--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life is all memory, except for the one…" description: "\"Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.\" — Tennessee Williams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/tennessee-williams-745_life_life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-pr_99489.png" --- # Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that… ![“Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.” quote by Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/tennessee-williams-745_life_life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-pr_99489.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/tennessee-williams-745_life_life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-pr_99489.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/tennessee-williams-745_life_life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-pr_99489.png) > “Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.” [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory shapes identity, but the fleeting present often escapes conscious awareness, urging us to savor the now before it slips away. **In simple terms:** We live in memories, missing the present. Key Takeaway Live attentively in the moment. Themes memory present awareness time Mood reflective nostalgic Type poetic existential When to use this quote - daily meditation - creative writing - therapy sessions - mindful eating Key Concepts mindfulness ephemeral nature of experience Practical Applications - Practice brief pauses to notice surroundings - Keep a simple present‑moment journal Questions to Reflect On - What habits help us capture the present? - How does memory influence our perception of time? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moment/) [Present moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-moment/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/has-it-ever-struck-you-that-life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [Life is all memory except for the one present moment that goes by so quick you can hardly catch it going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-present-moment-that-goes-by-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Has it ever struck you ... that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/has-it-ever-struck-you-that-life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-2/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [History is the witness of the times, the light of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life, the messenger of antiquity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/history-is-the-witness-of-the-times-the-light-of-truth-the-life-of/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Memory is a part of the present. It builds us up inside; it knits our bones to our muscles and keeps our hearts pumping.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/memory-is-a-part-of-the-present-it-builds-us-up-inside-it-knits-our/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [Past in your memory + Present in your mind = Great future EVER AFTER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/past-in-your-memory-present-in-your-mind-great-future-ever-after/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He was already everywhere. In my bed, in my sheets, sprawled on my couch— he was a ghost before he even left, a memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/misha-horne/he-was-already-everywhere-in-my-bed-in-my-sheets-sprawled-on-my-couch/) [Misha Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/misha-horne/) > [Memory is therefore, neither Perception nor Conception, but a state or affection of one of these, conditioned by lapse of time. As already observed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/memory-is-therefore-neither-perception-nor-conception-but-a-state-or/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“Let us repeat. The memory of the present is juxtaposed to the perception of the present.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-virno/let-us-repeat-the-memory-of-the-present-is-juxtaposed-to-the/) Paolo Virno > [“I have always wished the present to resemble memory: because the present can be flat at times, and bald as a road. 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The present moment, though, is outside of time, it's Eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/past-and-future-exist-only-in-our-memory-the-present-moment-though-is-2/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Life is a memory, and then it is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/life-is-a-memory-and-then-it-is-nothing/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Most of what we know about human life we know from asking people to remember the past, and as we know, hindsight is anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-j-waldinger/most-of-what-we-know-about-human-life-we-know-from-asking-people-to/) [Robert J. Waldinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-j-waldinger/) > [“The year that followed - was it the happiest year of his own life? He often thought so, even knowing that such a thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/the-year-that-followed-was-it-the-happiest-year-of-his-own-life-he/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) ## More by Tennessee Williams > [“Nothing human disgusts me unless its unkind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/nothing-human-disgusts-me-unless-its-unkind/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [These are the intensities that one cannot live with, that he has to outgrow if he wants to survive. But who can help grieving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/these-are-the-intensities-that-one-cannot-live-with-that-he-has-to/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [“Well, you better look out. They got a new bureau in the guvamint files. It’s called U.W. Stands for Useless Wimmen. Tha’s secret plans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/well-you-better-look-out-they-got-a-new-bureau-in-the-guvamint-files/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [People go to the movies instead of moving. Hollywood characters are supposed to have all the adventures for everybody in America, while everybody in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/people-go-to-the-movies-instead-of-moving-hollywood-characters-are/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [They chatter together like birds on Cypress Hill, but all they say is 'Live, live, live, live, live!' 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But you could get used to me, couldn't you, Jimmy?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/as-for-me-no-one-will-ever-love-me-but-you-could-get-used-to-me/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [“I go to the movies because – I like adventure. Adventure is something I don’t have much of at work, so I go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/i-go-to-the-movies-because-i-like-adventure-adventure-is-something-i/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) [Explore all 373 Tennessee Williams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. 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When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) Deanna L. Lawlis > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tennessee Williams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-present-moment-that-goes-by-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-present-moment-that-goes-by-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/tennessee-williams-745_life_life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-pr_99489.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/tennessee-williams-745_life_life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-pr_99489.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/198/tennessee-williams-745_life_life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-pr_99489.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.” — Tennessee Williams", "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": "Tennessee Williams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Life is all memory, except for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-present-moment-that-goes-by-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/life-is-all-memory-except-for-the-one-present-moment-that-goes-by-you/#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 } } ] } ```