--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But soon we shall die and all memory of…" description: "\"But soon we shall die and all memory of those five will have left the earth, and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. But the love wi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/thornton-wilder-1495_bridges_but-soon-we-shall-die-and-all-memory-of_2832922.jpg" --- # But soon we shall die and all memory of those five will… ![“But soon we shall die and all memory of those five will have left the earth, and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the…” quote by Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/thornton-wilder-1495_bridges_but-soon-we-shall-die-and-all-memory-of_2832922.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/thornton-wilder-1495_bridges_but-soon-we-shall-die-and-all-memory-of_2832922.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10a/thornton-wilder-1495_bridges_but-soon-we-shall-die-and-all-memory-of_2832922.jpg) > “But soon we shall die and all memory of those five will have left the earth, and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.” [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love transcends life and death, serving as the bridge between living and dead, providing meaning beyond memory. **In simple terms:** Love is the enduring bridge between life and death. Key Takeaway Cultivate love as lasting meaning. Themes mortality love meaning legacy Mood solemn hopeful Type existential inspirational When to use this quote - grief counseling - relationship building - spiritual practice Key Concepts philosophy existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How does love survive without memory? - What role does love play in confronting mortality? A Different Perspective Memory alone cannot sustain love. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten/) [Forgotten love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgotten-love/) [Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/) [Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-memory/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-left-708283/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Necessary Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessary-love-928054/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Survival](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/survival/) ## Related quotes > [“We ourselves shall be loved for awhile and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/we-ourselves-shall-be-loved-for-awhile-and-forgotten-but-the-love/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/but-the-love-will-have-been-enough-all-those-impulses-of-love-return/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“I believe my strength has something to do with memory, with that concept of fluid time. For while I recall with clarity the terror…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/i-believe-my-strength-has-something-to-do-with-memory-with-that/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [Broken up friendship dose not involve feelings because the good memory we be left behind like footprint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juniorjk/broken-up-friendship-dose-not-involve-feelings-because-the-good/) [Juniorjk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juniorjk/) > [“..., and if one has only one good memory left in one's heart, even that may sometimes be the means of saving us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/and-if-one-has-only-one-good-memory-left-in-one-s-heart-even-that-may/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [See, as much as you want to hold on to the bitter sore memory that someone has left this world, you are still in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/see-as-much-as-you-want-to-hold-on-to-the-bitter-sore-memory-that-2/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Saying goodbye is just another way of trying to forget, when the memory is all you have left of what was once so beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-wagner/saying-goodbye-is-just-another-way-of-trying-to-forget-when-the/) [Brandon Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-wagner/) > [You are told a lot about your education, but some beautiful, sacred memory, preserved since childhood, is perhaps the best education of all. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-are-told-a-lot-about-your-education-but-some-beautiful-sacred-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What peaceful hours I once enjoy'd! How sweet their memory still! But they have left an aching void The world can never fill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/what-peaceful-hours-i-once-enjoy-d-how-sweet-their-memory-still-but/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [“See, as much as you want to hold on to the bitter sore memory that someone has left this world, you are still in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/see-as-much-as-you-want-to-hold-on-to-the-bitter-sore-memory-that/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-de-bono/a-memory-is-what-is-left-when-something-happens-and-does-not/) [Edward de Bono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-de-bono/) > [“No sooner does an approaching hour become the present for us than it sheds all its charms, only to regain them, it is true,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/no-sooner-does-an-approaching-hour-become-the-present-for-us-than-it/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Yet let us not pass from memory those left absent from our arms. Those who sacrificed their lives so that all may live free!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spartacus/yet-let-us-not-pass-from-memory-those-left-absent-from-our-arms-those/) [Spartacus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spartacus/) > [“She is dancing. Away. From you now. She was just a wish. She was just. A. Wish. And her memory is all that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fleetwood-mac/she-is-dancing-away-from-you-now-she-was-just-a-wish-she-was-just-a/) [Fleetwood Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fleetwood-mac/) > [I had forgotten this about love: how the simple things- the turn away, the turn towards- could be so complicated, and how the complicated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/i-had-forgotten-this-about-love-how-the-simple-things-the-turn-away/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) ## More by Thornton Wilder > [“He respected the slight nervous shadow that crossed her face when he came too near her. But there arose out of this denial itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/he-respected-the-slight-nervous-shadow-that-crossed-her-face-when-he/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/when-you-re-safe-at-home-you-wish-you-were-having-an-adventure-when/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Simon Stimson: "...That's what it was to be alive. To move about in a cloud of ignorance; to go up and down trampling on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/simon-stimson-that-s-what-it-was-to-be-alive-to-move-about-in-a-cloud/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Love as education is one of the great powers of the world, but it hangs in a delicate suspension; it achieves its harmony as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/love-as-education-is-one-of-the-great-powers-of-the-world-but-it/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Many great writers have been extraordinarily awkward in daily exchange, but the greatest give the impression that their style was nursed by the closest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/many-great-writers-have-been-extraordinarily-awkward-in-daily/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [A man looks pretty small at a wedding, George. All those good women standing shoulder to shoulder, making sure that the knot's tied in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/a-man-looks-pretty-small-at-a-wedding-george-all-those-good-women/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [The knowledge that she would never be loved in return acted upon her ideas as a tide acts upon cliffs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/the-knowledge-that-she-would-never-be-loved-in-return-acted-upon-her/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“But while they continued staring into one another’s face waiting for the miracle of science the pain grew worse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/but-while-they-continued-staring-into-one-another-s-face-waiting-for/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [I am convinced that, except in a few extraordinary cases, one form or another of an unhappy childhood is essential to the formation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/i-am-convinced-that-except-in-a-few-extraordinary-cases-one-form-or/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Many who have spent a lifetime in it can tell us less of love than the child that lost a dog yesterday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/many-who-have-spent-a-lifetime-in-it-can-tell-us-less-of-love-than/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Cesar is not a philosophical man. His life has been one long flight from reflection. At least he is clever enough not to expose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/cesar-is-not-a-philosophical-man-his-life-has-been-one-long-flight/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Every person who has ever lived has lived an unbroken succession of unique occasions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/every-person-who-has-ever-lived-has-lived-an-unbroken-succession-of/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/without-your-wounds-where-would-your-power-be-it-is-your-melancholy/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [Ninety-nine per cent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/ninety-nine-per-cent-of-the-people-in-the-world-are-fools-and-the/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [There's nothing like mixing with woman to bring out all the foolishness in a man of sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/there-s-nothing-like-mixing-with-woman-to-bring-out-all-the/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) [Explore all 232 Thornton Wilder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) ## More Bridges quotes > [Poetry has, in a way, been my bridge to my acting career.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omari-hardwick/poetry-has-in-a-way-been-my-bridge-to-my-acting-career/) [Omari Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omari-hardwick/) > [Nothing teaches great writing like the very best books do. Yet, good teachers often help students cross that bridge, and I have to say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-glass/nothing-teaches-great-writing-like-the-very-best-books-do-yet-good/) [Julia Glass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-glass/) > [In my rear view mirror the sun is going down sinking behind bridges in the road and I think of all the good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/in-my-rear-view-mirror-the-sun-is-going-down-sinking-behind-bridges/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [My first big mistake was made when, in a moment of weakness, I consented to learn the game; for a man who can frankly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/my-first-big-mistake-was-made-when-in-a-moment-of-weakness-i/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you walk, try to think nothing! You can then obtain the silence of a streetlight or a bridge; stop thinking; after that, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-walk-try-to-think-nothing-you-can-then-obtain-the-silence-of/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges do it for me in a big way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-scanlon/al-pacino-and-jeff-bridges-do-it-for-me-in-a-big-way/) [Angela Scanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-scanlon/) > [Instead of building castles against your enemies, build bridges for them to come to you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/instead-of-building-castles-against-your-enemies-build-bridges-for/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and he can only build bridges to other islands if he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rogers/each-person-is-an-island-unto-himself-in-a-very-real-sense-and-he-can/) [Carl Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rogers/) > [The real test of a bridge player isn’t in keeping out of trouble, but in escaping once he’s in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-sheinwold/the-real-test-of-a-bridge-player-isn-t-in-keeping-out-of-trouble-but/) [Alfred Sheinwold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-sheinwold/) > [The law ... allows rich as well as poor to sleep under bridges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/the-law-allows-rich-as-well-as-poor-to-sleep-under-bridges/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Guys like Todd Bridges never overcame being a child star. You can't have any big failures. I've always felt regular. I played organized ball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bow-wow/guys-like-todd-bridges-never-overcame-being-a-child-star-you-can-t/) [Bow Wow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bow-wow/) [Browse all 1,521 Bridges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bridges/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But soon we shall die and all memory of those five will have left the earth, and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. 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