--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Like a flower pressed flat and dried, we…" description: "\"“Like a flower pressed flat and dried, we try to hold it still and say, this is exactly how it was the day I first saw it. But like the flower, the pas..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/robin-hobb-489_attempt_like-a-flower-pressed-flat-and-dried-we_703003.jpg" --- # Like a flower pressed flat and dried, we try to hold it… ![“Like a flower pressed flat and dried, we try to hold it still and say, this is exactly how it was the day I first saw it. But like the flower, the past cannot be trapped that way. It loses its fragrance and and its vitality, its fragility becomes brittleness and its colors fade. And when next you…” quote by Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/robin-hobb-489_attempt_like-a-flower-pressed-flat-and-dried-we_703003.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/robin-hobb-489_attempt_like-a-flower-pressed-flat-and-dried-we_703003.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ed/robin-hobb-489_attempt_like-a-flower-pressed-flat-and-dried-we_703003.jpg) > ““Like a flower pressed flat and dried, we try to hold it still and say, this is exactly how it was the day I first saw it. But like the flower, the past cannot be trapped that way. It loses its fragrance and and its vitality, its fragility becomes brittleness and its colors fade. And when next you look on the flower, you know that it is not at all what you sought to capture, that that moment has fled forever.”” [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Attempting to freeze the past destroys its essence; memories fade and lose vitality. **In simple terms:** Trying to preserve the past kills its life. Key Takeaway Embrace change and let memories evolve. Themes memory impermanence acceptance Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - grieving loss - reflecting on history - personal growth - creative writing Key Concepts nostalgia transience Questions to Reflect On - How do you honor the past without clinging? - What practices keep memories alive? A Different Perspective Holding too tightly can cause stagnation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attempt/) [Capture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capture/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Fade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fade/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Flower Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower-past-5562210/) [Flower Pressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower-pressed-5080020/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Hold on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hold-on/) [Like Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-flower/) [Look Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look-flower-1260775/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Preserve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preserve/) [Pressed Flat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pressed-flat-5562211/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“I'd keep your beauty timeless. like a flower pressed in a book, yes I wouldn't let it fade Folded in the chapters of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-l-ratliff/i-d-keep-your-beauty-timeless-like-a-flower-pressed-in-a-book-yes-i/) [Richard L. Ratliff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-l-ratliff/) > [“History that is presented only as ink-embalmed data is as a flower pressed in a book. Although the dry petals still hold all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-alan-smith/history-that-is-presented-only-as-ink-embalmed-data-is-as-a-flower/) [Rex Alan Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-alan-smith/) > [Look into a flower and you see the whole cosmos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/look-into-a-flower-and-you-see-the-whole-cosmos/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [“Sometimes it's hard to look at a flower, when your dying inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-liccione/sometimes-it-s-hard-to-look-at-a-flower-when-your-dying-inside/) [Anthony Liccione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-liccione/) > [If you would attain to your highest, go look upon a flower;what the flower does willessly, that do willingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/if-you-would-attain-to-your-highest-go-look-upon-a-flower-what-the/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [“People give flowers as presents because flowers contain the true meaning of love. 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I want to give that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/when-you-take-a-flower-in-your-hand-and-really-look-at-it-it-s-your/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [Can you look at a flower without thinking?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/can-you-look-at-a-flower-without-thinking/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I have this exercise where I force myself to look out from the flower's point of view at these great walloping humans coming down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/i-have-this-exercise-where-i-force-myself-to-look-out-from-the-flower/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [“It's good to cry a bit, 'cause that helps us get through the rough parts. And the winter is though, there's no doubt. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-hale/it-s-good-to-cry-a-bit-cause-that-helps-us-get-through-the-rough/) [Shannon Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-hale/) > [The best thing to hold onto in life is eachother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/the-best-thing-to-hold-onto-in-life-is-eachother/) [Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/) > [“Remember what you always told me.” “Hold on tight and fight as hard as you can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-freda/remember-what-you-always-told-me-hold-on-tight-and-fight-as-hard-as/) [A.A. Freda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-freda/) > [“No matter your situation, if you are still alive, God wants you to keep living! Hold on, hang there but hope in the Lord…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/no-matter-your-situation-if-you-are-still-alive-god-wants-you-to-keep/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“The enemy fights the hardest when you are closest to your breakthrough. Know that your best days are ahead and no weapon formed will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/the-enemy-fights-the-hardest-when-you-are-closest-to-your/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [Sometimes, we hang on, even if we should let go, because sometimes, the right things dont always give us the best feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-gaufo/sometimes-we-hang-on-even-if-we-should-let-go-because-sometimes-the/) [Marco Gaufo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-gaufo/) ## More by Robin Hobb > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“But that is not true for all folk. Some folk are meant to argue with fate. And win.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/but-that-is-not-true-for-all-folk-some-folk-are-meant-to-argue-with/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“I tried to leave you alone, Fitz. To find what peace you could, even if it excluded me from your life.” Ten years ago,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/i-tried-to-leave-you-alone-fitz-to-find-what-peace-you-could-even-if/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“Do you think you're taking Etta out of here?" "Yes," Kennit called over his shoulder up the sairs. 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I had heard of being "heartbroken" or "heavy-hearted" but I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/i-felt-a-familiar-squeezing-in-what-i-thought-must-be-my-heart-i-had/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“They spoke of a dream of a child who bore the heart of a wolf.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/they-spoke-of-a-dream-of-a-child-who-bore-the-heart-of-a-wolf/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“We all perish in our last attempt to live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/we-all-perish-in-our-last-attempt-to-live/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“There is always power in holding a secret.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/there-is-always-power-in-holding-a-secret/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“... finally realizing that life was to be lived, rather than hoarded against an unseen tomorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/finally-realizing-that-life-was-to-be-lived-rather-than-hoarded/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [“Why, I suddenly wondered, had I wasted all those hours I could have spent with her? 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It is always a mistake never even to make the attempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-sometimes-a-mistake-to-climb-it-is-always-a-mistake-never-even/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I will never attempt to even begin to make excuses for what I did in football.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-storey/i-will-never-attempt-to-even-begin-to-make-excuses-for-what-i-did-in/) [Peter Storey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-storey/) > [“We all perish in our last attempt to live.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/we-all-perish-in-our-last-attempt-to-live/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [There was an attempt on my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jovenel-moise/there-was-an-attempt-on-my-life/) [Jovenel Moise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jovenel-moise/) > [The publishing of a book is a worldwide event. The attempt to suppress a book is a worldwide event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-publishing-of-a-book-is-a-worldwide-event-the-attempt-to-suppress/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Advocacy groups in the USA, as in other countries, may not be able to silence this hateful, cowardly and deceitful attack upon people’s humanity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-engela/advocacy-groups-in-the-usa-as-in-other-countries-may-not-be-able-to/) [Christina Engela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-engela/) > [There are many things that seem impossible only so long as one does not attempt them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/there-are-many-things-that-seem-impossible-only-so-long-as-one-does/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [For purposes of marketing, writers are designated as poets, novelists, or something else. 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