--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But the thing about remembering is that…" description: "\"But the thing about remembering is that you don't forget. You take your material where you find it, which is in your life, at the intersection of past ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c8/tim-o-brien-1818_circles_but-the-thing-about-remembering-is-that_2446569.png" --- # But the thing about remembering is that you don't forget… ![“But the thing about remembering is that you don't forget. You take your material where you find it, which is in your life, at the intersection of past and present. The memory-traffic feeds into a rotary up on your head, where it goes in circles for a while, then pretty soon imagination flows in…” quote by Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c8/tim-o-brien-1818_circles_but-the-thing-about-remembering-is-that_2446569.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c8/tim-o-brien-1818_circles_but-the-thing-about-remembering-is-that_2446569.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c8/tim-o-brien-1818_circles_but-the-thing-about-remembering-is-that_2446569.png) > “But the thing about remembering is that you don't forget. You take your material where you find it, which is in your life, at the intersection of past and present. The memory-traffic feeds into a rotary up on your head, where it goes in circles for a while, then pretty soon imagination flows in and the traffic merges and shoots off down a thousand different streets. As a writer, all you can do is pick a street and go for the ride, putting things down as they come at you. That's the real obsession. All those stories.” [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory intertwines past and present, creating a mental traffic jam that fuels imagination; writers choose a path to explore stories. **In simple terms:** Our memories shape imagination, guiding creative choices. Key Takeaway Harness memory to inspire creative direction. Themes memory imagination creativity writing storytelling Mood contemplative inspired Type creative metacognitive When to use this quote - authorial process - brainstorming sessions - creative workshops - personal reflection Key Concepts cognitive flow narrative construction psychology Questions to Reflect On - Which memory will you follow to start a new story? - How does past experience limit or expand imagination? A Different Perspective Memory can be chaotic and overwhelming. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Circles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circles/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Forget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget/) [Forget you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forget-you/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Intersections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intersections/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Obsession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obsession/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past and present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-and-present/) [Present Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-memory-533481/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembering/) [Rotary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rotary/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) [Streets Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets-writer-321102/) [Thing Remembering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-remembering-533480/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Traffic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/traffic/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [But the thing about remembering is that you don't forget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/but-the-thing-about-remembering-is-that-you-don-t-forget/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) > [Write a lot and hit the streets. A writer who doesn't keep up with what's out there ain't gonna be out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-cade-bambara/write-a-lot-and-hit-the-streets-a-writer-who-doesn-t-keep-up-with/) [Toni Cade Bambara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-cade-bambara/) > [“There is only one place to write and that is alone at a typewriter. A writer who has to go into the streets is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/there-is-only-one-place-to-write-and-that-is-alone-at-a-typewriter-a/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [In reality there is nothing to fear in the present. Fear is projected onto the present by memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-fear-in-the-present-fear-is-projected/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [“To envision the future; you must forget the past and make the present a memory”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-aldana/to-envision-the-future-you-must-forget-the-past-and-make-the-present/) [Jeremy Aldana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-aldana/) > [“The past informs the present. Memory makes the map we carry, no matter how hard we try to erase it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-black/the-past-informs-the-present-memory-makes-the-map-we-carry-no-matter/) [Cara Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-black/) > [“You are speaking...as if the pleasure were one thing and the memory another. 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If you didn't look for it, it wasn't there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-brien/peace-never-bragged-if-you-didn-t-look-for-it-it-wasn-t-there/) [Tim O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) [Explore all 201 Tim O'Brien quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-brien/) ## More Circles quotes > [In some circles where very heavy people think they have very heavy brains, words like "charming" and "clever" and "pretty" are all put-downs; all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/in-some-circles-where-very-heavy-people-think-they-have-very-heavy/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [Gambling has held human beings in thrall for millennia. 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