our-travels-by-land-and-by/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [ “\[Pliny the Elder\] used to say that “no book was so bad but some good might be got out of it.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/pliny-the-elder-used-to-say-that-no-book-was-so-bad-but-some-good/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [Literature is both my joy and my comfort: it can add to every happiness and there is no sorrow it cannot console.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/literature-is-both-my-joy-and-my-comfort-it-can-add-to-every/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [“nulla dies sine linea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/nulla-dies-sine-linea/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [Let us strive the more earnestly therefore to lengthen out our span of life-- life that is poured out like water and falls as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/let-us-strive-the-more-earnestly-therefore-to-lengthen-out-our-span/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [“The smallest evil if neglected, will reach the greatest proportions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/the-smallest-evil-if-neglected-will-reach-the-greatest-proportions/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [“Glory ought to be the consequence, not the motive, of our actions; and although it happen not to attend the worthy deed, yet it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/glory-ought-to-be-the-consequence-not-the-motive-of-our-actions-and/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) > [The highest of characters is his who is as ready to pardon the moral errors of mankind as if he were every day guilty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-younger/the-highest-of-characters-is-his-who-is-as-ready-to-pardon-the-moral/) [Pliny the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) [Explore all 40 Pliny the Younger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-younger/) ## More Endure quotes > [So many things beat upon us in a lifetime that simply enduring may seem almost beyond us… But the test a loving God has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/so-many-things-beat-upon-us-in-a-lifetime-that-simply-enduring-may/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [This is no time for ease and comfort. 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For us, the fundamental value is that associated with democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-henrique-cardoso/it-is-impossible-to-build-enduring-institutions-without-solid-values/) [Fernando Henrique Cardoso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-henrique-cardoso/) > [I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/i-will-love-the-light-for-it-shows-me-the-way-yet-i-will-endure-the/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) > [“This is how they are able to continue and endure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/this-is-how-they-are-able-to-continue-and-endure/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [There are many who say they want to be victorious Christians, but few are willing to endure the discipline necessary to make one a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/there-are-many-who-say-they-want-to-be-victorious-christians-but-few/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [“Whatever befalls us, we will endure it together. 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