--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As though it had always been forbidden to…" description: "\"“As though it had always been forbidden to remember each of us grew up knowing nothing about the beginning”\" — W.S. Merwin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fb/w-s-merwin-2-23725_beginning_as-though-it-had-always-been-forbidden-t_2608886.jpg" --- # As though it had always been forbidden to remember each of… ![“As though it had always been forbidden to remember each of us grew up knowing nothing about the beginning” quote by W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fb/w-s-merwin-2-23725_beginning_as-though-it-had-always-been-forbidden-t_2608886.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fb/w-s-merwin-2-23725_beginning_as-though-it-had-always-been-forbidden-t_2608886.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fb/w-s-merwin-2-23725_beginning_as-though-it-had-always-been-forbidden-t_2608886.jpg) > ““As though it had always been forbidden to remember each of us grew up knowing nothing about the beginning”” [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Remembering origins feels forbidden, yet it shapes our identity. **In simple terms:** We forget our beginnings, though they matter. Key Takeaway Embrace and explore personal history. Themes memory identity forbiddance Mood poetic thoughtful Type literary psychological When to use this quote - family history - cultural heritage - personal narratives Key Concepts nostalgia self‑discovery historical consciousness Questions to Reflect On - What does forgetting cost? - How can memory heal? A Different Perspective May cause painful recollection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/) [Forbidden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forbidden/) [Forbidden Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forbidden-remember-517120/) [Knowing Beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing-beginning-1580869/) [Remember Grew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember-grew-2009062/) ## Related quotes > [Forbidden to remember, terrified to forget it; it was a hard line to walk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/forbidden-to-remember-terrified-to-forget-it-it-was-a-hard-line-to/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [Knowing when it is over is the beginning of a new life and the end of an old one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-penn/knowing-when-it-is-over-is-the-beginning-of-a-new-life-and-the-end-of/) [Michael Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-penn/) > [I'm aware that most people who meet me for the first time think of me in a certain way because of who my father…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-reagan/i-m-aware-that-most-people-who-meet-me-for-the-first-time-think-of-me/) [Ron Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-reagan/) > [“The Hanging Tree” out loud for ten years, because it’s forbidden, but I remember every word. I begin softly, sweetly, as my father did.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/the-hanging-tree-out-loud-for-ten-years-because-it-s-forbidden-but-i/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“He smiled my favorite crooked smile, and then he disappeared into the darkness. With shaky legs, ignoring the fact that my action was useless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/new-moon-x/he-smiled-my-favorite-crooked-smile-and-then-he-disappeared-into-the/) [New moon x](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/new-moon-x/) > [Learning is never cumulative, it is a movement of knowing which has no beginning and no end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/learning-is-never-cumulative-it-is-a-movement-of-knowing-which-has-no/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/knowing-yourself-is-the-beginning-of-all-wisdom/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“Not knowing is the beginning of learning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sravani-saha-nakhro/not-knowing-is-the-beginning-of-learning/) [Sravani Saha Nakhro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sravani-saha-nakhro/) > [It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted; precisely because most things are permitted and only a few things forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/it-is-shorter-to-state-the-things-forbidden-than-the-things-permitted/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Church is the house of God. It is forbidden for men to enter with bare arms or in shorts. It is forbidden for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/the-church-is-the-house-of-god-it-is-forbidden-for-men-to-enter-with/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [If it's not forbidden, then it's allowed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/if-it-s-not-forbidden-then-it-s-allowed/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [Knowledge forbidden? Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord Envy them that? Can it be sin to know, Can it be death? And do they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/knowledge-forbidden-suspicious-reasonless-why-should-their-lord-envy/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [“a hot dog shop where ketchup was forbidden,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-wise/a-hot-dog-shop-where-ketchup-was-forbidden/) [A.R. Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-wise/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) ## More by W.S. Merwin > [“…Preserve my eyes, which are irreplaceable. Preserve my heart, veins, bones, Against the slow death building in them like hornets until the place is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/preserve-my-eyes-which-are-irreplaceable-preserve-my-heart-veins/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“all these years I have looked through your limbs to the river below and the roofs and the night and you were the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/all-these-years-i-have-looked-through-your-limbs-to-the-river-below/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“I have no way of telling what I miss I am the only one who misses it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/i-have-no-way-of-telling-what-i-miss-i-am-the-only-one-who-misses-it/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [ “The thing that makes poetry different from all other arts \[is that\] you're using language, which is what you use for everything else--telling lies… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/the-thing-that-makes-poetry-different-from-all-other-arts-is-that-you/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“A BIRTHDAY Something continues and I don't know what to call it though the language is full of suggestions in the way of language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/a-birthday-something-continues-and-i-don-t-know-what-to-call-it/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“October" I remember how I would say, “I will gather These pieces together, Any minute now I will make A knife out of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/october-i-remember-how-i-would-say-i-will-gather-these-pieces/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“...The silence of a place where there were once horses is a mountain and I have seen by lightning that ever mountain once fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/the-silence-of-a-place-where-there-were-once-horses-is-a-mountain-and/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“In my youth I believed in somewhere else I put my faith in travel now I am becoming my own tree”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/in-my-youth-i-believed-in-somewhere-else-i-put-my-faith-in-travel-now/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“How beautiful you must be to have been able to lead me this far with only the sound of your going away”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/how-beautiful-you-must-be-to-have-been-able-to-lead-me-this-far-with/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“I turned to the room and in the light from the street beheld one beautiful bare breast of a friend's friend gently rising and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/i-turned-to-the-room-and-in-the-light-from-the-street-beheld-one/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“…Let all lights but yours be nothing to me. Let the memory of tongues not unnerve me so that I stumble or quake. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/let-all-lights-but-yours-be-nothing-to-me-let-the-memory-of-tongues/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“Tell me what you see vanishing and I will tell you who you are”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/tell-me-what-you-see-vanishing-and-i-will-tell-you-who-you-are/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“where will the meanings be when the words are forgotten will I see again where you are”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/where-will-the-meanings-be-when-the-words-are-forgotten-will-i-see/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“...Yes, now the roads themselves are shattered As though they had fallen from a height, and the sky Is cracked like varnish. Hard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/yes-now-the-roads-themselves-are-shattered-as-though-they-had-fallen/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) > [“Place" On the last day of the world I would want to plant a tree what for not the fruit the tree that bears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin-2/place-on-the-last-day-of-the-world-i-would-want-to-plant-a-tree-what/) [W.S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) [Explore all 25 W.S. Merwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin-2/) ## More Beginning quotes > [At the very beginning, I was a page at Letterman, and I freelanced for any place that would let me write any word. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-schwartz/at-the-very-beginning-i-was-a-page-at-letterman-and-i-freelanced-for/) [Ben Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-schwartz/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Every Finish Line is the beginning of a new race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-finish-line-is-the-beginning-of-a-new-race/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Always keep the smile, because the smile is the beginning of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-imad/always-keep-the-smile-because-the-smile-is-the-beginning-of-love/) [Adam Imad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-imad/) > [We are beginning to see intimations of this in the implantation of computer devices into the human body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kurzweil/we-are-beginning-to-see-intimations-of-this-in-the-implantation-of/) [Ray Kurzweil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kurzweil/) > [The only vocal training I had was playing with a tape recorder as a kid, and you know, doing the beginning of the 'Lone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-buffer/the-only-vocal-training-i-had-was-playing-with-a-tape-recorder-as-a/) [Michael Buffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-buffer/) > [January is the beginning of a new year for us in the Western world. Let us give to God what belongs to him: the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-white/january-is-the-beginning-of-a-new-year-for-us-in-the-western-world/) [Paula White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-white/) > [In the beginning, if you look at those early label albums of the Chicks, we didn't write all that much. We had an A&R…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martie-maguire/in-the-beginning-if-you-look-at-those-early-label-albums-of-the/) [Martie Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martie-maguire/) > [You need more than a beginning if you're going to start a book. If all you have is a beginning, then once you've written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-need-more-than-a-beginning-if-you-re-going-to-start-a-book-if-all/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [When there is a mission before you, you see it from its beginning to its conclusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-white/when-there-is-a-mission-before-you-you-see-it-from-its-beginning-to/) [Jesse White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-white/) > [When God made the world, all things began with him. Life, death, it all began when he said so. That includes you and me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manae-poet-of-carisis/when-god-made-the-world-all-things-began-with-him-life-death-it-all/) [Manae Poet Of Carisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manae-poet-of-carisis/) > [From the beginning at Intel, we planned on being big.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-noyce/from-the-beginning-at-intel-we-planned-on-being-big/) [Robert Noyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-noyce/) > [In the very beginning, Yelp started as a service where we really didn't think people would write reviews for fun. The whole concept of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-stoppelman/in-the-very-beginning-yelp-started-as-a-service-where-we-really-didn/) [Jeremy Stoppelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-stoppelman/) > [Some projects feel like the stars are aligning for them from the very beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-smith/some-projects-feel-like-the-stars-are-aligning-for-them-from-the-very/) [Gregory Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-smith/) > [Do not judge me by my beginning, Only by my end, Nor by the path I took, But where it led me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacklyn-h-lucas/do-not-judge-me-by-my-beginning-only-by-my-end-nor-by-the-path-i-took/) [Jacklyn H Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacklyn-h-lucas/) [Browse all 3,566 Beginning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As though it had always been forbidden to remember each of us grew up knowing nothing about the beginning”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W.S. 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