--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But memories are time beings, too, like…" description: "\"“But memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful, and then they fade and die.”\" — Ruth Ozeki" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/ruth-ozeki-2896_blossoms_but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-ch_2888588.jpg" --- # But memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or… ![“But memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful, and then they fade and die.” quote by Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/ruth-ozeki-2896_blossoms_but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-ch_2888588.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/ruth-ozeki-2896_blossoms_but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-ch_2888588.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/ruth-ozeki-2896_blossoms_but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-ch_2888588.jpg) > ““But memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful, and then they fade and die.”” [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Compares memories to fleeting natural beauties that eventually fade and die. **In simple terms:** Memories are beautiful but temporary. Key Takeaway Cherish moments before they fade. Themes memory impermanence beauty Mood nostalgic poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - grief counseling - creative writing - legacy planning Key Concepts psychology poetics Questions to Reflect On - How do you keep cherished memories alive? - What does impermanence teach us about living? A Different Perspective Memories can be preserved through stories and artifacts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blossoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blossoms/) [Blossoms Ginkgo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blossoms-ginkgo-4043674/) [Cherry blossom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherry-blossom/) [Cherry blossoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherry-blossoms/) [Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memories Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories-time/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I have a pretty good memory, but memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/i-have-a-pretty-good-memory-but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“So he raced from dogwood to blossoming peach. When they thinned out he headed for the cherry blossoms, then magnolia, chinaberry, pecan, walnut and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/so-he-raced-from-dogwood-to-blossoming-peach-when-they-thinned-out-he/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“A teahouse amid the cherry blossoms, on the way to death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-teahouse-amid-the-cherry-blossoms-on-the-way-to-death/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [Koishikawa Korakuen Garden - one of Tokyo's oldest Japanese gardens, and one of the best spots for viewing the cherry blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-marino/koishikawa-korakuen-garden-one-of-tokyo-s-oldest-japanese-gardens-and/) [Peter Marino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-marino/) > [“However wildly this year's cherry blossoms bloom, I'll see them with the plum's scent filling my heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ono-no-komachi/however-wildly-this-year-s-cherry-blossoms-bloom-i-ll-see-them-with/) [Ono no Komachi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ono-no-komachi/) > [When I was a kid growing up, we had a cherry tree in the backyard, 100 years old. I climbed it, and it gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wyatt/when-i-was-a-kid-growing-up-we-had-a-cherry-tree-in-the-backyard-100/) [Andrew Wyatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wyatt/) > [“Light as feathers, as fleeting as Zephyr, one moment they breathed pink, the next they faded. Cherry blossoms were as much an inspiration for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-poon/light-as-feathers-as-fleeting-as-zephyr-one-moment-they-breathed-pink/) [Alice Poon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-poon/) > [For in spite of the snapdragons and the duty millers and the cherry blossoms, it was always winter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-frame/for-in-spite-of-the-snapdragons-and-the-duty-millers-and-the-cherry/) [Janet Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-frame/) > [“There is much to be said for cherry blossoms, but they seem so flighty. 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Their color and scent fall with them, Are gone forever, Yet mindless The spring comes again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ikkyu/look-at-the-cherry-blossoms-their-color-and-scent-fall-with-them-are/) [Ikkyu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ikkyu/) > [Ah, if in this world there were no such thing as cherry blossoms, perhaps then in springtime our hearts would be at peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariwara-no-narihira/ah-if-in-this-world-there-were-no-such-thing-as-cherry-blossoms/) [Ariwara no Narihira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariwara-no-narihira/) ## More by Ruth Ozeki > [“Time plays tricks on mothers. It teases you with breaks and brief caesuras, only to skip wildly forward, bringing breathtaking changes to your baby's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/time-plays-tricks-on-mothers-it-teases-you-with-breaks-and-brief/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“Everything seemed to grow blacker as I sat there, except for the fireflies whose tiny pulsing lights drew arcs through the dark summer air.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/everything-seemed-to-grow-blacker-as-i-sat-there-except-for-the/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [That's what it feels like when I write, like I have this beautiful world in my head, but when I try to remember it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/that-s-what-it-feels-like-when-i-write-like-i-have-this-beautiful/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“Premonitions are coincidences waiting to happen,” he said, without looking up. “I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/premonitions-are-coincidences-waiting-to-happen-he-said-without/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“As someone who has to teach for a living, I shouldn't be saying this, but the planet can do quite well without books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/as-someone-who-has-to-teach-for-a-living-i-shouldn-t-be-saying-this/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [Life is fleeting. Don't waste a single moment of your precious life. Wake up now! And now! And now!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/life-is-fleeting-don-t-waste-a-single-moment-of-your-precious-life/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“Do not think that time simply flies away. Do not understand “flying” as the only function of time. If time simply flew away, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/do-not-think-that-time-simply-flies-away-do-not-understand-flying-as/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“INSTRUCTIONS FOR ZAZEN First of all, you have to sit down, which you’re probably already doing. The traditional way is to sit on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/instructions-for-zazen-first-of-all-you-have-to-sit-down-which-you-re/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [The wondrous thing about nature, her gift to us, is her wanton promiscuity. She reproduces herself with abandon, with teeming infinite generosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/the-wondrous-thing-about-nature-her-gift-to-us-is-her-wanton/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“this feeling of alive is not so easy to experience. Even although life is a thing that seems to have some kind of weight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/this-feeling-of-alive-is-not-so-easy-to-experience-even-although-life/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [Writing is solitary. You spend so much time alone and in your own mind, telling stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/writing-is-solitary-you-spend-so-much-time-alone-and-in-your-own-mind/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [It was really a means-of-production problem. It costs so much to make films. With a novel, you can write the whole thing on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/it-was-really-a-means-of-production-problem-it-costs-so-much-to-make/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [My mind is like a gyre, and odd juxtapositions happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/my-mind-is-like-a-gyre-and-odd-juxtapositions-happen/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [“Adjunct teachers are the professorial equivalent of the migrant Mexican farm laborers hired during harvest. If you can get a good contract at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/adjunct-teachers-are-the-professorial-equivalent-of-the-migrant/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) > [She missed the built environment of New York City. It was only in an urban landscape, amid straight lines and architecture, that she could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/she-missed-the-built-environment-of-new-york-city-it-was-only-in-an/) [Ruth Ozeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) [Explore all 145 Ruth Ozeki quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/) ## More Blossoms quotes > [“Let us not subside into a single mandatory way of thinking or feeling, immersed by a spirit of self-gratification. But let’s dig into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/let-us-not-subside-into-a-single-mandatory-way-of-thinking-or-feeling/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [A too closely watched flower/blossoms the wrong color./Excess attention to the jonquil/turns it gentian. Flowers/need it tranquil to get/their hues right. Some/only open at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-ryan/a-too-closely-watched-flower-blossoms-the-wrong-color-excess/) [Kay Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-ryan/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A comely sight indeed it is to see, a world of blossoms on an apple tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/a-comely-sight-indeed-it-is-to-see-a-world-of-blossoms-on-an-apple/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [“Autumn had arrived— the last blossom whispered, let me stay awhile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meeta-ahluwalia/autumn-had-arrived-the-last-blossom-whispered-let-me-stay-awhile/) [Meeta Ahluwalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meeta-ahluwalia/) > [“The elegant and beautiful Lotus flower must toil through the mud and mire of murky swamps and shadowy waters of darkness before it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-versey/the-elegant-and-beautiful-lotus-flower-must-toil-through-the-mud-and/) [Jason Versey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-versey/) > [“Today I will find something beautiful. Delicate pink blossoms on a cherry tree. The dove resting near the lemon buds. Sunbeams smiling from sky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-granfors/today-i-will-find-something-beautiful-delicate-pink-blossoms-on-a/) [Eileen Granfors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-granfors/) > [“Due to their short bloom time, Sakura blossoms are a metaphor for life itself: beautiful yet fleeting. You’ll realize when you’re as old as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-m-mullen/due-to-their-short-bloom-time-sakura-blossoms-are-a-metaphor-for-life/) [Shannon M Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-m-mullen/) > [“The spring flowers have been particularly beautiful this year. I think they become more so with every passing year. Their memory is a comforting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-r-smith/the-spring-flowers-have-been-particularly-beautiful-this-year-i-think/) [Rachel R. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-r-smith/) > [“So he raced from dogwood to blossoming peach. When they thinned out he headed for the cherry blossoms, then magnolia, chinaberry, pecan, walnut and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/so-he-raced-from-dogwood-to-blossoming-peach-when-they-thinned-out-he/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [I feel my live shows are my music; everything blossoms from the live shows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xavier-rudd/i-feel-my-live-shows-are-my-music-everything-blossoms-from-the-live/) [Xavier Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xavier-rudd/) > [i am with the roots of flowers entwined, entombed sending up my passionate blossoms as a flight of rockets and argument; wine churls my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-am-with-the-roots-of-flowers-entwined-entombed-sending-up-my/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Joy blossoms in our hearts not as we try harder and harder to grow, but as we see more clearly the depth of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-duguid/joy-blossoms-in-our-hearts-not-as-we-try-harder-and-harder-to-grow/) [Barbara Duguid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-duguid/) > [What blossoms beautifully, withers fast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/what-blossoms-beautifully-withers-fast/) [Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/proverb/) > [“However wildly this year's cherry blossoms bloom, I'll see them with the plum's scent filling my heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ono-no-komachi/however-wildly-this-year-s-cherry-blossoms-bloom-i-ll-see-them-with/) [Ono no Komachi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ono-no-komachi/) [Browse all 171 Blossoms quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blossoms/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful, and then they fade and die.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ruth Ozeki" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-cherry-blossoms-or-ginkgo/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Blossoms" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-cherry-blossoms-or-ginkgo/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/ruth-ozeki-2896_blossoms_but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-ch_2888588.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/ruth-ozeki-2896_blossoms_but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-ch_2888588.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/ruth-ozeki-2896_blossoms_but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-ch_2888588.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful…” — Ruth Ozeki", "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": "Ruth Ozeki", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-ozeki/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But memories are time beings, too,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-cherry-blossoms-or-ginkgo/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-ozeki/but-memories-are-time-beings-too-like-cherry-blossoms-or-ginkgo/#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 } } ] } ```