--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we bury the old, we bury the known…" description: "\"“When we bury the old, we bury the known past, the past we imagine sometimes better than it was, but the past all the same, a portion of which is inhab..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89a/thomas-lynch-18339_burial_when-we-bury-the-old-we-bury-the-known-p_2665828.png" --- # When we bury the old, we bury the known past, the past we… ![“When we bury the old, we bury the known past, the past we imagine sometimes better than it was, but the past all the same, a portion of which is inhabited. Memory is the overwhelming theme, the eventual comfort.” quote by Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89a/thomas-lynch-18339_burial_when-we-bury-the-old-we-bury-the-known-p_2665828.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89a/thomas-lynch-18339_burial_when-we-bury-the-old-we-bury-the-known-p_2665828.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/89a/thomas-lynch-18339_burial_when-we-bury-the-old-we-bury-the-known-p_2665828.png) > ““When we bury the old, we bury the known past, the past we imagine sometimes better than it was, but the past all the same, a portion of which is inhabited. Memory is the overwhelming theme, the eventual comfort.”” [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory preserves fragments of the past, shaping comfort and identity despite its imperfections. **In simple terms:** Memory keeps parts of the past alive. Key Takeaway Cherish and learn from remembered moments. Themes memory nostalgia identity Mood melancholic thoughtful Type poetic reflective When to use this quote - grieving loss - family storytelling - personal reflection Key Concepts subjective history comfort seeking Questions to Reflect On - Which memories bring you comfort? - How do you reconcile idealized past with present? A Different Perspective Memory can be selective and distort reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Burial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burial/) [Bury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bury/) [Bury Known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bury-known-2464425/) [Bury Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bury-old-613561/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Inhabited Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inhabited-memory-2464424/) [Known Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/known-past-2464426/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Don't bury me with anyone old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiny-tim/don-t-bury-me-with-anyone-old/) [Tiny Tim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiny-tim/) > [We haven't ever known our past. Your kids are no stupider than their grandparents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-wineburg/we-haven-t-ever-known-our-past-your-kids-are-no-stupider-than-their/) [Sam Wineburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-wineburg/) > [I don't believe I've ever truly been in love because I don't believe that I've known myself well enough in the past to allow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/i-don-t-believe-i-ve-ever-truly-been-in-love-because-i-don-t-believe/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [“=The Burial of Love= His eyes in eclipse, Pale cold his lips, The light of his hopes unfed, Mute his tongue, His bow unstrung…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-tennyson/the-burial-of-love-his-eyes-in-eclipse-pale-cold-his-lips-the-light/) [Alfred Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-tennyson/) > [“We the living are to blame for the painfulness of being dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/we-the-living-are-to-blame-for-the-painfulness-of-being-dead/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Mist to mist, drops to drops. For water thou art, and unto water shalt thou return.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/mist-to-mist-drops-to-drops-for-water-thou-art-and-unto-water-shalt/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“Death would not surprise us as often as it does, if we let go of the misbelief that newborns are less mortal than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/death-would-not-surprise-us-as-often-as-it-does-if-we-let-go-of-the/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [No known human group... simply throw out its dead without any ritual or ceremony. In stark contrast, no animal practices burial of dead individuals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodosius-dobzhansky/no-known-human-group-simply-throw-out-its-dead-without-any-ritual-or/) [Theodosius Dobzhansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodosius-dobzhansky/) > [O Death, the Consecrator! Nothing so sanctifies a name As to be written--Dead. Nothing so wins a life from blame, So covers it from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/o-death-the-consecrator-nothing-so-sanctifies-a-name-as-to-be-written/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [It's great that after 700 years William Wallace has finally had a proper burial. He did so much for the country. You should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-gibson/it-s-great-that-after-700-years-william-wallace-has-finally-had-a/) [Mel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-gibson/) > [There is nothing quite so good as burial at sea. It is simple, tidy, and not very incriminating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-hitchcock/there-is-nothing-quite-so-good-as-burial-at-sea-it-is-simple-tidy-and/) [Alfred Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-hitchcock/) > [“Clemo, Nonini, Jua Cali wakianzisha Genge, ilishika but hawakuwa na clear plan. Now it's dead and burried with Mejja as the only survivor mwenye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-santo/clemo-nonini-jua-cali-wakianzisha-genge-ilishika-but-hawakuwa-na/) [DON SANTO](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-santo/) > [Royalty is a fine burial shroud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodora/royalty-is-a-fine-burial-shroud/) [Theodora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodora/) > [Death and burial were a public spectacle. Shakespeare may have seen for himself the gravediggers at St Ann's, Soho, playing skittles with skulls and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-arnold/death-and-burial-were-a-public-spectacle-shakespeare-may-have-seen/) [Catharine Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-arnold/) > [“...our loves ones truly are ever-present. We may bury their bodies or scatter their ashes, but their spirits are boundless and do not accompany…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-slaughter/our-loves-ones-truly-are-ever-present-we-may-bury-their-bodies-or/) [April Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-slaughter/) ## More by Thomas Lynch > [“I had this theory. It was based loosely on the unremarkable observation that the old are always looking back with longing while the young,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-had-this-theory-it-was-based-loosely-on-the-unremarkable/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“The advance of our technology is coincidental with the loss of our appetite for ethical questions that ought to attend the implications of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/the-advance-of-our-technology-is-coincidental-with-the-loss-of-our/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Whatever’s there to feel, feel it – the riddance, the relief, the fright and freedom, the fear of forgetting, the dull ache of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/whatever-s-there-to-feel-feel-it-the-riddance-the-relief-the-fright/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“The bodies of the newly dead are not debris nor remnant, nor are they entirely icon or essence. They are, rather, changelings, incubates, hatchlings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/the-bodies-of-the-newly-dead-are-not-debris-nor-remnant-nor-are-they/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“The living have to live with it. You don’t. Theirs is the grief or the gladness of your death, theirs is the loss or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/the-living-have-to-live-with-it-you-don-t-theirs-is-the-grief-or-the/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“When we bury the old, we bury the known past, the past we imagine sometimes better than it was, but the past all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/when-we-bury-the-old-we-bury-the-known-past-the-past-we-imagine/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Whatever's there to feel, feel it—the riddance, the relief, the fright and freedom, the fear of forgetting, the dull ache of your own mortality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/whatever-s-there-to-feel-feel-it-the-riddance-the-relief-the-fright-2/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [... by doing you shall know What it is you have to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/by-doing-you-shall-know-what-it-is-you-have-to-do/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Usually a poem takes shape accoustically - a line or a pair of lines will repeat itself in my ear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/usually-a-poem-takes-shape-accoustically-a-line-or-a-pair-of-lines/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [If I were assigned poems I suppose I'd write more of them but it is entirely voluntary and for the most part ignored in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/if-i-were-assigned-poems-i-suppose-i-d-write-more-of-them-but-it-is/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“There are those, too, who are ethnically predisposed in favor of funerals, who recognize among the black drapes and dirges an emotionally potent and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/there-are-those-too-who-are-ethnically-predisposed-in-favor-of/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [I'm lazy but generally task oriented so having a hoop to jump through means eventually I'll make the effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-m-lazy-but-generally-task-oriented-so-having-a-hoop-to-jump-through/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [There's no easy way to do this. So do it right: weep, laugh, watch, pray, love, live, give thanks and praise; comfort, mend, honor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/there-s-no-easy-way-to-do-this-so-do-it-right-weep-laugh-watch-pray/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [Grief is the price we pay for being close to one another. If we want to avoid our grief, we simply avoid each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/grief-is-the-price-we-pay-for-being-close-to-one-another-if-we-want/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) > [“I will, I do, Amen, Here Here, Let's eat, drink and be merry. Marriage is the public spectacle of private parts: cheque-books and genitals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lynch/i-will-i-do-amen-here-here-let-s-eat-drink-and-be-merry-marriage-is/) [Thomas Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) [Explore all 35 Thomas Lynch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lynch/) ## More Burial quotes > [“...our loves ones truly are ever-present. We may bury their bodies or scatter their ashes, but their spirits are boundless and do not accompany…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-slaughter/our-loves-ones-truly-are-ever-present-we-may-bury-their-bodies-or/) [April Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-slaughter/) > [Death and burial were a public spectacle. Shakespeare may have seen for himself the gravediggers at St Ann's, Soho, playing skittles with skulls and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catharine-arnold/death-and-burial-were-a-public-spectacle-shakespeare-may-have-seen/) [Catharine Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catharine-arnold/) > [Royalty is a fine burial shroud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodora/royalty-is-a-fine-burial-shroud/) [Theodora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodora/) > [“Clemo, Nonini, Jua Cali wakianzisha Genge, ilishika but hawakuwa na clear plan. Now it's dead and burried with Mejja as the only survivor mwenye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-santo/clemo-nonini-jua-cali-wakianzisha-genge-ilishika-but-hawakuwa-na/) [DON SANTO](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-santo/) > [There is nothing quite so good as burial at sea. It is simple, tidy, and not very incriminating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-hitchcock/there-is-nothing-quite-so-good-as-burial-at-sea-it-is-simple-tidy-and/) [Alfred Hitchcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-hitchcock/) > [It's great that after 700 years William Wallace has finally had a proper burial. He did so much for the country. You should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-gibson/it-s-great-that-after-700-years-william-wallace-has-finally-had-a/) [Mel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-gibson/) > [O Death, the Consecrator! Nothing so sanctifies a name As to be written--Dead. Nothing so wins a life from blame, So covers it from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/o-death-the-consecrator-nothing-so-sanctifies-a-name-as-to-be-written/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [No known human group... simply throw out its dead without any ritual or ceremony. In stark contrast, no animal practices burial of dead individuals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodosius-dobzhansky/no-known-human-group-simply-throw-out-its-dead-without-any-ritual-or/) [Theodosius Dobzhansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodosius-dobzhansky/) > [Placed as the fossils are in their several tiers of burial-places the one over the other; we have in them true witnesses of successive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roderick-murchison/placed-as-the-fossils-are-in-their-several-tiers-of-burial-places-the/) [Roderick Murchison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roderick-murchison/) > [“Perhaps more importantly, the ants used all the sugar lumps they could steal to build a small sugar pyramid in one of the hollow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/perhaps-more-importantly-the-ants-used-all-the-sugar-lumps-they-could/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [There was a place in the Hills, on the first ridge in the Game Reserve, that I myself at the time when I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/there-was-a-place-in-the-hills-on-the-first-ridge-in-the-game-reserve/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [A cemetery saddens us because it is the only place of the world in which we do not meet our dead again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-mauriac/a-cemetery-saddens-us-because-it-is-the-only-place-of-the-world-in/) [Francois Mauriac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-mauriac/) > [“The more death, the more birth. People are entering, others are exiting. The cry of a baby, the mourning of others. When others cry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-more-death-the-more-birth-people-are-entering-others-are-exiting/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [one day anyone died i guess (and noone stooped to kiss his face) busy folk buried them side by side little by little and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/one-day-anyone-died-i-guess-and-noone-stooped-to-kiss-his-face-busy/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [He (Aneurin Bevan) enjoys prophesying the imminent fall of the capitalist system, and is prepared to play a part, any part, in its burial,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-macmillan/he-aneurin-bevan-enjoys-prophesying-the-imminent-fall-of-the/) [Harold MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-macmillan/) [Browse all 161 Burial quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burial/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When we bury the old, we bury the known past, the past we imagine sometimes better than it was, but the past all the same, a portion of which is inhabited. 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