--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If memory remains sound and the thinking…" description: "\"“If memory remains sound and the thinking mind retains its vigor, an old intelligence may have extraordinary breadth and depth of understanding.”\" — Ur..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/ursula-k-le-guin-138_intelligence_if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking_301442.jpg" --- # If memory remains sound and the thinking mind retains its… ![“If memory remains sound and the thinking mind retains its vigor, an old intelligence may have extraordinary breadth and depth of understanding.” quote by Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/ursula-k-le-guin-138_intelligence_if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking_301442.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/ursula-k-le-guin-138_intelligence_if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking_301442.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/ursula-k-le-guin-138_intelligence_if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking_301442.jpg) > ““If memory remains sound and the thinking mind retains its vigor, an old intelligence may have extraordinary breadth and depth of understanding.”” [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Maintaining mental clarity and curiosity allows an aging mind to achieve deep, broad understanding despite age. **In simple terms:** Clear mind and curiosity give deep insight. Key Takeaway Keep learning and stay mentally active. Themes aging cognition curiosity wisdom lifelong learning Mood inspirational hopeful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - academic research - career mentorship - personal growth - creative pursuits Key Concepts neuroscience philosophy intellectual growth Questions to Reflect On - What practices sustain mental vigor with age? - How does curiosity combat cognitive decline? A Different Perspective Physical decline can limit mental capacity despite effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [I have a close association with Gen. Petraeus... What you get in Dave Petraeus is a very unique officer, a combination of intelligence, extraordinary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-keane/i-have-a-close-association-with-gen-petraeus-what-you-get-in-dave/) [Jack Keane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-keane/) > [In the great books of India, an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/in-the-great-books-of-india-an-empire-spoke-to-us-nothing-small-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [One of the things I like most of all is being in my study, in my barn, with absolutely no sound anywhere thinking about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/one-of-the-things-i-like-most-of-all-is-being-in-my-study-in-my-barn/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [“My short-term factual memory can be like water; events are a brief disturbance on the surface and then it closes back up again, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-summitt/my-short-term-factual-memory-can-be-like-water-events-are-a-brief/) [Pat Summitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-summitt/) > [“Only memory remains slippery and elusive. Memories won't keep faith with you. They'll go sliding away into the ravenous void of non-being. Memories must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/only-memory-remains-slippery-and-elusive-memories-won-t-keep-faith/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“After everything is said and done, a memory remains a treacherous thing…How long does one cling on to the people they’ve lost? How long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanza-javed/after-everything-is-said-and-done-a-memory-remains-a-treacherous/) Kanza Javed > [The repression of the memory is dependent upon and related to the suppression of feeling, for as long as the feeling persists, the memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lowen/the-repression-of-the-memory-is-dependent-upon-and-related-to-the/) [Alexander Lowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lowen/) > [“It is like a beautiful sunset you see once in your life, one you swear you will never forget as long as you live.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-saare/it-is-like-a-beautiful-sunset-you-see-once-in-your-life-one-you-swear/) [J.A. Saare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-a-saare/) > [“At the bottom of the box were two big fairy-tale collections our father had sent us sometime after our parents divorced in 1963. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-bartok/at-the-bottom-of-the-box-were-two-big-fairy-tale-collections-our/) [Mira Bartok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-bartok/) > [“And even if only one good memory remains with us in our hearts, that alone may serve some day for our salvation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/and-even-if-only-one-good-memory-remains-with-us-in-our-hearts-that/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [Time after time have nations, ay, and rich and strong nations, learned in the arts, been, and passed away to be forgotten, so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-rider-haggard/time-after-time-have-nations-ay-and-rich-and-strong-nations-learned/) [H. Rider Haggard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-rider-haggard/) > [The charm, one might say the genius, of memory is that it is choosy, chancy and temperamental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/the-charm-one-might-say-the-genius-of-memory-is-that-it-is-choosy/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [If you're stupid enough to whiff, you should be smart enough to forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-palmer/if-you-re-stupid-enough-to-whiff-you-should-be-smart-enough-to-forget/) [Arnold Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-palmer/) > [Long before the 2016 presidential campaign, confidential sources had alerted me to longstanding misuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court system and the erosion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharyl-attkisson/long-before-the-2016-presidential-campaign-confidential-sources-had/) [Sharyl Attkisson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharyl-attkisson/) > [If you can do anything for love there's no reason you can't do everything to someone you love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayjay-guillermo/if-you-can-do-anything-for-love-there-s-no-reason-you-can-t-do/) [Jayjay Guillermo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayjay-guillermo/) ## More by Ursula K. Le Guin > [“...I wore his blood for clothing, on my legs and thighs and hands: a dry, stiff, brown garment with no warmth in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-wore-his-blood-for-clothing-on-my-legs-and-thighs-and-hands-a-dry/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Translation is entirely mysterious. Increasingly I have felt that the art of writing is itself translating, or more like translating than it is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/translation-is-entirely-mysterious-increasingly-i-have-felt-that-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Aeneas' mother is a star?" "No; a goddess." I said cautiously, "Venus is the power that we invoke in spring, in the garden, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/aeneas-mother-is-a-star-no-a-goddess-i-said-cautiously-venus-is-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Meaning - this is perhaps the common note, the bane I am seeking. What is the Meaning of this book, this event in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/meaning-this-is-perhaps-the-common-note-the-bane-i-am-seeking-what-is/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [For fantasy is true, of course. It isn't factual, but it is true. Children know that. Adults know it too, and that is precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/for-fantasy-is-true-of-course-it-isn-t-factual-but-it-is-true/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“. . . chronosophy does involve ethics. Because our sense of time involves our ability to separate cause and effect, means and end. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/chronosophy-does-involve-ethics-because-our-sense-of-time-involves/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“If both you and your plane are on time, the airport is merely a diffuse, short, miserable prelude to the intense, long, miserable plane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/if-both-you-and-your-plane-are-on-time-the-airport-is-merely-a/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“The author is not impartial. Dystopia is not tragedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-author-is-not-impartial-dystopia-is-not-tragedy/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Between thought and spoken word is a gap where intention can enter, the symbol be twisted aside, and the lie come to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/between-thought-and-spoken-word-is-a-gap-where-intention-can-enter/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [I have no control over my writing. I have lots of good intentions, but no control. There's a story that wants to be told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-have-no-control-over-my-writing-i-have-lots-of-good-intentions-but/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I did a lot today. That is, I did something. The only thing I have ever done. I pressed a button. It took the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-did-a-lot-today-that-is-i-did-something-the-only-thing-i-have-ever/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [To me the female principle is, or at least historically has been, basically anarchic. It values order without constraint, rule by custom not by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/to-me-the-female-principle-is-or-at-least-historically-has-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Hector had no virtue?” “Of course he did. He won all his battles, till the last one.” “We all do,” Aeneas remarked.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/hector-had-no-virtue-of-course-he-did-he-won-all-his-battles-till-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“I was willing to believe him that most modern writing was trash, on the evidence that so much old writing was trash; but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-was-willing-to-believe-him-that-most-modern-writing-was-trash-on/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Can women operate as women in a male institution without becoming imitation men?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/can-women-operate-as-women-in-a-male-institution-without-becoming/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) [Explore all 1,114 Ursula K. Le Guin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) ## More Intelligence quotes > [If you can do anything for love there's no reason you can't do everything to someone you love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayjay-guillermo/if-you-can-do-anything-for-love-there-s-no-reason-you-can-t-do/) [Jayjay Guillermo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayjay-guillermo/) > [Long before the 2016 presidential campaign, confidential sources had alerted me to longstanding misuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court system and the erosion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharyl-attkisson/long-before-the-2016-presidential-campaign-confidential-sources-had/) [Sharyl Attkisson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharyl-attkisson/) > [“If people fully understand you, they will think of you as a normal, if they half understand you, will think of you as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/if-people-fully-understand-you-they-will-think-of-you-as-a-normal-if/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Woman, in short, has an unconscious life, man a conscious life, and the genius the most conscious life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-weininger/woman-in-short-has-an-unconscious-life-man-a-conscious-life-and-the/) [Otto Weininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-weininger/) > [“The mystery of the world is revealed only to the person who can look upon the material world with his physical eyes and simultaneously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/awdhesh-singh/the-mystery-of-the-world-is-revealed-only-to-the-person-who-can-look/) [Awdhesh Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/awdhesh-singh/) > [Plainly, the environment must be a living one, directed by a higher intelligence, arranged by an adult who is prepared for his mission.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/plainly-the-environment-must-be-a-living-one-directed-by-a-higher/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [“Your mind has the intellect to lift the world, your heart has the wisdom to better the world, and your soul has the genius…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/your-mind-has-the-intellect-to-lift-the-world-your-heart-has-the/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [An ex is an ex for a reason, they are an EXample of what you don't want in your future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexia/an-ex-is-an-ex-for-a-reason-they-are-an-example-of-what-you-don-t/) [Alexia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexia/) > [“When it comes to smarts, adolescents like Jesse have plenty. What they lack, however, are some of the brain-based skills that we all need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-guare/when-it-comes-to-smarts-adolescents-like-jesse-have-plenty-what-they/) [Richard Guare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-guare/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“A smart person learns from his mistakes, but a truly wise person learns from the mistakes of others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-schramm/a-smart-person-learns-from-his-mistakes-but-a-truly-wise-person/) Ken Schramm > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“You are very kind and very intelligent and those elements are not always found together. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-are-very-kind-and-very-intelligent-and-those-elements-are-not/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [For the execution of the voyage to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-columbus/for-the-execution-of-the-voyage-to-the-indies-i-did-not-make-use-of/) [Christopher Columbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-columbus/) [Browse all 9,546 Intelligence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If memory remains sound and the thinking mind retains its vigor, an old intelligence may have extraordinary breadth and depth of understanding.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ursula K. Le Guin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking-mind-retains-its-vigor-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Intelligence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking-mind-retains-its-vigor-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/ursula-k-le-guin-138_intelligence_if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking_301442.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/ursula-k-le-guin-138_intelligence_if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking_301442.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/746/ursula-k-le-guin-138_intelligence_if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking_301442.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If memory remains sound and the thinking mind retains its vigor, an old intelligence may have extraordinary…” — Ursula K. Le Guin", "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": "Ursula K. Le Guin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If memory remains sound and the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking-mind-retains-its-vigor-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/if-memory-remains-sound-and-the-thinking-mind-retains-its-vigor-an/#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 } } ] } ```