--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [My grandfather] returned to what he…" description: "\"“[My grandfather] returned to what he called ‘studying.’ He sat looking down at his lap, his left hand idle on the chair arm, his right scratching his ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/wendell-berry-236_civil-war_my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-calle_1877401.jpg" --- # \[My grandfather\] returned to what he called ‘studying.’ He… ![“[My grandfather] returned to what he called ‘studying.’ He sat looking down at his lap, his left hand idle on the chair arm, his right scratching his head, his white hair gleaming in the lamplight. I knew that when he was studying he was thinking, but I did not know what about. Now I have aged…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/wendell-berry-236_civil-war_my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-calle_1877401.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/wendell-berry-236_civil-war_my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-calle_1877401.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/wendell-berry-236_civil-war_my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-calle_1877401.jpg) > ““\[My grandfather\] returned to what he called ‘studying.’ He sat looking down at his lap, his left hand idle on the chair arm, his right scratching his head, his white hair gleaming in the lamplight. I knew that when he was studying he was thinking, but I did not know what about. Now I have aged into knowledge of what he thought about. He thought of his strength and endurance when he was young, his merriment and joy, and how his life’s burdens had then grown upon him. He thought of that arc of country that centered upon Port William as he first had known it in the years just after the Civil War, and as it had changed, and as it had become; and how all that time, which would have seemed almost forever when he was a boy, now seemed hardly anytime at all. He thought of the people he remembered, now dead, and of those who had come and gone before his knowledge, and of those who would come after, and of his own place in that long procession.”” [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An elderly man reflects on his life, recalling past strength, joy, and the changing landscape, recognizing his place in a long continuum of people and places. **In simple terms:** An old man thinks about his life and history. Key Takeaway Acknowledge the past to understand your present. Themes memory history place continuity reflection Mood nostalgic contemplative Type narrative philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - family storytelling - historical contemplation - generational insight - place attachment Key Concepts identity legacy temporal perspective Questions to Reflect On - How does remembering shape your sense of self? - What does place mean to you? A Different Perspective His recollection may romanticize the past, overlooking hardships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Called Studying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/called-studying-2629812/) [Civil war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-war/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Grandfather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandfather/) [Grandfather Returned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandfather-returned-2629811/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Left hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-hand/) [People Remembered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-remembered-271946/) [Reflection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reflection/) [Studying Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/studying-thinking-2629813/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [White hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-hair/) ## Related quotes > [“What people see you do may not be remembered; what they hear you say may be forgotten; but how they feel your intervention in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/what-people-see-you-do-may-not-be-remembered-what-they-hear-you-say/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [Heart doesn't forget those special people for whom it cares, Though daily struggle for survival put us a bit apart. But, those people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/heart-doesn-t-forget-those-special-people-for-whom-it-cares-though/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“People remembered. They wept and they grieved. In the spaces between, they were glad that the leeks were doing well this year, envied the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/people-remembered-they-wept-and-they-grieved-in-the-spaces-between/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“Only the leaders and famous people will be remembered. The rest will be like pieces on the chessboard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/only-the-leaders-and-famous-people-will-be-remembered-the-rest-will/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [“Very few people are remembered for long after they’re in the ground.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-e-kinsley/very-few-people-are-remembered-for-long-after-they-re-in-the-ground/) [Michael E. Kinsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-e-kinsley/) > [I'm still amazed people remembered and didn't give up on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-burke/i-m-still-amazed-people-remembered-and-didn-t-give-up-on-me/) [Solomon Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-burke/) > [I was always dreaming about very powerful people. Dictators and things like that. I was always impressed by people who could be remembered for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schwarzenegger/i-was-always-dreaming-about-very-powerful-people-dictators-and-things/) [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schwarzenegger/) > [My work is known by too few people for me to be remembered as a writer - that is, beyond those dedicated souls (bless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-scott/my-work-is-known-by-too-few-people-for-me-to-be-remembered-as-a/) [John Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-scott/) > [“The only people remembered in history are the ones that dedicate their lives to service and purpose”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-only-people-remembered-in-history-are-the-ones-that-dedicate/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [I was more interested in the older generation as they seemed to be the last remaining remnants of the British Raj - people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-kapoor/i-was-more-interested-in-the-older-generation-as-they-seemed-to-be/) [Karan Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-kapoor/) > [Romeo wouldn’t change his mind. That’s why people still remembered his name, always twined with hers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/romeo-wouldn-t-change-his-mind-that-s-why-people-still-remembered-his/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [And for well over a hundred years our politicians, statesmen, and people remembered that this was a republic, not a democracy, and knew what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-for-well-over-a-hundred-years-our-politicians-statesmen-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We (people) only remembered that elves sang. But we forgot what they sang about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/we-people-only-remembered-that-elves-sang-but-we-forgot-what-they/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [A people who still remembered that their ancestors had been the masters of the world would have applauded, with conscious pride, the representation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/a-people-who-still-remembered-that-their-ancestors-had-been-the/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“These were people who remembered the weight of the cotton sack, people with grease under their fingernails that no amount of Octagon soap would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-bragg/these-were-people-who-remembered-the-weight-of-the-cotton-sack-people/) [Rick Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-bragg/) ## More by Wendell Berry > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. Old usage tells us that there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-husband-is-to-use-with-care-to-keep-to-save-to-make-last-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The two families, sundered in the ruin of a friendship, were united again first in new friendship and then in mariage. My grandfather made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-two-families-sundered-in-the-ruin-of-a-friendship-were-united/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The living can't quit living because the world has turned terrible and people they love and need are killed. They can't because they don't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-living-can-t-quit-living-because-the-world-has-turned-terrible/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“I knew a man who, in the age of chain-saws, went right on cutting his wood with a handsaw and an axe. He was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-knew-a-man-who-in-the-age-of-chain-saws-went-right-on-cutting-his/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The concept of country, homeland, dwelling place becomes simplified as "the environment" -- that is, what surrounds us, we have already made a profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-concept-of-country-homeland-dwelling-place-becomes-simplified-as/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-community-is-the-mental-and-spiritual-condition-of-knowing-that-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“That we can prescribe the terms of our own success, that we can live outside or in ignorance of the Great Economy are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-can-prescribe-the-terms-of-our-own-success-that-we-can-live/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The mind that comes to rest is tended In ways that it cannot intend: Is borne, preserved, and comprehended By what it cannot comprehend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mind-that-comes-to-rest-is-tended-in-ways-that-it-cannot-intend/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The mercy of the world is time. Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mercy-of-the-world-is-time-time-does-not-stop-for-love-but-it/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-dislike-the-thought-that-some-animal-has-been-made-miserable-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/laughter-is-immeasurable-be-joyful/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [These are people who are capable of devotion, public devotion, to justice. They meant what they said and every day that passes, they mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/these-are-people-who-are-capable-of-devotion-public-devotion-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) [Explore all 847 Wendell Berry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More Civil war quotes > [“Time overlaps itself. A breath breathed from a passing breeze is not the whole wind, neither is it just the last of what has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/time-overlaps-itself-a-breath-breathed-from-a-passing-breeze-is-not/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [“Whatever happened in those more than one hundred years, from the time my great-great-great grandfather studied law to the time when my own father…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwenn-wright/whatever-happened-in-those-more-than-one-hundred-years-from-the-time/) [Gwenn Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwenn-wright/) > [“AUSTRALIA, LIKE THE UNITED STATES, experienced a different path to inclusive institutions than the one taken by England. The same revolutions that shook England…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daron-acemo-lu/australia-like-the-united-states-experienced-a-different-path-to/) [Daron Acemoğlu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daron-acemo-lu/) > [“These are all good things, I said. But no one knows where your country is or who you are. You don't have a familiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/these-are-all-good-things-i-said-but-no-one-knows-where-your-country/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [“Thinking about the weather was one way of shutting out of his mind the appalling bloody human mess sprawled out over the bed of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ellis/thinking-about-the-weather-was-one-way-of-shutting-out-of-his-mind/) [Mark Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ellis/) > [It cost about 75 cents to kill a man in Ceasar's time. The price rose to about $3,000 per man during the Napoleonic wars;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer-bone/it-cost-about-75-cents-to-kill-a-man-in-ceasar-s-time-the-price-rose/) [Homer Bone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer-bone/) > [Alabama soldiers, all I ask of you is to keep up with the Texans!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/alabama-soldiers-all-i-ask-of-you-is-to-keep-up-with-the-texans/) [Robert E. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-lee/) > [“ “In the South, football is confused with religion, chivalry, the Civil War, and women.” -Diane Roberts, The Quotable South ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-ford/in-the-south-football-is-confused-with-religion-chivalry-the-civil/) [Deborah Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-ford/) > [“By the following morning, September 15, Jackson had positioned nearly fifty guns on Maryland Heights and at the base of Loudoun Heights.  Then he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/by-the-following-morning-september-15-jackson-had-positioned-nearly/) [Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/) > [Strange, (is it not?) that battles, martyrs, blood, even assassination should so condense - perhaps only really lastingly condense - a Nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/strange-is-it-not-that-battles-martyrs-blood-even-assassination/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [You must study to be frank with the world: frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-lee/you-must-study-to-be-frank-with-the-world-frankness-is-the-child-of/) [Robert E. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-lee/) > [“Civil wars...are the best wars for the writer...because they have a way of continuing long afterwl wars between nations are resolved; because, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-ellison/civil-wars-are-the-best-wars-for-the-writer-because-they-have-a-way/) [Ralph Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-ellison/) > [I am out of money,we are all out of money,but we dont need money down here- Dont need anything but Men , Muskets, Ammunition,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-connolly/i-am-out-of-money-we-are-all-out-of-money-but-we-dont-need-money-down/) [James A. Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-connolly/) > [Affirmative action was designed to recognize the uniquely difficult journey of African-Americans. This policy was justifiable and understandable, even to those who came from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-webb/affirmative-action-was-designed-to-recognize-the-uniquely-difficult/) [Jim Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-webb/) > [“Only twenty - nine years in the entire human history had been without warfare, and now here he was too, travelling between the episodes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadeem-aslam/only-twenty-nine-years-in-the-entire-human-history-had-been-without/) [Nadeem Aslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadeem-aslam/) [Browse all 1,714 Civil war quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-war/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[My grandfather] returned to what he called ‘studying.’ He sat looking down at his lap, his left hand idle on the chair arm, his right scratching his head, his white hair gleaming in the lamplight. I knew that when he was studying he was thinking, but I did not know what about. Now I have aged into knowledge of what he thought about. He thought of his strength and endurance when he was young, his merriment and joy, and how his life’s burdens had then grown upon him. He thought of that arc of country that centered upon Port William as he first had known it in the years just after the Civil War, and as it had changed, and as it had become; and how all that time, which would have seemed almost forever when he was a boy, now seemed hardly anytime at all. He thought of the people he remembered, now dead, and of those who had come and gone before his knowledge, and of those who would come after, and of his own place in that long procession.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wendell Berry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-called-studying-he-sat-looking/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civil war" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-called-studying-he-sat-looking/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/wendell-berry-236_civil-war_my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-calle_1877401.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/wendell-berry-236_civil-war_my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-calle_1877401.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b6/wendell-berry-236_civil-war_my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-calle_1877401.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[My grandfather] returned to what he called ‘studying.’ He sat looking down at his lap, his left hand idle…” — Wendell Berry", "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": "Wendell Berry", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“[My grandfather] returned to what he...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-called-studying-he-sat-looking/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/my-grandfather-returned-to-what-he-called-studying-he-sat-looking/#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 } } ] } ```