--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Each of us is all the sums he has not…" description: "\"Each of us is all the sums he has not counted: subtract us into the nakedness and night again, and you shall see begin in Crete four thousand years ago..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/141/thomas-wolfe-4237_crete_each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-co_728696.png" --- # Each of us is all the sums he has not counted: subtract us… ![“Each of us is all the sums he has not counted: subtract us into the nakedness and night again, and you shall see begin in Crete four thousand years ago the love that ended yesterday in Texas.” quote by Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/141/thomas-wolfe-4237_crete_each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-co_728696.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/141/thomas-wolfe-4237_crete_each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-co_728696.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/141/thomas-wolfe-4237_crete_each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-co_728696.png) > “Each of us is all the sums he has not counted: subtract us into the nakedness and night again, and you shall see begin in Crete four thousand years ago the love that ended yesterday in Texas.” [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suggests identity is a sum of uncounted experiences; history and personal narratives intertwine across time and place. **In simple terms:** Our selves are built from countless unseen experiences. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden influences on identity. Themes identity history interconnectedness Mood reflective poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - genealogy research - personal reflection - creative writing Key Concepts Existentialism memory cultural heritage Questions to Reflect On - What unseen experiences shape you? - How do past cultures influence present identity? A Different Perspective Complex metaphors may obscure practical meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Begin Crete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/begin-crete-5713186/) [Crete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crete/) [Crete Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crete-thousand-5713185/) [Four](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/four/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Texas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/texas/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-ago/) [Yesterday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yesterday/) [Yesterday Texas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yesterday-texas-5713187/) ## Related quotes > [Surely in much talk there cannot choose but be much vanity. Loquacity is the fistula of the mind,--ever-running and almost incurable, let every man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/surely-in-much-talk-there-cannot-choose-but-be-much-vanity-loquacity/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [I knew that no matter what door you knock on in a Cretan village, it will be opened for you. A meal will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/i-knew-that-no-matter-what-door-you-knock-on-in-a-cretan-village-it/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [“Land and Sea The brilliant colors are the first thing that strike a visitor to the Greek Isles. From the stunning azure waters and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-brooks/land-and-sea-the-brilliant-colors-are-the-first-thing-that-strike-a/) [Laura Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-brooks/) > [I ended up living on Crete for eight months. I picked olives and did house painting and got broke.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-noddy/i-ended-up-living-on-crete-for-eight-months-i-picked-olives-and-did/) [Tom Noddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-noddy/) > [How simple and frugal a thing is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/how-simple-and-frugal-a-thing-is-happiness/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [The last western society to worship female powers was Minoan Crete. 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But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/i-had-not-fooled-myself-with-false-hope-i-was-a-goddess-and-he-a/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [“Crete, May 1941. It was nearly five o’clock when the three soldiers reached the end of the olive grove. The dust-filled air shimmered in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ellis/crete-may-1941-it-was-nearly-five-o-clock-when-the-three-soldiers/) [Mark Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ellis/) > [“Biffi said it was more American on an air force base in Crete than it was in Times Square.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathleen-schine/biffi-said-it-was-more-american-on-an-air-force-base-in-crete-than-it/) [Cathleen Schine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathleen-schine/) > [Each moment is the fruit of forty thousand years. The minute-winning days, like flies, buzz home to death, and every moment is a window…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/each-moment-is-the-fruit-of-forty-thousand-years-the-minute-winning/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) ## More by Thomas Wolfe > [“So all were gone at last, one by one, each swept out into the mighty flood tide of the city's life, there to prove,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/so-all-were-gone-at-last-one-by-one-each-swept-out-into-the-mighty/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“A stick is not only wood but the negation of wood. It is the meeting in space of wood and no-wood. A stick is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/a-stick-is-not-only-wood-but-the-negation-of-wood-it-is-the-meeting/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/all-things-on-earth-point-home-in-old-october-sailors-to-sea/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“At these repeated signs of decadence in a society which had once been the object of his envy and his highest ambition, Webber's face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/at-these-repeated-signs-of-decadence-in-a-society-which-had-once-been/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [If a man has talent and can't use it, he's failed. If he uses only half of it, he has partly failed. 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It seemed to him that all man’s life was like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/there-came-to-him-an-image-of-man-s-whole-life-upon-the-earth-it/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“He had learned some of the things that every man must find out for himself, and he had found out about them as one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/he-had-learned-some-of-the-things-that-every-man-must-find-out-for/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [What I had to face, the very bitter lesson that everyone who wants to write has got to learn, was that a thing may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/what-i-had-to-face-the-very-bitter-lesson-that-everyone-who-wants-to/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [The mountains were his masters. They rimmed in life. They were the cup of reality, beyond growth, beyond struggle and death. They were his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/the-mountains-were-his-masters-they-rimmed-in-life-they-were-the-cup/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“For four years he lived in Brooklyn, and four years in Brooklyn are a geologic age -- a single stratum of grey time. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/for-four-years-he-lived-in-brooklyn-and-four-years-in-brooklyn-are-a/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [“Eugene looked with passionate devotion at that grand old head, calm, wise and comforting. In a moment of vision, he saw that, for him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/eugene-looked-with-passionate-devotion-at-that-grand-old-head-calm/) [Thomas Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/) > [Each moment is the fruit of forty thousand years. 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It was nearly five o’clock when the three soldiers reached the end of the olive grove. The dust-filled air shimmered in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ellis/crete-may-1941-it-was-nearly-five-o-clock-when-the-three-soldiers/) [Mark Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ellis/) > [“I had not fooled myself with false hope. I was a goddess, and he a mortal, and both of us were imprisoned. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/i-had-not-fooled-myself-with-false-hope-i-was-a-goddess-and-he-a/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [My father's father fought to free Crete from the Turks, who expelled my mother from her ancestral home in Asia Minor in 1922. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikis-theodorakis/my-father-s-father-fought-to-free-crete-from-the-turks-who-expelled/) [Mikis Theodorakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikis-theodorakis/) > [The people of Crete unfortunately make more history than they can consume locally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-people-of-crete-unfortunately-make-more-history-than-they-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Compared with men, it is probable that brutes neither attend to abstract characters, nor have associations by similarity. Their thoughts probably pass from one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/compared-with-men-it-is-probable-that-brutes-neither-attend-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“If you are a dreamer, come in, If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shel-silverstein/if-you-are-a-dreamer-come-in-if-you-are-a-dreamer-a-wisher-a-liar-a-2/) [Shel Silverstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shel-silverstein/) > [“Love of liberty, the refusal to accept your soul's enslavement, not even in exchange for paradise; stalwart games over and above love and pain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-kazantzakis/love-of-liberty-the-refusal-to-accept-your-soul-s-enslavement-not/) [N. Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-kazantzakis/) > [The last western society to worship female powers was Minoan Crete. 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From the stunning azure waters and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-brooks/land-and-sea-the-brilliant-colors-are-the-first-thing-that-strike-a/) [Laura Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-brooks/) > [I knew that no matter what door you knock on in a Cretan village, it will be opened for you. A meal will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/i-knew-that-no-matter-what-door-you-knock-on-in-a-cretan-village-it/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [“Biffi said it was more American on an air force base in Crete than it was in Times Square.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathleen-schine/biffi-said-it-was-more-american-on-an-air-force-base-in-crete-than-it/) [Cathleen Schine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathleen-schine/) [Browse all 15 Crete quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crete/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Each of us is all the sums he has not counted: subtract us into the nakedness and night again, and you shall see begin in Crete four thousand years ago the love that ended yesterday in Texas.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Wolfe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-counted-subtract-us-into-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crete" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-counted-subtract-us-into-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/141/thomas-wolfe-4237_crete_each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-co_728696.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/141/thomas-wolfe-4237_crete_each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-co_728696.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/141/thomas-wolfe-4237_crete_each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-co_728696.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Each of us is all the sums he has not counted: subtract us into the nakedness and night again, and you shall…” — Thomas Wolfe", "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 Wolfe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wolfe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Each of us is all the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-counted-subtract-us-into-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wolfe/each-of-us-is-all-the-sums-he-has-not-counted-subtract-us-into-the/#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 } } ] } ```