--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Decades after a person has stopped…" description: "\"Decades after a person has stopped collecting bubble gum cards, he can still discover himself collecting ballparks... their smells, their special seaso..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/thomas-boswell-16231_ballparks_decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-colle_2231757.png" --- # Decades after a person has stopped collecting bubble gum… ![“Decades after a person has stopped collecting bubble gum cards, he can still discover himself collecting ballparks... their smells, their special seasons, their moods.” quote by Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/thomas-boswell-16231_ballparks_decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-colle_2231757.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/thomas-boswell-16231_ballparks_decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-colle_2231757.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/thomas-boswell-16231_ballparks_decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-colle_2231757.png) > “Decades after a person has stopped collecting bubble gum cards, he can still discover himself collecting ballparks... their smells, their special seasons, their moods.” [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nostalgic pursuits can reconnect us with past joys, revealing personal growth through sensory memories. **In simple terms:** Collecting memories revives self‑discovery. Key Takeaway Explore nostalgic hobbies. Themes nostalgia self‑discovery memory Mood reflective nostalgic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - visiting old places - collecting memorabilia - seasonal activities Key Concepts psychology of scent collecting culture Questions to Reflect On - What past hobby could you revisit? - How do sensory cues trigger memory? A Different Perspective May cause fixation on the past, hindering present focus. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ballparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballparks/) [Baseball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseball/) [Mood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mood/) [Seasons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seasons/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) ## Related quotes > [He never got his picture on bubble gum cards, did he? -Lucy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-brown-christmas/he-never-got-his-picture-on-bubble-gum-cards-did-he-lucy/) [Charlie Brown Christmas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-brown-christmas/) > [The way things are going the faces on next year's bubble-gum cards will be lawyers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-jackson/the-way-things-are-going-the-faces-on-next-year-s-bubble-gum-cards/) [Reggie Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-jackson/) > [We all used to collect baseball cards that came with bubble gum. You could never get the smell of gum off your cards, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-marshall/we-all-used-to-collect-baseball-cards-that-came-with-bubble-gum-you/) [Penny Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-marshall/) > [I grew up in the 1970s and early 1980s, loving comic books, and they were much cartoonier. And then everything became super dark and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genndy-tartakovsky/i-grew-up-in-the-1970s-and-early-1980s-loving-comic-books-and-they/) [Genndy Tartakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genndy-tartakovsky/) > [The best place to catch a baseball hit by (Mark) McGwire is definitely not within the confines of the playing field, or sometimes even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/the-best-place-to-catch-a-baseball-hit-by-mark-mcgwire-is-definitely/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [ “\[B\]aseball is diffracted by the town and ballpark where it is played... Does baseball, like a liquid, take the shape of its container?” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/b-aseball-is-diffracted-by-the-town-and-ballpark-where-it-is-played/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [The big ballpark can do it all!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-coleman/the-big-ballpark-can-do-it-all/) [Jerry Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-coleman/) > [If the fans don’t wanna come out to the ballpark, no one can stop ‘em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yogi-berra/if-the-fans-don-t-wanna-come-out-to-the-ballpark-no-one-can-stop-em/) [Yogi Berra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yogi-berra/) > [I was not able to work up much enthusiasm over the ball game, and in the midst of it I was handed a note…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/i-was-not-able-to-work-up-much-enthusiasm-over-the-ball-game-and-in/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [The sport to which I owe so much has undergone profound changes, but it's still baseball. Kids still imitate their heroes on playgrounds. Fans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duke-snider/the-sport-to-which-i-owe-so-much-has-undergone-profound-changes-but/) [Duke Snider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duke-snider/) > [More than anything, it's a game of innocence. Politicians may come and go, but they always get booed at the ballpark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/more-than-anything-it-s-a-game-of-innocence-politicians-may-come-and/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [There is a special sensation in getting good wood on the ball and driving a double down the left-field line as the crowd in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-carew/there-is-a-special-sensation-in-getting-good-wood-on-the-ball-and/) [Rod Carew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-carew/) > [I'll never forget that first night with the team. Going to the ballpark on the bus was the hardest 30 minutes of my life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-kaline/i-ll-never-forget-that-first-night-with-the-team-going-to-the/) [Al Kaline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-kaline/) > [I was a momma's boy. I didn't get anything from Dad, except my body and baseball knowledge. The only time I spent with him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-bonds/i-was-a-momma-s-boy-i-didn-t-get-anything-from-dad-except-my-body-and/) [Barry Bonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-bonds/) > [You figure they cheat at the ballpark, they'll cheat on the golf course, they'll cheat in business, and anything else in life. Players may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-feller/you-figure-they-cheat-at-the-ballpark-they-ll-cheat-on-the-golf/) [Bob Feller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-feller/) ## More by Thomas Boswell > [An almost inexorable baseball law: A Red Sox ship with a single leak will always find a way to sink No team is worshipped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/an-almost-inexorable-baseball-law-a-red-sox-ship-with-a-single-leak/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [Football is played best full of adrenaline and anger. Moderation seldom finds a place. Almost every act of baseball is a blending of effort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/football-is-played-best-full-of-adrenaline-and-anger-moderation/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [Of the big four, the PGA is the most fair and the least fun. Basically, it's just the US Open set up by nice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/of-the-big-four-the-pga-is-the-most-fair-and-the-least-fun-basically/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [Some things cannont possibly happen, because they are both too improbable and too perfect. The U.S. hockey team cannot beat the Russians in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/some-things-cannont-possibly-happen-because-they-are-both-too/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [“What most people want to keep under wraps (from reporters) is trivial: petty jealousies, professional feuds, etc. By contrast, most of the things they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/what-most-people-want-to-keep-under-wraps-from-reporters-is-trivial/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [Conversation is the blood of baseball. It flows through the game, an invigorating system of anecdotes. Ballplayers are tale tellers who have polished their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/conversation-is-the-blood-of-baseball-it-flows-through-the-game-an/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [“Familiarity, and a few dozen cheap flyballs off the Monster, breed contempt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/familiarity-and-a-few-dozen-cheap-flyballs-off-the-monster-breed/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [I think baseball is a great support to people who have emotional voids, gaps, emotional difficulties. That is to say: all of us. Those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/i-think-baseball-is-a-great-support-to-people-who-have-emotional/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [Baseball is not necessarily an obsessive-compulsive disorder, like washing your hands 100 times a day, but it's beginning to seem that way. We're reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/baseball-is-not-necessarily-an-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-like/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [Born to an age where horror has become commonplace, where tragedy has, by its monotonous repetition, become a parody of sorrow, we need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/born-to-an-age-where-horror-has-become-commonplace-where-tragedy-has/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [In and of itself, sports may be trivial, but as a symbol of the American way of life, it has enormous weight. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/in-and-of-itself-sports-may-be-trivial-but-as-a-symbol-of-the/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [Baseball is to our everyday experience what poetry often is to common speech — a slightly elevated and concentrated form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/baseball-is-to-our-everyday-experience-what-poetry-often-is-to-common/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [Baseball has traditionally possessed a wonderful lack of seriousness. The game's best player, Babe Ruth, was a Rabelaisian fat man, and its most loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/baseball-has-traditionally-possessed-a-wonderful-lack-of-seriousness/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [Quarterbacks have to ask the crowd to quiet down. Pitchers never do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/quarterbacks-have-to-ask-the-crowd-to-quiet-down-pitchers-never-do/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) > [Baseball is really two sports -- the summer game and the autumn game. One is the leisurely pastime of our national mythology. The other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/baseball-is-really-two-sports-the-summer-game-and-the-autumn-game-one/) [Thomas Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) [Explore all 40 Thomas Boswell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/) ## More Ballparks quotes > [You figure they cheat at the ballpark, they'll cheat on the golf course, they'll cheat in business, and anything else in life. Players may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-feller/you-figure-they-cheat-at-the-ballpark-they-ll-cheat-on-the-golf/) [Bob Feller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-feller/) > [I was a momma's boy. I didn't get anything from Dad, except my body and baseball knowledge. The only time I spent with him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-bonds/i-was-a-momma-s-boy-i-didn-t-get-anything-from-dad-except-my-body-and/) [Barry Bonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-bonds/) > [I'll never forget that first night with the team. Going to the ballpark on the bus was the hardest 30 minutes of my life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-kaline/i-ll-never-forget-that-first-night-with-the-team-going-to-the/) [Al Kaline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-kaline/) > [There is a special sensation in getting good wood on the ball and driving a double down the left-field line as the crowd in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-carew/there-is-a-special-sensation-in-getting-good-wood-on-the-ball-and/) [Rod Carew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-carew/) > [More than anything, it's a game of innocence. Politicians may come and go, but they always get booed at the ballpark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/more-than-anything-it-s-a-game-of-innocence-politicians-may-come-and/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [The sport to which I owe so much has undergone profound changes, but it's still baseball. Kids still imitate their heroes on playgrounds. Fans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duke-snider/the-sport-to-which-i-owe-so-much-has-undergone-profound-changes-but/) [Duke Snider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duke-snider/) > [I was not able to work up much enthusiasm over the ball game, and in the midst of it I was handed a note…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/i-was-not-able-to-work-up-much-enthusiasm-over-the-ball-game-and-in/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [If the fans don’t wanna come out to the ballpark, no one can stop ‘em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yogi-berra/if-the-fans-don-t-wanna-come-out-to-the-ballpark-no-one-can-stop-em/) [Yogi Berra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yogi-berra/) > [The big ballpark can do it all!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-coleman/the-big-ballpark-can-do-it-all/) [Jerry Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-coleman/) > [If people don't want to come to the ballpark, how are you going to stop them? -Yogi Berra, The Yogi Book, to baseball commissioner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yogi-berra/if-people-don-t-want-to-come-to-the-ballpark-how-are-you-going-to/) [Yogi Berra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yogi-berra/) > [“A brick is a biographical film in which a young orphan brick from the wrong side of the track grows up to be one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-mckay/a-brick-is-a-biographical-film-in-which-a-young-orphan-brick-from-the/) [Nicole McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-mckay/) > [So much happened (in 1968) it was hard to keep up with everything. We had Denny McLain's thirty-one victories, Gates Brown's great pinch-hitting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-harwell/so-much-happened-in-1968-it-was-hard-to-keep-up-with-everything-we/) [Ernie Harwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-harwell/) > [We run enormous risks and we know what kind of reductions of greenhouse gases are necessary to drastically reduce risks. Reducing emissions by half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-stern/we-run-enormous-risks-and-we-know-what-kind-of-reductions-of/) [Nicholas Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-stern/) > [My garden is the most beautiful thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-de-beauharnais/my-garden-is-the-most-beautiful-thing-in-the-world/) [Josephine de Beauharnais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-de-beauharnais/) > [I'm a firm believer that energy can be created in ballparks. When you have a packed house and everybody is on their feet and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-sale/i-m-a-firm-believer-that-energy-can-be-created-in-ballparks-when-you/) [Chris Sale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-sale/) [Browse all 66 Ballparks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ballparks/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Decades after a person has stopped collecting bubble gum cards, he can still discover himself collecting ballparks... their smells, their special seasons, their moods.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Boswell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-collecting-bubble-gum-cards-he-can/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ballparks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-collecting-bubble-gum-cards-he-can/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/thomas-boswell-16231_ballparks_decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-colle_2231757.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/thomas-boswell-16231_ballparks_decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-colle_2231757.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/thomas-boswell-16231_ballparks_decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-colle_2231757.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Decades after a person has stopped collecting bubble gum cards, he can still discover himself collecting…” — Thomas Boswell", "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": "Thomas Boswell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-boswell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Decades after a person has stopped...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-collecting-bubble-gum-cards-he-can/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-boswell/decades-after-a-person-has-stopped-collecting-bubble-gum-cards-he-can/#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 } } ] } ```